10 Actors Who Returned To Doctor Who
Doctor Who might not have seen the last of Christopher Eccleston...
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00:00 Doctor Who is one of those shows that actors can never fully shake.
00:03 You can appear as a canon fodder supporting character in a single episode, and for the
00:09 rest of your career that will be the most iconic thing you've ever done.
00:14 You'll be attending fan conventions and signing autographs for decades, and it will
00:18 be the thing you get asked about the most on social media and in interviews.
00:23 Now sure, the vast majority of Doctor Who actors would probably return if asked to,
00:28 but there are times when said actors, from main stars to companions to one-off supporting
00:35 characters, have publicly discussed that idea, openly declaring their wish to step back into
00:41 the TARDIS for another jaunt around the universe.
00:45 So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are 10 actors who want
00:50 to return to Doctor Who.
00:52 Number 10, Michelle Gomez.
00:54 Michelle Gomez last played the wickedly funny villainess Missy in 2017's series 10 finale,
01:01 where she was seemingly killed off by her prior rather angry incarnation.
01:05 However, in typical master fashion, Missy survived this apparent demise and soon went
01:11 on to torment the 13th Doctor.
01:13 Gomez's infectious energy made her an instant hit with fans, and she clearly had a blast
01:19 in the role, so it's no surprise that she's eager to return at some point in the future.
01:24 In 2019, the actress told Radio Times that she was completely open to stepping back into
01:30 Missy's shoes, expressing particular interest in squaring off against Jodie Whittaker's
01:35 13th Doctor, stating, "Oh gosh, yeah, of course I would.
01:39 I'd love to have a little run around with her.
01:41 I don't know if that's ever gonna happen, but I'm completely open to it, and I'd love
01:44 to see Missy come back in and just get to play again."
01:47 With Whittaker's set to regenerate at the end of 2022, a Missy 13 showdown doesn't
01:53 seem to be on the cards.
01:54 But hey, who knows?
01:56 Maybe Chris Chibnall has managed to squeeze that confrontation into November's centenary
02:00 special.
02:01 Number 9, Billy Piper.
02:03 After leaving the show in 2008's emotional series 4 finale, followed by a brief cameo
02:09 in 2010's The End of Time Part 2, 50th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor saw Billy Piper
02:14 return to Doctor Who, swapping the down-to-earth charm of Rose Tyler for the steely power of
02:20 the Time Lord's superweapon, the Moment.
02:23 As for another return to the show?
02:24 Well, there was a time where she seemed completely disinterested in the idea, telling The Guardian
02:30 that she wouldn't go back.
02:32 But in recent years, she does seem to have warmed to the idea, explaining in a 2021 video
02:37 that if the circumstances and story were right, then she would be more than willing to step
02:42 back into the TARDIS, adding that she's now been away from the show long enough to
02:46 start to miss it.
02:48 Rose is one of the most popular companions to come from the modern series, and seeing
02:53 as it was Russell T Davies who created her, it would seem somewhat poetic for him to include
02:58 her in his second era as showrunner.
03:01 Number 8, Alex Kingston.
03:03 The story of River Song was wrapped up beautifully in the 2015 Christmas special.
03:09 But there are so many reasons why it would make sense for River to come back.
03:13 Chief among these is her wibbly wobbly timeline, which makes it easy to say that her next adventure
03:19 takes place anywhere between Let's Kill Hitler and The Husbands of River Song, with
03:23 little explanation necessary.
03:25 Combining this with the fact that she's one of the most fun companions in the show
03:29 and a perennial fan favourite, it's no surprise that Alex Kingston is gunning for
03:34 River to reappear, declaring that "I love the character and I think that there are wonderful
03:39 potential opportunities down the road" in a 2019 interview.
03:44 With such an open-ended timeline, it wouldn't be a shock to see River pop up for another
03:49 one-off adventure.
03:50 She is the Doctor's wife, after all.
03:52 Number 7, Carol Ann Ford.
03:54 As companion Susan Foreman, Carol Ann Ford's last Doctor Who appearance was in 1983's
03:59 The Five Doctors.
04:01 We don't talk about dimensions in time.
04:03 So, it's been a fair old while since we saw her in the role.
04:07 Despite this, Ford clearly doesn't feel like she's lost that spark, or that she's
04:11 rusty.
04:12 In a 2020 interview with SFX Magazine, the actress was asked if she wanted to return
04:16 to the show, perhaps for an adventure with Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor, to which
04:22 she responded in the affirmative.
04:24 Ford also told a hilarious story about the time she visited Peter Capaldi on the Doctor
04:29 Who set.
04:30 According to her, Mr. Attack Eyebrows danced around the TARDIS singing "I want you to
04:34 come back, I want you to come back", which prompted her to think "My God, I'd love
04:38 to work with him".
04:39 A photograph of Susan famously appeared on the 12th Doctor's desk in the Series 10
04:45 opener.
04:46 So, if we take this to mean that the Doctor is still thinking about her, then there is
04:49 an in-built story reason to bring Susan back.
04:53 That and the fact that the First Doctor literally promised Susan that he would visit her again,
04:58 a promise he has yet to fulfil.
05:00 Number 6.
05:01 David Tennant.
05:02 Since regenerating into Matt Smith in early 2010, David Tennant's 10th Doctor has been
05:07 in so many comics, video games and audio dramas, and a starring role in the 50th special, that
05:13 it never really felt like he truly left.
05:16 Given his willingness to come back for all those expanded media projects over the years,
05:21 it isn't a surprise that he's also keen to return in an on-screen capacity.
05:26 Saying in a 2019 interview that he'd love to see a 60th anniversary special that united
05:32 him with Whittaker, Capaldi, Smith and Eccleston's Doctors.
05:35 In a more recent 2021 interview, he added "Anything is possible.
05:41 Never say never to anything".
05:43 Given the 10th Doctor's popularity being as high as it is, and Tennant's old pal Russell
05:48 T Davies returning to spearhead Doctor Who in 2023, it almost seems inevitable that we
05:54 will see Tennant don the converse and brown coat again within the next few years.
05:59 Number 5.
06:00 Georgia Tennant.
06:01 Whenever the subject of abandoned Doctor Who plot threads is raised, one that almost always
06:07 gets mentioned is the fate of Jenny, the Doctor's daughter.
06:11 Though Russell T Davies and Stephen Moffat have jokingly revealed that she flew into
06:15 a moon and died, we don't know what she's been up to since her last on-screen appearance
06:21 14 years ago.
06:23 Mrs Georgia Tennant, David's wife, was never asked to return to the show, but to this day
06:27 she continues to hold out hope that the call might arrive.
06:31 In a recent chat with Metro, Tennant stated that she would obviously return to the show
06:35 if asked, adding that she even has her own storyline in mind.
06:38 "I like the idea that she's sort of gone off and had a couple of kids and she's let
06:42 herself go a bit.
06:43 And she's enjoying her life and then someone comes back and goes, 'No, come on, you've
06:47 got to go back to work.'"
06:49 Considering that the Doctor believes Jenny to be dead, there's quite a lot of dramatic
06:53 potential for reuniting these characters on screen.
06:56 And if the 14th Doctor is a woman, it would be interesting to see Jenny's reaction to
07:01 her father's new look.
07:03 Number 4 - Paul McGann
07:04 As Doctors go, Paul McGann's 8th is in a unique position.
07:08 Having not been granted a full series of television, audiences don't know his Doctor as well as
07:14 they know the rest of them.
07:15 So it almost feels like a no-brainer to bring him back.
07:18 McGann himself also shares this stance, telling Doctor Who magazine in 2016 that he feels
07:24 like his on-screen tenure isn't yet over, and that there's a bit of potential in an
07:29 8th Doctor return.
07:30 He then jokingly added "I'm younger than Capaldi" before explaining that if he were to return,
07:35 then the story reasons would have to be compelling.
07:38 The positive response to The Night of the Doctor proves that there's still a hunger
07:42 for McGann's take on the Time Lord, and it just feels right for him to get his due.
07:48 Number 3 - Matt Smith
07:50 Matt Smith has made the jump to Hollywood since leaving Doctor Who in 2013.
07:55 With starring roles in Terminator Genisys, Netflix's historical epic The Crown, Edgar
08:00 Wright's Last Night in Soho, and this year's Morbius.
08:04 Like Karen Gillan, it almost feels like he's getting too big to step back down into the
08:09 relatively low-budget world of Doctor Who.
08:11 But despite all his success, he still wouldn't mind donning the tweed jacket and bow tie
08:16 at some point in the future.
08:19 In fact, in 2017, he didn't just tell MTV that he wants to come back, he openly declared
08:25 that he will be back one day.
08:27 "Yeah, why not?
08:28 I'd come back if the timing was right.
08:30 Look, I'll be back one day when I'm old and grey, which isn't far off."
08:34 Much like the 10th Doctor, Eleven's popularity makes him one of the top candidates for a
08:40 return.
08:41 And with Smith still being so young, he could get away with playing the role for many decades
08:45 to come.
08:46 Number 2, Christopher Eccleston.
08:48 For well over a decade, the narrative surrounding a potential return to Doctor Who for Christopher
08:53 Eccleston has been that he will never do it in a million years, primarily due to the poor
08:58 experience he had during his short tenure on the series in the mid-2000s.
09:03 And while it's certainly true that he has problems with the way the show was run during
09:07 his brief tenure, the actor does seem to have softened on Doctor Who in recent years, and
09:13 has even opened himself up to a potential on-screen return.
09:16 Many fans thought they'd never see Eccleston return to play the 9th Doctor in any capacity,
09:21 and yet in 2020, it was announced that he'd be reprising the role for a series of big
09:26 Finnish audio dramas, a clear sign that he wasn't totally averse to dipping his feet
09:31 in Whoniverse waters.
09:33 More recently, he's gone one step further, indicating that he'd be down for a proper
09:37 on-screen return, just not in a multi-Doctor special, stating
09:41 "The 9th Doctor in particular is a one-man band, definitely.
09:46 So he doesn't work with other Doctors.
09:47 If you want me back, you get me on my own."
09:49 With Eccleston's rocky history with the show, it does feel unlikely that we'll see him picking
09:54 up that sonic screwdriver once again, but the chances of it happening have increased
09:59 slightly in recent years.
10:01 Number 1.
10:02 Catherine Tate In early 2021, it was reported that Catherine
10:06 Tate had been spotted in Liverpool at the exact same time that Doctor Who were filming
10:12 Series 13 in that city.
10:14 And while it was later revealed that she very much wasn't in Liverpool, this flimsy rumour
10:19 caused quite the stir in Doctor Who fan circles.
10:22 So you can imagine how hyped people would be if Donna Noble did actually return to the
10:27 show.
10:28 Fortunately then, Catherine Tate is very much open to the idea, telling The One Show, "No
10:33 one's been in touch, but I'm on the same number, I'd just like to say.
10:36 So if you've got the money, I've got the time."
10:38 Donna is another character closely associated with returning showrunner Russell T Davies,
10:43 and so on the surface at least, that does increase the chances of him wheeling her out
10:47 for another spin.
10:48 You simply cannot contain the best temp in Chiswick.
10:51 And that concludes our list.
10:53 If you can think of any other actors who would be willing to return to Doctor Who, then do
10:57 let us know in the comments below.
10:59 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:03 Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
11:07 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:10 I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself, "Goodbye,
11:14 sweeties."
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