10 Longest Gaps Between Doctor Who Character Appearances

Ian Chesterton almost returned to Doctor Who for its 20th anniversary season in 1983, but actor William Russell was unavailable.

Aside from a name-check in The Sarah Jane Adventures and The Day of the Doctor, the former Coal Hill teacher (and original Doctor Who companion) hasn't returned to the show since he and his colleague Barbara Wright arrived in London, 1965, at the end of The Chase.

After a hell of a long wait (57 years!), Ian returned to Doctor Who in The Power of the Doctor, as the elder statesman of Graham's companion support group. Hilariously, he's flummoxed by the idea of the grumpy old man he met in 1963 now being a young woman. It was the perfect nod to Doctor Who's enduring legacy, and the importance of both William Russell and Jacqueline Hill to the show.

Without Ian and Barbara, we wouldn't have the Doctor as we've known them in the 57 years since they left the TARDIS. Including Ian's cameo in a Doctor Who episode that celebrated 100 years of the BBC was doubly brilliant given that, at 97 years of age, William Russell has been around for almost the same amount of time.