Should Christopher Eccleston return to Doctor Who? Yes. But will it happen? Don't count on it.
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00:00Doctor Who is one of those rare shows where there's always the possibility for a character
00:04to return. With everything being so wibbly wobbly and timey wimey and really just quite weird,
00:09to be honest, things like death don't really mean much. I mean, Rory died like a million times and
00:14he just kept coming back. That said, some stars of the show are on record that they're unlikely
00:20to ever return, and here are the reasons why. I'm Ellie for WhoCulture and this is 10 actors
00:25who won't return to Doctor Who. Number 10. Daphne Ashbrook
00:29Despite only appearing in one TV story, the Eighth Doctor had an incredible afterlife,
00:35featuring in countless books, comics and audio dramas, before returning to our screens in The
00:39Night of the Doctor and The Power of the Doctor. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his
00:44first companion, Grace Holloway. Sure, Grace declined the Doctor's offer of a place in the
00:49TARDIS at the end of the TV movie, but we still might have reasonably expected her to show up
00:54again at some point. While Daphne Ashbrook has appeared in Big Finish audios as other characters,
00:59she's never appeared as Grace. As she recalled in 2022, this is because the TV movie was an
01:05American co-production. She said, If the character can't even come back on audio,
01:19then I would say it's pretty safe to assume that a TV return is also firmly off the table.
01:24It's a sad state of affairs, which basically means that Grace's story will never be concluded.
01:30I guess just make one up in your head. Number 9. Billie Piper
01:33Unlike her Series 1 co-lead, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper got on well enough
01:38with the production team to continue for a second series, before returning to the show in 2008,
01:432010 and 2013. These days, she's busy with other projects, such as I Hate Susie,
01:49a show she also co-created. And also, she starred in three seasons of Rose Tyler,
01:54The Dimension Canon for Big Finish, plus a handful of other audio stories alongside David Tennant.
01:58So now she's less inclined to play Rose again on TV. As she insisted in one 2022 interview,
02:04any comeback would have to be on her own, very particular terms. She said,
02:08If it was shot in London. Sorry, that's a really loveless answer. There's a running theme here,
02:12I don't want to do much work. If it was like four episodes all shot in London, then yeah,
02:15I'd be like a rat up a drain pipe for that. Given that Doctor Who is currently based in
02:19Cardiff, a Rose return therefore seems unlikely, fitting as it would be for the
02:23Bad Wolf to set foot inside Bad Wolf Studios. In 2021, she also stated,
02:28I wouldn't go back. It's a great role, but you're away from your kids for so long.
02:32So while on other occasions she has seemed more open to a return,
02:36it would clearly take a lot to coax her back for another go.
02:39Number 8. Tom Baker With William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton,
02:43and Jon Pertwee long since past, Tom Baker is the oldest living Doctor actor. Initially,
02:49he was reluctant to return, declining the opportunity to appear in The Five Doctors,
02:53but he's made up for it in the years since, from 1993's Dimensions in Time to the 2017
02:58edition of Sharder. The jewel in the crown has to be his return as the curator in 2013's The
03:04Day of the Doctor though. But might this end up being his last contribution to televised
03:08Doctor Who? With the great man having recently turned 90 and not as mobile as he once was,
03:13it seems more likely than not. Baker was invited to appear in The Power of the Doctor as one of
03:18the Guardians of the Edge, but wasn't available. It doesn't sound like he wants to come back
03:22either, recently telling Radio Times that he quotes, avoids the other Doctors.
03:26Not with any malice, he said. A degree of contempt perhaps, but mildly. Mildly contemptuous.
03:32Hopefully we do see the fourth Doctor or the Curator again, but it doesn't seem likely at the
03:37moment. 7. Sophia Miles
03:40Every now and then, Doctor Who guest characters come back for more. Craig Irwin's, Professor
03:44Travers' and Riggsy were all conceived as one-offs but ended up returning. Quite often, a guest
03:49actor is very in-demand to begin with, or becomes that way after appearing in the show, making it
03:53difficult for them to commit to multiple episodes. That's why the likes of Sally Sparrow have never
03:58returned, despite Carey Mulligan recently expressing interest in revisiting the character.
04:02Madame de Pompadour was another Steven Moffat creation who left a lasting impact. However,
04:07actress Sophia Miles ruled out a return as early as 2008, feeling it would cheapen The Girl in the
04:13Fireplace. She said, I feel so happy that that episode was the one that I did, because it was
04:17so magical and special. I feel like to go back, I don't know if it could ever be as fabulous as
04:22that. Years later, she said she'd be open to returning as a different character, but to do
04:26so any time soon would be quote, inappropriate. Now, Miles did end up playing Renette again in
04:32the Doctor Who lockdown short, Pompadour, but those were rare circumstances. It's unlikely
04:37she'll ever return to Doctor Who properly though. Number six, Matthew Waterhouse.
04:42The part of precocious boy genius Adrick was something of a poisoned chalice,
04:46requiring a certain degree of teenage arrogance. But actor Matthew Waterhouse didn't help himself,
04:51often behaving in a questionable manner on set. Famously, he dared to offer acting
04:55advice to his more experienced co-stars. Still, Adrick's death is repeatedly ranked as one of
05:00the show's most harrowing and emotional moments. Characters needn't stay dead in Doctor Who,
05:05however, and Waterhouse briefly returned for the very next story to play an Adrick apparition.
05:10But might he return again in the future? Well, it's not looking good. According to an anecdote
05:15shared by Waterhouse on Twitter, he wasn't invited back for the 2023 anthology series,
05:20Tales of the TARDIS, and he only found out about the project by accident after bumping
05:25into Fraser Hines and Wendy Padbury in Cardiff. He lamented,
05:28Sadly, they've been unable to record any fourth Doctor introductions,
05:32Adrick being dead, Tom rarely venturing forth, Lala abroad, and Louise far too busy.
05:37While he may not ever appear again physically, Adrick was name-dropped in both The Power of
05:42the Doctor and The Giggle. So, you know, swings and roundabouts, I guess?
05:47Maisie Williams When Maisie Williams' Doctor Who casting
05:50was announced, rumours were rife that she was playing a new companion, and it's not hard to
05:55see why. Not only was she well-established thanks to Game of Thrones, but the photos
05:59accompanying the press release added fuel to the fire, showing her in the TARDIS, in contemporary
06:04dress, looking very much at home. As we now know, Williams ended up playing a very different sort of
06:09character. But even so, when Clara departed at the end of Series 9, it was speculated that a
06:14shielder might replace her. In 2016, Williams put the rumours firmly to bed, insisting that,
06:20quote, I'm not going to be working on Doctor Who again. Everyone's hyping about it, which is very
06:24exciting, but no, I'm not going to return. I have a lot of other really exciting projects
06:29lined up instead. Much more recently, however, Williams said that she would return to Doctor
06:34Who, and that she, quote, would love to work with Chuti Gatwa. Mixed signals, much?
06:39However, given that her original denial was pretty definitive, and the whole Clara slash
06:43me ending was very divisive, it's difficult to imagine this character ever being revisited.
06:484. Annika Wills The companion support group brought together
06:52a host of companions who were still living on Earth, but some were conspicuously absent. Despite
06:57being mentioned in the script, there was no Martha Jones, and similarly, Tosin Cole's busy schedule
07:02meant that Ryan couldn't appear. And where the hell was Brian Williams? Looking further back,
07:06all the heavy hitters from the 80s were there, along with Ian Chesterton and Joe Grant. Sadly,
07:12many of the 60s and 70s alumni are no longer with us, hence why they weren't joined by Victoria,
07:18Liz or Sarah Jane. All things considered, there was one slightly puzzling omission, though.
07:23Annika Wills as Polly. Like Ian, Polly returned to Earth following her travels in the TARDIS,
07:28and like Ian's actor, William Russell, Annika Wills is still with us. So why was she not there
07:33alongside him? Well, as reported by Radio Times, Wills was invited to appear in the scene,
07:38but felt it was more important to tend to her garden. Apparently, she said,
07:41I heard it was quite brief, so I'm glad I stayed and did my brambles instead.
07:45Huh, what a legend. Somehow I like her even more now. But she doesn't sound too keen,
07:50does she? And with Wills not getting any younger, we can pretty much rule out a
07:53return for Polly on TV, I think. Number three, Christopher Eccleston.
07:58Most previous Doctors are only too happy to come back. Jodie Whittaker is already gunning for a
08:02return, and she's only just left. But for the ninth Doctor, it's a little bit more complicated.
08:07Christopher Eccleston arguably had a harder time on the show than any other Doctor. He fell out
08:11with the producers almost immediately over perceived failures that still remain shrouded
08:16in mystery, and as a result, he decided to leave after just one year. If that wasn't bad enough,
08:21he was battling with anorexia at the time, and if that wasn't bad enough,
08:24he was blacklisted by the BBC and vilified by the press following his departure.
08:29Guy can't catch a break. Eccleston has since made peace with the show and its fans,
08:33embracing the world of conventions and reprising the ninth Doctor on audio. However,
08:37he's maintained that he'll only return on TV when quote, hell freezes over.
08:43Not looking good, is it? In a more recent interview, he was clearer than ever about
08:47what it would take for him to come back, saying, sack Russell T. Davis, sack Jane Tranter,
08:51sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner, and I'll come back. Not sure if they're gonna do that,
08:56I'm afraid. Of course, if the BBC did ever manage to make up with Eccleston, his return would be
09:01an amazing moment, but if you think that's ever gonna happen, you're probably going to be waiting
09:05a very long time. 2. Lala Ward
09:09Romana was a very different type of companion, more the Doctor's equal than his assistant,
09:13and over the years, fans have repeatedly called for her to return. However, if we do ever see
09:18Romana again, she almost certainly won't be played by either of the actors that originally
09:23portrayed her, one of whom is sadly no longer with us, and one of whom no longer lives in the UK.
09:27That's because Lala Ward moved to Hong Kong in 2018, which would make any kind of TV return
09:33completely impractical. Add to that the fact that there's still tension between her and Tom Baker
09:37as a result of a whirlwind romance during their time on the show, and acrimonious separation
09:42shortly afterwards, I might add, and it becomes clear why we never got a fourth Doctor Romana
09:47Tales of the TARDIS. Mark Strickson is in a similar situation, not because he married and
09:51divorced Tom Baker, but because he now lives in New Zealand, so don't expect to see Turlough again
09:56either. 1. Peter Capaldi
09:58Christopher Eccleston isn't the only new series Doctor who refuses to return. Now,
10:02Peter Capaldi doesn't have any bad feeling about his time as the 12th Doctor, that we know of at
10:07least. He was a massive Doctor Who fan before he landed the part, and remains one to this day,
10:11recently describing the 60th anniversary specials as quote, wonderful. However,
10:16he's also been very clear that he won't be appearing in the show again. Instead,
10:19he's focusing on new projects, such as critically acclaimed series The Devil's Hour and Criminal
10:24Record. He recently affirmed, I love Doctor Who. I love it in all of its forms, but I've sort of
10:30done my time on it, and I like the idea that you leave that as it is, instead of constantly digging
10:34up more of it. But if you want the even better answer, here is a response that he gave when
10:38asked about a return, bluntly saying, no. Frustrating as the prospect of no more 12th
10:43Doctor might be, you can see where Capaldi is coming from, even if it is highly distressing
10:47that we'll never see the sonic shades ever again. You know what, I can live with that.
10:52And there you have it. But while we're on the topic of Doctor Who actors,
10:54why not check out our video about Series 1 and where the cast are now. In the meantime,
10:59I've been Ellie for WhoCulture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye, sweeties.