Gareth David-Lloyd: I’d love Ianto to return to Torchwood or Doctor Who if it was done the right way
He's coming back for a radio drama - but could we be seeing Ianto on the screen as well?
As you may know, fan-favourite Ianto Jones is set to return to the Whoniverse for an upcoming Big Finish audio drama – but actor Gareth David-Lloyd is also keen for his Torchwood character to head back to the TV show, despite his death in 2009 miniseries Children of Earth.
“I’d absolutely come back,” he told RadioTimes.com. “I think it’d have to be done in the right way and I’m sure it would be, with all the brilliantly creative people involved. But there was such drama and such uproar at Ianto’s death – I don’t think it could be something that happened too easily.
“It would have to be a sort of laboured resurrection, a story in itself, rather than just a case of sticking on a resurrection glove and he’s fine again.”
David-Lloyd went on to describe how he felt at the fan “uproar” over Ianto’s death, which included letter campaigns, complaints to writer Russell T Davies (who also worked on parent series Doctor Who) and the construction of a shrine (below) in Cardiff Bay that’s still there 6 years later.
The Ianto Jones shrine in Cardiff Bay, which was started by fans at a filming location used for the Torchwood Hub's back door
“I knew he was popular, and I knew it was going to be upsetting to a lot of people,” the actor said, “but I wasn’t expecting a shrine to be erected and I wasn’t expecting tons of coffee to be sent to the BBC in protest! The uproar and the extent that it went was crazy. Maybe it was a bit too far! But yeah, I was surprised, and very overwhelmed by it all.”
He added: “Having a shrine to a character that you put your work into is really flattering. Surreal, but flattering. It’s great that [Cardiff Bay management] Mermaid Quay have put up a disclaimer – a lot of people were going by, not knowing the show and thinking some poor soul had died under the Waterbus or something.
“But yeah it’s really nice, it’s unbelievable that it’s still kept and maintained to the standard that it is.”
Who said it: Torchwood or Doctor Who?
Gareth David Lloyd's audio drama Torchwood: Fall to Earth will be available from Big Finish this October
For more Whoniverse action, check out Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and more Doctor Who alumni at the Radio Times Festival on Friday 25th September
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
