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Daniel "Dan" Lewis was a companion of the Thirteenth Doctor. He joined Yasmin Khan in the Doctor's TARDIS as they faced the Flux, an unforeseen threat to the very structure of the cosmos.
Dan lived a simple life in Liverpool before being thrust into the Doctor's world. He remained open and inquisitive, and challenged Karvanista when he was taken away from home, to outer space. He was interested, most of all, in other people. On the other hand, he could be a little bit careless. For example, Diane obviously expected him to be late for a date, calling him the "late Dan".
Biography
Life in Liverpool
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Dan was born an Aries, (TV: Welcome to the TARDIS...) to Eileen and Neville Lewis. (TV: War of the Sontarans)
As an adult, Dan lived in the Anfield district of Liverpool at 37 Granger Street and supported Liverpool F.C.. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Around 2006, Dan was engaged and due to be married. However, two days before the wedding, his fiancée changed her mind. She informed him that she "couldn't bear spending the rest of her life with [him]" and "thought she could do better". Dan had truly loved her. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
Following the 2021 Dalek civil war, Dan's friend read out Dan's horoscope, which foretold that he would find surprises later that year, that the colour blue and the letter D would be important and that thirteen would be his lucky number. He was told to be prepared for action and to remember that, no matter what, it would not be the end of the world. After his friend finished, Dan closed the rear doors of his Ford Transit, turned, and smiled. (TV: Welcome to the TARDIS...)
Dan volunteered at Jenning Street Food Bank, but refused to take home soup for himself when offered, even though he had no food at home. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Dan surprised his friend Diane with a skinny latte as she was leaving work. The pair went on a walk around Liverpool. When she asked him why he wasn't married, he told her about what had happened with his fiancee. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
Dan regularly took groups round the Museum of Liverpool in an unofficial capacity, against the wishes of Museum management. Though Diane had a close personal relationship with Dan, Alan threatened to ban him from the site permanently. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Meeting the Doctor
On Halloween night, 2021, Dan was in his home on Granger Street in Anfield, when three children came to his house, trick-or-treating. He gave them the last of his sweets, and they left. A few seconds later, a man came to Dan's home, asking for sweets; Dan turned him away, both because he was an adult, and because he was not even dressed up.
Later that night, Dan was kidnapped by Karvanista, who intended to rescue him from the Flux. He found himself on Karvanista's ship.
Meanwhile, the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan followed Karvanista's trail to Dan's house, which was miniaturised when they triggered technology he had planted there.
The Doctor and Yaz came to rescue him, confronted Karvanista, and took Dan aboard the Doctor's TARDIS. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Travels in the TARDIS
Dan and Karvanista later teamed up together to destroy the Sontaran fleet of timeships that were posed to invade all of Earth's history. The two managed to escape using a waste chute. When the Doctor returned, Dan accepted her offer to join her as she departed for the planet Time. On Time, Swarm was waiting for them in the Temple of Atropos. He had put Yaz and Inston-Vee Vinder in the places of two Mouri, and prepared to expose them to the full force of time. (TV: War of the Sontarans)
The Doctor shoved Dan onto a Mouri pedestal, while she leapt onto another and used her sonic screwdriver, trapping Dan, Yaz, Vinder and herself in a time storm. Protected in his time stream by the Doctor, Dan relived a day he went on a walk with Diane, and discussed his past relationships. However, Dan noticed some inconsistencies, such as time passing in the blink of an eye. Fidgeting out of his time stream, Dan found himself somewhere else. He ran into Joseph Williamson while running away, though he wasn't quite sure from what he was running.
While Dan was safe, trapped in a memory, the Doctor replaced the missing Mouri and safely returned Dan to the temple. Swarm showed Dan a glimpse of Diane, who he had kidnapped and imprisoned in a Passenger form. Vinder and later the Doctor promised to help Dan save her. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
Both Dan and Yaz were studiously operating the TARDIS when the Thirteenth Doctor sent a distress call about the arrival of the Flux. Dan then called out to the Doctor, saying that he and Yaz needed her help. (TV: The Flux is Coming...) Dan later watched in horror as a Weeping Angel came out of Yaz's phone and took control of the Tardis. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
After the Doctor rebooted the Tardis to get rid of the Weeping Angel, she, Dan and Yaz arrived at the village of Medderton on 21 November 1967. Whilst helping to look for a missing girl named Peggy, Dan and Yaz were touched by another Weeping Angel and were sent back in time to Medderton in 1901. They were later joined by Professor Eustacius Jericho, who had also been touched by a Weeping Angel. Dan and Yaz, via an energy barrier showing what was happening in 1967, witnessed the Doctor being surrounded by Weeping Angels and turned into one after being recalled to the Division. Dan had to stop Yaz from going through the energy barrier to get to the Doctor as doing so would have resulted in her death. (TV: Village of the Angels)
Dan, Yaz and Jericho spent three years in the 1900s following instructions from the Doctor, who had left a holographic message in Yaz's pocket in case they were separated, to find clues to a potential coming battle for Earth. (TV: Survivors of the Flux) During this time, Dan realised that Yaz harboured romantic feelings for the Doctor, although they did not discuss the matter, and Yaz didn't know that Dan knew. (TV: Eve of the Daleks) In 1904 they learnt the date of the future event was 5 December and consulted a seer for further details, who advised them to "fetch their dog". Taking that as a clue to contact Karvanista they travelled to the Great Wall of China where they painted a message large enough for the Lupar to see from space in 2021, asking him to come rescue Dan.
Aboard a ship leaving China, they were attacked by a man, who committed suicide rather than be interrogated by them, and encountered Joseph Williamson briefly, who Dan had previously met during the time storm. Realising Williamson's tunnels might be a way of moving through time, they travelled to Liverpool and entered them, finding Williamson again who explained his tunnels went throughout history. To their shock, a group of Sontarans suddenly invaded the Tunnels. (TV: Survivors of the Flux).
When Yaz is able to defeat the Sontarans by opening one of the other doorways, which unleash death rays that kill the Sontarans. Dan, Yaz, Jericho and Williamson then met Kate Stewart, who scans Dan and Yaz and discovers that they have been in the Tardis. Just then the Doctor appears and learns from the others about the Sontarans. Dan aids the Doctor with Yaz and Jericho in travelling back to 1967 to recruit Claire Brown to help them defeat the Sontarans. Dan and Yaz go with the Doctor to a Sontaran ship in Chile where they find another version of the Doctor being interrogated by The Grand Serpent and save her. Dan also rescues Karvanista and learns that the Sontarans had killed the other Lupari, leaving Karvanista as the last of his kind. Dan later reunites with Diane after the Doctor saves her and Vinder after that had been placed inside a Passenger. After the Sontarans are consumed by the Flux, which is then placed inside the Passenger, Dan, Yaz and the Doctor bid Karvanista, who has teamed up with Vinder his life partner Bel. They also drop off Kate and Claire on present day Earth. Sometime later, Dan is seen again pretending to be a tour guide at The Museum of Liverpool. Dan then meets with Diane and says that they can make up for the drink they missed because of what happened. However, Diane, because of the experiences, turns down the offer. Dan then leaves the museum where he meets the Doctor and Yaz, who offer him to join them officially, which he happily accepts. (TV: The Vanquishers).
After the Flux
Now travelling for pleasure as a trio, Dan, the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz went to see a pantomime of Cinderella, which took a turn for the adventurous after the Doctor tried something during the interval to make the show more exciting, only to accidentally summon real versions of various pantomime characters to the theater. Though Dan had to duel Captain Hook (while Yaz fought off the Crocodile), the Doctor was able to put things to right using one of the three wishes from a magic lamp, and things returned to normal, allowing the time travellers to witness the second half of the real show. Dan suggested that the Doctor use the second one of her three wishes to give ice cream to all the children in the audience. (COMIC: It's Behind You!)
A week after Dan began travelling with her and Yaz, the Doctor engaged a self-reset process that rendered her TARDIS temporarily unusable in order to purge it of the Flux's residue. As an unintended side-effect, she and her companions, now including Dan, became trapped in a time loop at ELF Storage in Manchester, alongside the building's owner Sarah and her eventual love interest Nick. A small Dalek execution squad infiltrated the building, trying to find and exterminate the Doctor, leading to the group being exterminated over and over again, resetting the time loop each time, until they found a way to escape the building before midnight while destroying the Daleks. During these events, Dan had a soulful conversation with Yaz, revealing that he had noticed that she had romantic feelings for the Doctor. When she confirmed it and told that she "didn't know what to do", he urged her to speak her mind to the Doctor, also advising the Doctor — who he knew was aware of these feelings — to stop avoiding the conversation and feigning obliviousness. (TV: Eve of the Daleks)
In 2022, the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, and Dan each work their way around a town, brandishing a "missing girl" poster and asking passers-by if they have seen her because her mum is scared. Later, the trio meet up and share that none of them have been successful in finding any information. However, they turn to a nearby alley wall and notice three more "missing" posters alongside one advertising a Roman Empire-themed party and another advertising the Hydra's Gate History Society's ghost tour of the nearby Hydra Hall. Wondering if they are relevant, the Doctor and Dan decide to visit the hall while Yaz goes party hunting.
Upon reaching Hydra Hall, the Doctor and Dan find the huge manor to be dilapidated and surrounded in gates adorned with no-entry signs, adding that any deliveries should be redirected to the Hydra Lodge cottage next door. They knock on the door and the owner, Vera, invites them inside for a cup of tea once they confirm they don't want to buy the hall.
As the Doctor and Vera talk, Dan takes a phone call from Yaz who says she's found the Roman legionary party at the hall, causing them to leave Vera in a hurry.
Arriving at Hydra Hall, the Doctor and Dan find it glowing with energy, seemingly restored to top condition, with apparitions of Roman soldiers nearby. However, as they approach, the hall returns to normal as the Doctor discovers Yaz's smashed phone on the ground. As she picks it up, a young boy approaches them, saying that the Germans "did a number on the old house". Confused, the Doctor asks him what year it is, and he simply replies it is the same as it was yesterday: 1942. (COMIC: Hydra's Gate)
Psychological profile
Personality
Dan considered others' needs often before his own, volunteering at his local food bank and giving out treats for Halloween while he did not have food for himself at home. According to Wilma, whom he volunteered with, his continued refusal to take food home was a matter of pride. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Liverpool was central to Dan's identity. He knew much about the city, and felt strongly about its rivalry with Leeds. He even distrusted Yasmin Khan, at least in jest, for her association with Sheffield, which was "too close to Leeds". (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse) He had a similar reaction, when he found out that he arrived in Manchester. (TV: Eve of the Daleks)
When faced with the unknown, Dan tended towards quick, rational conclusions, and had no trouble asserting his reality. He reasoned that an adult trick-or-treater should not be given candy, that Karvanista must have been play-acting in costume, and should leave his home, and later, when faced with the reality of Karvanista's spaceship, that he must have captured Dan in particular for a reason. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Nonetheless, he remained open to new possibilities, and adapted quickly, even joking that he had a friend with a TARDIS which was even "bigger", moments into first encountering dimensional transcendentalism. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
Skills
As part of the crew, Dan knew how to operate the controls of the TARDIS control console, at least to some extent. (TV: The Flux is Coming...)
Behind the scenes
- The role of Dan was written specifically for John Bishop.[1]
- John Bishop considered his casting to "be a dream come true", as he would have never believed it when he was younger.[2]
- As Dan Lewis is said to be an Aries, this would place the character's date of birth from 20 March to 21 April, if the Zodiac of the real world holds true in the Doctor Who universe.
- Dan appeared in the invalid webcast A Message.
- An art card of Dan Lewis was included in DWM 570.
The art card of Dan Lewis in DWM 570. - Dan Lewis' apparent dislike for Leeds, and nearby Sheffield, in The Halloween Apocalypse is most likely banter, stemming from the historic rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Dan is a born Liverpudlian, and Scouse and the city of Liverpool was historically part of Lancashire before the reform of county boundaries in 1974; both Leeds and Sheffield are typical Yorkshire cities. In Eve of the Daleks, he reacted in a similar manner, when he found out that he was in Manchester, due to the historic rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester.
- It's Behind You!, published on 9 December 2021, was the first appearance of Dan in both a non-televisual story and in the comic medium. It was also his second full story, following the serial Flux.
Evil Dan
After The Halloween Apocalypse first aired, "Evil Dan", an internet meme humorously depicting Dan as a nihilistic, gluttonous villain in fan-edited videos, rapidly became popular on YouTube and Twitter.[3] In the week following the broadcast of War of the Sontarans, Bishop retweeted one of the videos and said that he loved it.[4]
Two days after The Vanquishers aired, James Lee, a CGI artist for BBV Productions, posted an unofficial parody video on his YouTube channel using his Cyberon CGI models (as also used in Cyberon is Back!! and More Than Human...) under the title of Evil Dan vs Cyberon, which inserted "Evil Dan" into the climax of the original BBV Cyberon film.[5]