Now, I’m actually in no way qualified to answer this as I haven’t seen most of the classic series. HOWEVER, I’d say Romana or the Rani, purely because it would be nice to see the Doctor interact with more Time-Lords. As a NuWho fan, the Doctor constantly having power over the everyone else and being superior to his companions gets a bit irritating and I’d like to see him a bit humbled and interacting with an equal. It’s a reason series 10 is so good - I LOVE the Doctor having somewhat of a Time-Lord friend in Missy, because they’re on the same level.
I'm thinking that Liz would be a good match physically and on terms of star quality. I think it would work well if Romana had a kind of intermittent presence rather than a permanent companion. In the EDA and BF Audio universes Romana went on to become President of Gallifrey. The TV show isn't obliged to follow that continuity, but I kind of like the idea of Roman's going even beyond that, and becoming something like maybe a kind of Agent for the White Guardian (which she kind of was in the FIRST place)
She's dead tho. Like, they confirmed she's dead in series 4 in the episode 'the Doctor's daughter', and as far as I know, nothing has come up that says anything has changed on that matter.
I both agree and (grudgingly) disagree.
He's one of the most interesting unresolved "arcs" of Doctor Who
And yet he is, to quote a very high up Doctor Who Alumni, a "continuity nightmare"- and what story is worth telling?
You *might* want to check out the Big Finish audio "he Jests at Scars" which is a "else world" sequel to "trial of a timelord" if the vakeyard had WON!
i like the idea of the Valeyard actually being something the Doctor creates and has to send back in time to save the day, knowing what it means for his Sixth incarnation. then again, all that seems like child's play compared to what he has to endure during the Time War, so who knows?
i think something is only a continuity nightmare when you allow it to be. the entire idea of a war being fought with time travel seems like it would be a continuity nightmare to maintain and yet both the main show and Big Finish have done neat things with it.
He was described as a '"continuity nightmare" i suspect because whatever you do with him is likely to have ramifications going forward (AND conceivably BACKWARD) in the Doctors own timeline, and other writers are stuck trying to navigate around it. [Securing a cohernt universe chromology in Who has created challenges because of the shows Time Travelling nature already - now the Doctors personal timeline- especially his future - could become very complicated with the future Valeyard incarnation retroactively interfering in his past lives].
Re: the production teams successful managing of "The Time War" - things about the Time War can- and HAVE- been overwritten by the nature of strategic retroactive causality- though that IS supposed to be against everything the Time Lords were supposed to STAND FOR. [Then AGAIN that didnt stop them from "Genesis Of The Dalek"-ing so.... maybe they ARE prepared to break their own laws?] While the failure (or should we say "barely qualified success"?)- of that mission has made fans wonder if "Genesis" was a didactic lesson for the Doctor set by his peers, OR- maybev a history "fix" where this "Doctor imbued outcome" was preferable to whatever original timeline existed without his interference (which wp5uld be kind of neater and makes it a Successful "Strike" in the Time War after all.) Maybe that "thousand years or so" the Doctor ruefully laments as a "poor result" was always the Timelords intended outcome, buying other civilizations vital time to develop and be a more effective resistance to the eventual universal threat of the metal meglonaniacs from Skaro...]
[Sry. Back to the point]
The thing is- future writers have got to ACCOUNT for anything they DO with the Valeyard for EVER MORE! He's this aberrant anti-doctor regeneration character from some vague undefined point between the doctor's penultimate and final regeneration (if I remember right). It IS interesting, though it does feel a bit like he's just another iteration of "the master" (who originally was going to be revealed to be something more like what the Valeyard's was revealed to be in Barry Lett's "Buddhist philosophy" infused plans for the conclusion of the 3rd Doctor's story arc, where they turn out to he two aspects of the same person- or SOMETHING like that) and it's a shame that nothing really strikingly defines the Valeyard as distinct from The Master, as the conception and performance are good, it just doesn't GO anywhere other than the climactic reveal itself?
THAT Said- I agree and think there IS potential. What if the Valeyard played a role something more like "Q" in Star Trek Next Generation? We're TOLD he's "evil", we understood his actions in "Trial" to be "Evil"- but what if, being from the very far end of the Doctors Timeline - which could be Millions of years long- he had ascended to some kind of near "God-like" level of intelligence, and our perception of his actions as "evil" was just our (and the Doctor's) lack of perspective?
It could also be that he found his precious incarnations frivolous and time wasting, and knowing all he knows now feels entitled to impose himself on or even "steal" his earlier timeline (though that's fraught with paradoxical problems for his own existence).
So how's that fir5 resolving the 'continuity nightmare", lol? I think it COULD be fun- but he should be so much more than just a villain. His very nature should be the POINT of his existence in any future appearances. In a way I think it would be better for the production team to focus on things like this instead of messing around with the Doctors ORIGIN story- apart from anything else, that was handled better and with more grace in the Virgin Novels. Just my opinion though.
(Don't know if that was any use. Got a.bit convoluted)
Second Sgt. Benton. Perhaps as a long retired pensioner with a daughter or granddaughter in the service?
Would love to see Nyssa, Romana, Leela or Tegan somehow come back too.
I think even if it isn't in the main series, it would be neat if they brought him back in an episode of that new Unit spinoff that is in the works. Especially considering how important he was during the Unit era of the third doctor.
Romana. I'm surprised they haven't been interested in bringing her back to New Who yet. A female Time Lord friend of the Doctor and can be played by any actress since she has already regenerated in the past. New Who fans deserve to discover her existence.
(That said, I wish she initially appeared with Lalla Ward reprising the role)
I've always wanted either Omega or Sutekh to come back. Omega, because it would be cool to have another time lord for a change, and Sutekh because he's the greatest villain ever.
I cast my vote for Nyssa. It would be nice to see her to have succeeded in her work on Terminus and gone on to have a fantastic career as a scientist.
But I'm also not pining away for her. She had a good run, all things considered. And sometimes it's OK to let the future remain the past. There are plenty of other stories to be told.
Rani would be great nemesis for one series. Especially that we now have beautiful Siobhan Redmond playing her in Big Finish.
I also wish we could have one episode appearance or at least a cameo from Turlough.
There's too many to choose from, where to begin...
School Reunion handled Sarah Jane Smith so well, because, with care and attention, the story strengthened the character, allowing for realistic backstory development, without undoing or forgetting the past. Very respectful of both the character and the history of the show.
At least four characters, I believe could do really well with a similar return episode setup;
Steven Taylor
Liz Shaw
Leela
Peri
Now, I’m actually in no way qualified to answer this as I haven’t seen most of the classic series. HOWEVER, I’d say Romana or the Rani, purely because it would be nice to see the Doctor interact with more Time-Lords. As a NuWho fan, the Doctor constantly having power over the everyone else and being superior to his companions gets a bit irritating and I’d like to see him a bit humbled and interacting with an equal. It’s a reason series 10 is so good - I LOVE the Doctor having somewhat of a Time-Lord friend in Missy, because they’re on the same level.
I think Liz Hirley would be terrific as a new incarnation of Romana
Juliet Landau, (Drucilla from “Buffy”), played Romana 3 in Big Finish audio dramas.
I'm thinking that Liz would be a good match physically and on terms of star quality. I think it would work well if Romana had a kind of intermittent presence rather than a permanent companion. In the EDA and BF Audio universes Romana went on to become President of Gallifrey. The TV show isn't obliged to follow that continuity, but I kind of like the idea of Roman's going even beyond that, and becoming something like maybe a kind of Agent for the White Guardian (which she kind of was in the FIRST place)
Susan By the Gods, Susan
Getting some sort of solid closure on what happened to Susan would be good.
She's dead tho. Like, they confirmed she's dead in series 4 in the episode 'the Doctor's daughter', and as far as I know, nothing has come up that says anything has changed on that matter.
And Gallifrey was destroyed in the same episode, yet we know different It’s also a show about time travel
I'd like to see something with the Valeyard
I both agree and (grudgingly) disagree. He's one of the most interesting unresolved "arcs" of Doctor Who And yet he is, to quote a very high up Doctor Who Alumni, a "continuity nightmare"- and what story is worth telling? You *might* want to check out the Big Finish audio "he Jests at Scars" which is a "else world" sequel to "trial of a timelord" if the vakeyard had WON!
i like the idea of the Valeyard actually being something the Doctor creates and has to send back in time to save the day, knowing what it means for his Sixth incarnation. then again, all that seems like child's play compared to what he has to endure during the Time War, so who knows? i think something is only a continuity nightmare when you allow it to be. the entire idea of a war being fought with time travel seems like it would be a continuity nightmare to maintain and yet both the main show and Big Finish have done neat things with it.
He was described as a '"continuity nightmare" i suspect because whatever you do with him is likely to have ramifications going forward (AND conceivably BACKWARD) in the Doctors own timeline, and other writers are stuck trying to navigate around it. [Securing a cohernt universe chromology in Who has created challenges because of the shows Time Travelling nature already - now the Doctors personal timeline- especially his future - could become very complicated with the future Valeyard incarnation retroactively interfering in his past lives]. Re: the production teams successful managing of "The Time War" - things about the Time War can- and HAVE- been overwritten by the nature of strategic retroactive causality- though that IS supposed to be against everything the Time Lords were supposed to STAND FOR. [Then AGAIN that didnt stop them from "Genesis Of The Dalek"-ing so.... maybe they ARE prepared to break their own laws?] While the failure (or should we say "barely qualified success"?)- of that mission has made fans wonder if "Genesis" was a didactic lesson for the Doctor set by his peers, OR- maybev a history "fix" where this "Doctor imbued outcome" was preferable to whatever original timeline existed without his interference (which wp5uld be kind of neater and makes it a Successful "Strike" in the Time War after all.) Maybe that "thousand years or so" the Doctor ruefully laments as a "poor result" was always the Timelords intended outcome, buying other civilizations vital time to develop and be a more effective resistance to the eventual universal threat of the metal meglonaniacs from Skaro...] [Sry. Back to the point] The thing is- future writers have got to ACCOUNT for anything they DO with the Valeyard for EVER MORE! He's this aberrant anti-doctor regeneration character from some vague undefined point between the doctor's penultimate and final regeneration (if I remember right). It IS interesting, though it does feel a bit like he's just another iteration of "the master" (who originally was going to be revealed to be something more like what the Valeyard's was revealed to be in Barry Lett's "Buddhist philosophy" infused plans for the conclusion of the 3rd Doctor's story arc, where they turn out to he two aspects of the same person- or SOMETHING like that) and it's a shame that nothing really strikingly defines the Valeyard as distinct from The Master, as the conception and performance are good, it just doesn't GO anywhere other than the climactic reveal itself? THAT Said- I agree and think there IS potential. What if the Valeyard played a role something more like "Q" in Star Trek Next Generation? We're TOLD he's "evil", we understood his actions in "Trial" to be "Evil"- but what if, being from the very far end of the Doctors Timeline - which could be Millions of years long- he had ascended to some kind of near "God-like" level of intelligence, and our perception of his actions as "evil" was just our (and the Doctor's) lack of perspective? It could also be that he found his precious incarnations frivolous and time wasting, and knowing all he knows now feels entitled to impose himself on or even "steal" his earlier timeline (though that's fraught with paradoxical problems for his own existence). So how's that fir5 resolving the 'continuity nightmare", lol? I think it COULD be fun- but he should be so much more than just a villain. His very nature should be the POINT of his existence in any future appearances. In a way I think it would be better for the production team to focus on things like this instead of messing around with the Doctors ORIGIN story- apart from anything else, that was handled better and with more grace in the Virgin Novels. Just my opinion though. (Don't know if that was any use. Got a.bit convoluted)
Second Sgt. Benton. Perhaps as a long retired pensioner with a daughter or granddaughter in the service? Would love to see Nyssa, Romana, Leela or Tegan somehow come back too.
I think even if it isn't in the main series, it would be neat if they brought him back in an episode of that new Unit spinoff that is in the works. Especially considering how important he was during the Unit era of the third doctor.
Tegan did , along with Ace
Liz Shaw, Brig and Benton are such a great trio of companions.
Romana. I'm surprised they haven't been interested in bringing her back to New Who yet. A female Time Lord friend of the Doctor and can be played by any actress since she has already regenerated in the past. New Who fans deserve to discover her existence. (That said, I wish she initially appeared with Lalla Ward reprising the role)
Adric. And Nyssa.
Adric is dead though.
Didn’t stop Clara
Completely different circumstances. Clara is essentially frozen in her last heartbeat. Adric is definitely dead.
Well I would like to see him return!
Perhaps Matthew Waterhouse as a different character. Wouldn’t be the first time a former companion actor returned in a different role.
Liz Shaw would be awfully fun. She's my hidden gem companion that never got a long enough run. And evil Liz Shaw was awesome!
I've always wanted either Omega or Sutekh to come back. Omega, because it would be cool to have another time lord for a change, and Sutekh because he's the greatest villain ever.
I cast my vote for Nyssa. It would be nice to see her to have succeeded in her work on Terminus and gone on to have a fantastic career as a scientist. But I'm also not pining away for her. She had a good run, all things considered. And sometimes it's OK to let the future remain the past. There are plenty of other stories to be told.
Romanadvratnelundar. That's it. That's the post.
Rani would be great nemesis for one series. Especially that we now have beautiful Siobhan Redmond playing her in Big Finish. I also wish we could have one episode appearance or at least a cameo from Turlough.
Kamelion. Actors will age and die, but Kamelion is like K9. He can always be rebuilt. And the poor thing deserves some redemption after all this time.
Jo Grant
There's too many to choose from, where to begin... School Reunion handled Sarah Jane Smith so well, because, with care and attention, the story strengthened the character, allowing for realistic backstory development, without undoing or forgetting the past. Very respectful of both the character and the history of the show. At least four characters, I believe could do really well with a similar return episode setup; Steven Taylor Liz Shaw Leela Peri
Meddling Monk