10 Actors Who Won't Return To Doctor Who

Ever since William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton came back for 10th anniversary shindig The Three Doctors, Doctor Who has been weaving its past into its future.

In the last 18 months alone, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Jo Martin, and David Tennant have all returned, thanks to the back-to-back anniversaries of the BBC’s centenary and the show’s own 60th.

Other characters have come back too, many of whom we thought we’d never see again. We’ve had three of the most beloved '80s companions in the form of Tegan, Mel, and Ace, alongside the lovable Jo Grant and OG TARDIS traveller Ian Chesterton – with William Russell making a record-breaking return 57 years on from his departure.

But there are some actors who will never return to Doctor Who. Some had bad experiences on the show. Some are proud of the work they did, but would rather leave it in the past, while others can’t return because of logistical issues.

Whatever the case, all of these actors have strongly hinted (or outright confirmed) that their time in the Whoniverse is over. Minds could change in the future of course, but for now, they probably won't appear in Doctor Who ever again.

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've 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:

"I have done some Big Finish 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, it’s safe to say 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.