Notes From Invasion

Some details from this past weekend's Invasion V convention, where actors Noel Clarke (Mickey) and John Barrowman (Jack) appeared. Both actors said they would definitely be returning to the series, although there was no news for Barrowman on when; Noel would be joining the cast for the filming of the special, "The Christmas Invasion" on Monday. Mickey is revealed to be a car mechanic, and his character will be developed significantly (but, of course, Noel wasn't saying anything specific about this!)

Barrowman revealed that there were several endings originally planned for "The Parting of the Ways," some clearly before they knew they were going to regenerate the Doctor or get a sense of how successful the series would be, but in all versions Jack would not have immediately re-joined the crew (in fact, one early version ended with Rose actually dying from the effects of the Time Vortex!) Both said they'd had no idea Eccleston would be leaving. Another outtake from episode 13: apparently on the second take of Jack's farewell kiss, John kissed Billie as normal, and then, when it came to Chris, gave him a full-on snog...which Chris, getting the joke, just on followed through, with them both ending up, still entwined, rolling around on the floor, the cameraman desperately trying to keep up with them...

Barrowman said he has recorded commentaries for episodes 9, 10 and 11 (with Julie Gardner and Annette Badland) for the DVD boxed set due out in November, which will include commentaries on all 13 episodes. He doubted the shot excised from "Bad Wolf" (the 'bum shot') would make it to the DVD given the 12 certificate (though he hinted that a check of his website in the future wouldn't go unrewarded.