10 Longest Gaps Between Doctor Who Character Appearances
6. Tegan (14,101 Days)
Who can blame Tegan for staying away?
Her aunt got shrunk by the Master, her grandfather got kidnapped, and her cousin was almost killed by the renegade Time Lord Omega. Worse still, her travelling companion Adric crashed a freighter into prehistoric Earth, and she watched countless humans and Silurians die.
It feels like over 38 years is a good amount of time to deal with that trauma. That's how long it was between Tegan's ghostly apparition in The Caves of Androzani's regeneration scene, and her return in Jodie Whittaker's final story The Power of the Doctor.
Joining Tegan was Ace, who was last seen in Doctor Who 29 years ago in Dimensions in Time (yes, it counts), so she doesn't qualify for this list. Even if you go with Ace's last regular appearance in 1989's Survival, she still doesn't make the cut.
Tegan actress Janet Fielding, like many of the show's stars do, maintained a connection with Doctor Who in her time away. Interestingly, she served as Paul McGann's agent when he was the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV movie.