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There’s A Secret ‘Doctor Who’ Reference In ‘Haunting Of Bly Manor,’ Actor Reveals

The Haunting of Bly Manor is full of hidden references to various ghosts and spirits, but the most surprising nod might be to the legendary British sci-fi staple Doctor Who that was confirmed by one of the Netflix show’s actors.

By Griffin Matis
October 12, 2020 | 12:08 p.m. CDT
still of Rahul Kohli looking forward with a mustache in a suit as Owen in Haunting of Bly Manor

(Netflix)

The Haunting of Bly Manor, the latest project of horror mastermind Mike Flanagan, is absolutely packed with details. There’s a lot for any paranormal fan to take in with countless ghosts and other haunting references, but thanks to one of the series’ new actors, there’s also a sweet homage to Doctor Who within the series.

Rahul Kohli, best known for his role as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in CW’s iZombie, let fans in on a costume easter egg after one recognized the iconic nature of one of his Bly Manor outfits. According to the British actor, he knew Flanagan was a huge Doctor Who fan and asked for a few special items for his character’s wardrobe to properly honor the legendary series.

“True story, @flanaganfilm is a HUGE Whovian,” Kohli wrote on Twitter. “When deciding on the costume for this scene, I asked for a bow tie and tweed jacket as an homage to The Doctor for Mike.”

https://twitter.com/RahulKohli13/status/1314809169271156736?s=20

As a result, Kohli’s Owen Sharma wears the iconic bow tie and tweed combo that would make any Who fan’s heart flutter. Although from early reviews, it seems as though plenty of folks are already head-over-heels from the actor’s portrayal of the kind chef of Bly Manor. Mindy Kaling herself praised him on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/1315472953400717312?s=20

And it’s not like Whovians are the only ones getting their hopes up about Kohli’s future involvement in a beloved sci-fi franchise. The actor, affectionately nicknamed by fans as “Hollywood’s Bad Boy” as a sort of joke about his good nature and humor, briefly riled up Star Wars fans recently when he made a joke about playing the live-action version of Ezra Bridger, the protagonist of the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

https://twitter.com/RahulKohli13/status/1309229902386913280

While the enthusiastic Star Wars fan base took the playful posts as something a little more serious, Kohli’s currently not attached to any lightsaber-adjacent projects. He’s primarily been involved with the extended DC universe, appearing in CW’s Supergirl and voicing the Scarecrow in HBO Max’s Harley Quinn. However, he does still credit his role as the charmingly dorky Ravi in iZombie as his favorite character to date.

https://twitter.com/RahulKohli13/status/1315524169145094145?s=20

Kohli and Mike Flanagan are working with each other on their next project, Midnight Mass, another Netflix horror series that kicked off production in August. There hasn’t been a whole lot of information out there about the show or its release date, but from what we know, it’ll be another detail-heavy and bone-chilling journey.