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Doctor Who might not have seen the last of Christopher Eccleston...
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00:00Doctor Who is one of those shows that actors can never fully shake.
00:04You can appear as a cannon fodder supporting character in a single episode, and for the
00:09rest of your career that will be the most iconic thing you've ever done.
00:14You'll be attending fan conventions and signing autographs for decades, and it will be the
00:19thing you get asked about the most on social media and in interviews.
00:23Now sure, the vast majority of Doctor Who actors would probably return if asked to, but there
00:29are times when said actors, from main stars to companions to one-off supporting characters,
00:36have publicly discussed that idea, openly declaring their wish to step back into the TARDIS for
00:42another jaunt around the universe.
00:45So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are 10 actors who want
00:50to return to Doctor Who.
00:52Number 10 – Michelle Gomez
00:54Michelle Gomez last played the wickedly funny villainess Missy in 2017's Series 10 finale,
01:01where she was seemingly killed off by her prior, rather angry incarnation.
01:06However, in typical master fashion, Missy survived this apparent demise and soon went on to torment
01:12the 13th Doctor.
01:13Gomez's infectious energy made her an instant hit with fans, and she clearly had a blast in
01:19the role, so it's no surprise that she's eager to return at some point in the future.
01:24In 2019, the actress told Radio Times that she was completely open to stepping back into Missy's
01:31shoes, expressing particular interest in squaring off against Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor, stating,
01:38Oh gosh, yeah, of course I would. I'd love to have a little run around with her. I don't know if that's
01:42ever going to happen, but I'm completely open to it, and I'd love to see Missy come back in and just
01:46get to play again.
01:47With Whittaker sets to regenerate at the end of 2022, a Missy 13 showdown doesn't seem to be on the cards.
01:54But hey, who knows? Maybe Chris Chibnall has managed to squeeze that confrontation into November's
02:00centenary special.
02:01Number 9 – Billy Piper
02:03After leaving the show in 2008's emotional series 4 finale, followed by a brief cameo in 2010's The
02:10End of Time Part 2, 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor saw Billy Piper return to Doctor Who,
02:16swapping the down-to-earth charm of Rose Tyler for the steely power of the Time Lord superweapon,
02:22The Moment.
02:23As for another return to the show? Well, there was a time where she seemed completely disinterested in
02:29the idea, telling The Guardian that she wouldn't go back.
02:32But in recent years, she does seem to have warmed to the idea, explaining in a 2021 video that if the
02:38circumstances and story were right, then she would be more than willing to step back into the TARDIS,
02:44adding that she's now been away from the show long enough to start to miss it.
02:48Rose is one of the most popular companions to come from the modern series, and seeing as it was Russell T.
02:54Davies who created her, it would seem somewhat poetic for him to include her in his second era as showrunner.
03:01Number eight, Alex Kingston. The story of River Song was wrapped up beautifully in the 2015
03:07Christmas special. But there are so many reasons why it would make sense for River to come back.
03:14Chief among these is her wibbly-wobbly timeline, which makes it easy to say that her next adventure
03:19takes place anywhere between Let's Kill Hitler and the husbands of River Song, with little explanation
03:25necessary. Combining this with the fact that she's one of the most fun companions in the show and a
03:30perennial fan favourite, and it's no surprise that Alex Kingston is gunning for River to reappear,
03:36declaring that I love the character and I think that there are wonderful potential opportunities
03:41down the road in a 2019 interview. With such an open-ended timeline, it wouldn't be a shock to
03:47see River pop up for another one-off adventure. She is the Doctor's wife after all.
03:52Number seven, Carol Ann Ford. As companion Susan Foreman, Carol Ann Ford's last Doctor Who appearance
03:58was in 1983's The Five Doctors. We don't talk about dimensions in time. So it's been a fair old
04:04while since we saw her in the role. Despite this, Ford clearly doesn't feel like she's lost that spark,
04:10or that she's rusty. In a 2020 interview with SFX Magazine, the actress was asked if she wanted to
04:16return to the show, perhaps for an adventure with Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor, to which she responded
04:23in the affirmative. Ford also told a hilarious story about the time she visited Peter Capaldi
04:28on the Doctor Who set. According to her, Mr. Attack Eyebrows danced around the TARDIS singing,
04:34I want you to come back, I want you to come back, which prompted her to think,
04:38my god I'd love to work with him. A photograph of Susan famously appeared on the 12th Doctor's desk
04:44in the Series 10 opener. So if we take this to mean that the Doctor is still thinking about her,
04:49then there is an inbuilt story reason to bring Susan back. That and the fact that the first Doctor
04:55literally promised Susan that he would visit her again, a promise he has yet to fulfil.
05:00Number six, David Tennant. Since regenerating into Matt Smith in early 2010,
05:05David Tennant's 10th Doctor has been in so many comics, video games and audio dramas,
05:11and a starring role in the 50th special, that it never really felt like he truly left.
05:16Given his willingness to come back for all those expanded media projects over the years,
05:21it isn't a surprise that he's also keen to return in an on-screen capacity. Stating in a 2019
05:27interview that he'd love to see a 60th anniversary special that united him with Whittaker,
05:33Capaldi, Smith and Eccleston's Doctors. In a more recent 2021 interview, he added,
05:39anything is possible. Never say never to anything. Given the 10th Doctor's popularity being as high
05:45as it is, and Tennant's old pal Russell T Davies returning to spearhead Doctor Who in 2023,
05:52it almost seems inevitable that we will see Tennant don the converse and browncoat again within the
05:58next few years. Number five, Georgia Tennant. Whenever the subject of abandoned Doctor Who
06:04plot threads is raised, one that almost always gets mentioned is the fate of Jenny, the Doctor's
06:11daughter. Though Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have jokingly revealed that she flew into a moon and
06:16died, we don't know what she's been up to since her last on-screen appearance 14 years ago. Actress Georgia
06:23Tennant, David's wife, was never asked to return to the show, but to this day she continues to hold
06:29out hope that the call might arrive. In a recent chat with Metro, Tennant stated that she would
06:33obviously return to the show if asked, adding that she even has her own storyline in mind.
06:38I like the idea that she's sort of gone off and had a couple of kids and she's let herself go a bit,
06:43and she's enjoying her life and then someone comes back and goes,
06:47no, come on, you've got to go back to work. Considering that the Doctor believes Jenny to be dead,
06:51there's quite a lot of dramatic potential for reuniting these characters on-screen.
06:56And if the 14th Doctor is a woman, it would be interesting to see Jenny's reaction to her
07:01father's new look. 4. Paul McGann
07:04As Doctors go, Paul McGann's 8th is in a unique position. Having not been granted a full series
07:10of television, audiences don't know his Doctor as well as they know the rest of them. So it almost
07:16feels like a no-brainer to bring him back. McGann himself also shares this stance, telling Doctor Who
07:21magazine in 2016 that he feels like his on-screen tenure isn't yet over, and that there's a bit
07:28of potential in an 8th Doctor return. He then jokingly added, I'm younger than Capaldi,
07:33before explaining that if he were to return, then the story reasons would have to be compelling.
07:38The positive response to The Night of the Doctor proves that there's still a hunger for McGann's
07:43take on the Time Lord, and it just feels right for him to get his due.
07:473. Matt Smith
07:50Matt Smith has made the jump to Hollywood since leaving Doctor Who in 2013, with starring roles
07:56in Terminator Genisys, Netflix's historical epic The Crown, Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho,
08:02and this year's Morbius. Like Karen Gillan, it almost feels like he's getting too big to step back
08:08down into the relatively low-budget world of Doctor Who. But despite all his success, he still wouldn't
08:14mind donning the tweed jacket and bowtie at some point in the future. In fact, in 2017,
08:20he didn't just tell MTV that he wants to come back. He openly declared that he will be back one day.
08:27Yeah, why not? I'd come back. If the timing was right.
08:31Look, I'll be back one day when I'm old and grey, which isn't far off.
08:34Much like The Tenth Doctor, Eleven's popularity makes him one of the top candidates for a return.
08:40And with Smith still being so young, he could get away with playing the role for many decades to come.
08:462. Christopher Eccleston
08:48For well over a decade, the narrative surrounding a potential return to Doctor Who for Christopher
08:54Eccleston has been that he will never do it in a million years, primarily due to the poor
08:58experience he had during his short tenure on the series in the mid-2000s. And while it's certainly
09:04true that he has problems with the way the show was run during his brief tenure, the actor does seem to
09:10have softened on Doctor Who in recent years, and has even opened himself up to a potential on-screen
09:16return. Many fans thought they'd never see Eccleston return to play the Ninth Doctor in any capacity,
09:21and yet, in 2020, it was announced that he'd be reprising the role for a series of big Finnish
09:27audio dramas, a clear sign that he wasn't totally averse to dipping his feet in Hooniverse waters.
09:33More recently, he's gone one step further, indicating that he'd be down for a proper on-screen return,
09:39just not in a multi-Doctor special. Stating,
09:42The Ninth Doctor in particular is a one-man band, definitely, so he doesn't work with other Doctors.
09:47If you want me back, you get me on my own.
09:49With Eccleston's rocky history with the show, it does feel unlikely that we'll see him picking
09:54up that sonic screwdriver once again, but the chances of it happening have increased slightly in recent years.
10:011. Catherine Tate In early 2021, it was reported that
10:06Catherine Tate had been spotted in Liverpool at the exact same time that Doctor Who were filming
10:12Series 13 in that city. And while it was later revealed that she very much wasn't in Liverpool,
10:18this flimsy rumour caused quite the stir in Doctor Who fan circles. So you can imagine how hyped people
10:24would be if Donna Noble did actually return to the show. Fortunately then, Catherine Tate is very
10:30much open to the idea, telling the one show, no one's been in touch, but I'm on the same number,
10:35I'd just like to say. So if you've got the money, I've got the time.
10:38Donna is another character closely associated with returning showrunner Russell T Davies, and so on the
10:44surface at least, that does increase the chances of him wheeling her out for another spin. You simply
10:49cannot contain the best temp in Chiswick. And that concludes our list. If you can think of any other
10:54actors who would be willing to return to Doctor Who, then do let us know in the comments below.
10:59And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell. Also,
11:03head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just by
11:08searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself,
11:13goodbye, sweeties.
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