10 Biggest Doctor Who Criticisms (And Why They're Wrong)
7. Old Characters Aren't Returning
In a perfect world, any character could be brought into Doctor Who for a great big blast of nostalgia. And if Doctor Who was a cartoon, things would be much easier. But when it comes to live-action television, things are never so simple. At the risk of generalising, bringing back an old character requires three criteria to be fulfilled:
1. Does it work within the story? 2. Is the character owned by the BBC, and if not, can they be licensed from their creator? 3. Is the actor willing and able to reprise their role?
You can fudge the first one a bit with the only comeback being a few bad reviews and some angry Tweets, but the other two have no real wiggle room. Jack Harkness was written out of Series 6’s A Good Man Goes To War because of scheduling conflicts, and the reason K-9 was trapped in another dimension for the first two years of The Sarah Jane Adventures was licensing issues with his creator Bob Baker.
Old characters not returning can all too often feel like a missed opportunity but there’s usually a very good reason behind it. That's either because the story is stronger without them, or because things don’t come together to let it happen.