10 Doctor Who Moments The Actors Hated

2. Louise Jameson Vs. Leela's Farewell

Doctor Who Flesh and Stone Karen Gillan Amy Pond
BBC Studios

Speaking of unsatisfying endings...

Louise Jameson's badass warrior Leela accompanied the Fourth Doctor on nine different adventures between 1977 and 1978. Though she wasn't around for long, she made quite an impact and is fondly remembered by fans of the show today.

And yes, the character from Futurama is named after her.

Leela said goodbye to the Doctor in the serial The Invasion of Time. After fending off a Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey, she randomly announces that she's fallen in love with Time Lord Commander Andred and intends to stay on the planet with him. Not the most exciting exit for such a strong character, and the actress agrees.

Jameson really is not a fan of how Leela's conclusion was handled, and has previously labelled it "crap". She believes that Leela should have ended on a more heroic note, like sacrificing herself to save the Doctor – something befitting of a more gung-ho companion.

The main reason Leela's exit is so underwhelming is that it wasn't actually written with the story in mind. Jameson has explained that producer Graham Williams wanted her ending to be easily reversible, because he believed that he could convince Jameson to remain with the show.

But obviously... he could not.

On the plus side, Leela being on Gallifrey does leave the door open for a return one day. We already saw her escaping the Daleks during the Time War in the Season 15 Collection trailer, so who knows what the future might hold?

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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.