John Bishop: Doctor Who fans beg for comedian’s return after he’s pictured with screenwriter Russel T Davies

Doctor Who fans have called on the show’s producers to give John Bishop a returning role in the sci-fi show after the comedian was spotted with screenwriter Russel T Davies. The award-winning comedian, 56, from Liverpool, appeared in a picture alongside Davies and Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson after they bumped into each other at an event.

Taking to Instagram this week, Davies wrote: "Phil and I met John Bishop! Dan!!! ????♥️ @bbcdoctorwho @philcollinson @johnbish100." The official Doctor Who Instagram account commented: "You could say you ‘wok’d right into him!"

Fans became extremely excited after seeing the photo and called for John Bishop to reprise his role in an upcoming series. One person commented: "Genuinely deserves some sort of re-appearance. His exit was dismal for his character, unfortunately. John is a legend.." Another added: "Bring him back, please, I’m begging." A third penned: “Please have Dan in your new series!!!,” while a fourth said: “It’s actually criminal that we only got nine episodes of Dan! He’s great.”

John Bishop made his debut in Doctor Who in the first episode of the 13th season, The Halloween Apocalypse. He played Dan Lewis, a companion to Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor but his role was short-lived, and he was written out in last year’s The Power of the Doctor episode.

In the episode, Dan has a near-death experience during an encounter with the CyberMasters and is left shaken by the incident. He later states that he feels unsafe and wants to remain on earth. "I was one hand away from flying off into space and suffocating – I don’t want to push my luck any further," Dan explains. "I mean, all this... all this is amazing, and I’ve had the most incredible time. But it’s not my life – and my life’s far from perfect, but I need to get back to it. I need to attack it. And I can now, ‘cause I’ve been with you."

The comedian  previously appeared in Doctor Who as himself during the 2011 BBC One Christmas Ident. He recently played Vic Goose in the pantomime production Mother Goose alongside Sir Ian McKellen.