10 Longest Gaps Between Doctor Who Character Appearances
5. The Ice Warriors (14,232 Days)
The Ice Warriors are one of Doctor Who's most fascinating creatures, because they're not always villains.
Introduced as such in the 1967 serial of the same name, they later became allies of the Third Doctor before falling back on bad habits, with their last appearance in the classic series coming in 1974's The Monster of Peladon.
This wasn't the original intention however, and both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors were supposed to face the Ice Warriors - until Doctor Who's hiatus and cancellation sadly intervened. The Martian warriors didn't even appear in the rogues gallery of foes menacing the Doctors (and the cast of Eastenders) in Dimensions in Time! Criminal.
Therefore, it took almost 40 years for the Ice Warriors to make their return to televised Doctor Who in 2013's Cold War.
Writer Mark Gatiss had always wanted to bring the creatures back, but was met with resistance by a skeptical Steven Moffat. Eventually though, Gatiss got his wish, and would even bring them back again four years later in 2017's Empress of Mars.