10 Actors Who Won't Return To Doctor Who

Doctor Who is one of those rare shows where there's always the possibility for a character to return

With everything being so wibbly wobbly and timey wimey and really just quite weird to be honest

things like death don't really mean much. I mean Rory died like a million times and he just kept coming back

That said, some stars of the show are on record that they're unlikely to ever return

And here are the reasons why. I'm Ellie for Who Culture and this is 10 Actors Who Won't Return to Doctor Who

Number 10. Daphne Ashbrook Despite only appearing in one TV story, the Eighth Doctor had an incredible afterlife

featuring in countless books, comics and audio dramas, before returning to our screens in The Night of the Doctor and The Power of the Doctor

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his first companion, Grace Holloway

Sure, Grace declined the Doctor's offer of a place in the TARDIS at the end of the TV movie

but we still might have reasonably expected her to show up again at some point

While Daphne Ashbrook has appeared in Big Finish audios as other characters

She's never appeared as Grace. As she recalled in 2022, this is because the TV movie was an American co-production

She said, I have done some big Finnish audios, but essentially I was told you can't be Grace

because someone finally found out that it was Universal that owned her, and unless they were willing to buy the rights, we could not legally bring her back

If the character can't even come back on audio, then I would say it's pretty safe to assume that a TV return is also firmly off the table

It's a sad state of affairs, which basically means that Grace's story will never be concluded

I guess just make one up in your head. Number 9. Billy Piper Unlike her Series 1 co-lead, Christopher Eccleston

Billy Piper got on well enough with the production team to continue for a second series

before returning to the show in 2008, 2010, and 2013. These days, she's busy with other projects, such as I Hate Susie, a show she also co-created

And also she starred in three seasons of Rose Tyler, the Dimension Canon for Big Finish

plus a handful of other audio stories alongside David Tennant. So now she's less inclined to play Rose again on TV

As she insisted in one 2022 interview, any comeback would have to be on her own very particular terms

She said, if it was shot in London. Sorry, that's a really loveless answer. There's a running theme here

I don't want to do much work. If it was like four episodes all shot in London, then yeah, I'd be like a rat up a drainpipe for that

Given that Doctor Who is currently based in Cardiff, a rose return therefore seems unlikely

fitting as it would be for the Bad Wolf to set foot inside Bad Wolf Studios

In 2021, she also stated, quote, I wouldn't go back. It's a great role, but you're away from your kids for so long

So while on other occasions she has seemed more open to a return

it would clearly take a lot to coax her back for another go. Number 8, Tom Baker

With William Hartnell Patrick Troughton and John Pertwee long since passed Tom Baker is the oldest living Doctor actor Initially he was reluctant to return declining the opportunity to appear in The Five Doctors

But he's made up for it in the years since, from 1993's Dimensions in Time to the 2017 edition of Sharda

The jewel in The Crown has to be his return as the curator in 2013's The Day of the Doctor, though

But might this end up being his last contribution to televised Doctor Who

With the great man having recently turned 90 and not as mobile as he once was

it seems more likely than not. Baker was invited to appear in The Power of the Doctor as one of the Guardians of the Edge

but wasn't available. It doesn't sound like he wants to come back either, recently telling Radio Times that he, quote

avoids the other Doctors. Not with any malice, he said. A degree of contempt, perhaps, but mildly

Mildly contemptuous. Hopefully we do see the fourth Doctor or the Curator again

but it doesn't seem likely at the moment. Number 7, Sophia Miles

Every now and then, Doctor Who guest characters come back for more. Craig Irwins, Professor Travers, and Riggsie were all conceived as one-offs but ended up returning

Quite often a guest actor is very in demand to begin with, or becomes that way after appearing in the show

making it difficult for them to commit to multiple episodes. That's why the likes of Sally Sparrow have never returned

despite Carey Mulligan recently expressing interest in revisiting the character. Madame de Pompadour was another Stephen Moffat creation who left a lasting impact

However, actress Sophia Miles ruled out a return as early as 2008

feeling it would cheapen the girl in the fireplace. She said, Well, I feel so happy that that episode was the one that I did

because it was so magical and special. I feel like to go back, I don't know if it could ever be as fabulous as that

Years later, she said she'd be open to returning as a different character, but to do so anytime soon would be, quote, inappropriate

Now, Miles did end up playing Renette again in the Doctor Who lockdown short Pompadour

but those were rare circumstances. It's unlikely she'll ever return to Doctor Who properly, though

Number 6. Matthew Waterhouse The part of precocious boy genius Adric was something of a poisoned chalice

requiring a certain degree of teenage arrogance. But actor Matthew Waterhouse didn't help himself

Often behaving in a questionable manner on set, famously he dared to offer acting advice to his more experienced co-stars

Still, Adric's death is repeatedly ranked as one of the show's most harrowing and emotional moments

Characters needn't stay dead in Doctor Who, however, and Waterhouse briefly returned for the very next story to play an Adric apparition

But might he return again in the future? Well, it's not looking good

According to an anecdote shared by Waterhouse on Twitter, he wasn't invited back for the 2023 anthology series Tales of the TARDIS

and he only found out about the project by accident after bumping into Fraser Hines and Wendy Padbury in Cardiff

He lamented Sadly they been unable to record any fourth Doctor introductions Adric being dead Tom rarely venturing forth Lala abroad and Louise far too busy While he may not ever appear again physically Adric was name in both the power of the Doctor and the giggle

So, you know, swings and roundabouts, I guess? Number 5, Maisie Williams

When Maisie Williams' Doctor Who casting was announced, rumours were rife that she was playing a new companion, and it's not hard to see why

Not only was she well-established thanks to Game of Thrones, but the photos accompanying the press release added fuel to the fire

showing her in the TARDIS, in contemporary dress, looking very much at home

As we now know, Williams ended up playing a very different sort of character

But even so, when Clara departed at the end of Series 9, it was speculated that a Shilder might replace her

In 2016, Williams put the rumours firmly to bed, insisting that, quote, I'm not going to be working on Doctor Who again

Everyone's hyping about it, which is very exciting, but no, I'm not going to return. I have a lot of other really exciting projects lined up instead

Much more recently, however, William said that she would return to Doctor Who and that she

quote, would love to work with Shuti Gatwa. Mix signals much? However, given that her original

denial was pretty definitive and the whole Clara slash me ending was very divisive

it's difficult to imagine this character ever being revisited. Number four, Annika Wills. The companion support group brought together a host of companions who

were still living on Earth, but some were conspicuously absent. Despite being mentioned

in the script, there was no Martha Jones, and similarly, Tosun Cole's busy schedule meant that

Ryan couldn't appear. And where the hell was Brian Williams? Looking further back, all the heavy

hitters from the 80s were there, along with Ian Chesterton and Joe Grant. Sadly though, many of

the 60s and 70s alumni are no longer with us, hence why they weren't joined by Victoria, Liz

or Sarah Jane. All things considered, there was one slightly puzzling omission though

Annika Wills as Polly. Like Ian, Polly returned to Earth following her travels in the TARDIS

And like Ian's actor, William Russell, Annika Wills is still with us

So why was she not there alongside him? Well, as reported by Radio Times, Wills was invited to appear in the scene

but felt it was more important to tend to her garden. Apparently, she said, I heard it was quite brief, so I'm glad I stayed and did my brambles instead

Huh, what a legend. Somehow I like her even more now. But she doesn't sound too keen, does she

And with Will's not getting any younger, we can pretty much rule out a return for Polly on TV, I think

Number 3. Christopher Eccleston Most previous Doctors are only too happy to come back

Jodie Whittaker is already gunning for a return and she's only just left. But for the ninth Doctor, it's a little bit more complicated

Christopher Eccleston arguably had a harder time on the show than any other Doctor

He fell out with the producers almost immediately over perceived failures but still remain shrouded in mystery And as a result he decided to leave after just one year If that wasn bad enough he was battling with anorexia at the time and if that wasn bad enough he was blacklisted by the BBC and vilified by the press following his

departure. Guy can't catch a break! Eccleston has since made peace with the show and its fans

embracing the world of conventions and reprising The Night's Doctor on audio. However, he's

maintained that he'll only return on TV when, quote, hell freezes over. Hmm, not looking good

is it? In a more recent interview, he was clearer than ever about what it would take for him to come

back, saying, sack Russell T. Davis, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner

and I'll come back. Not sure if they're going to do that, I'm afraid. Of course, if the BBC did ever

manage to make up with Eccleston, his return would be an amazing moment. But if you think that's ever

going to happen, you're probably going to be waiting a very long time. Number two, Lala Ward

Romana was a very different type of companion, more the Doctor's equal than his assistant

and over the years, fans have repeatedly called for her to return. However, if we do ever see Romana again

she almost certainly won't be played by either of the actors that originally portrayed her

one of whom is sadly no longer with us, and one of whom no longer lives in the UK

That's because Lala Ward moved to Hong Kong in 2018, which would make any kind of TV return completely impractical

Add to that the fact that there's still tension between her and Tom Baker as a result of a whirlwind romance during their time on the show

and acrimonious separation shortly afterwards, I might add, and it becomes clear why we never got a fourth Doctor Romana Tales of the TARDIS

Mark Strixon is in a similar situation, not because he married and divorced Tom Baker

but because he now lives in New Zealand. So don't expect to see Turlo again either

Number one, Peter Capaldi. Christopher Eccleston isn't the only new series Doctor who refuses to return

Now, Peter Capaldi doesn't have any bad feeling about his time as the Twelfth Doctor

that we know of at least. He was a massive Doctor Who fan before he landed the part

and remains one to this day, recently describing the 60th anniversary specials as, quote

wonderful. However, he's also been very clear that he won't be appearing in the show again

Instead, he's focusing on new projects, such as critically acclaimed series The Devil's Hour and Criminal Record

He recently affirmed, I love Doctor Who. I love it in all of its forms

but I've sort of done my time on it, and I like the idea that you leave that as it is

instead of constantly digging up more of it. But if you want the even better answer, here is a response that he gave when asked about a return, bluntly saying no

Frustrating as the prospect of no more 12th Doctor might be, you can see where Capaldi is coming from

Even if it is highly distressing that we'll never see the sonic shades ever again

You know what? I can live with that. And there you have it. But while we're on the topic of Doctor Who actors

why not check out our video about series 1 and where the cast are now

In the meantime, I've been Ellie for Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties