8 Doctor Who Characters We Want To See Return In Jodie Whittaker’s Era

2018 is a hugely significant year for Doctor Who, as it'll usher in a brand new era for the sci-fi behemoth. Last Christmas, showrunner Steven Moffat and Doctor Peter Capaldi exited the series, handing the reigns of the show over to new exec producer Chris Chibnall and, most famously, Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth incarnation of the Time Lord. It's a time of rebirth (or regeneration) for Doctor Who, then. Going by the decisions made so far - notably the casting of an actress in the lead role for the first time - the Thirteenth Doctor's tenure in the TARDIS is going to, if we can borrow the lingo of another classic sci-fi series for a moment, go boldly where Who has not gone before. However, that doesn't mean this new era should turn its nose up at the show's long and storied past. Doctor Who has always excelled at juggling paying homage to its past with looking to the future (which makes sense, seeing as it's about time travel) and the renewed show should be no different. With that in mind, here are 8 characters from the past 50 years in the TARDIS that we would love to see return in season 11 and beyond. Valeyard Let's kick off with one for real Doctor Who nerds. Back in 1986's "The Trial of a Time Lord," the Sixth Doctor came up against a corrupt Time Lord lawman known as the Valeyard - who turned out to be a darker future version of the Doctor himself. His exact nature was left ambiguous, but it was stated that he was sort of a shadow-Doctor from in between his twelfth and thirteenth regenerations. Fans who have been keeping track of continuity, then, have been waiting for the Valeyard to appear in the modern series. Now that we have the Thirteenth Doctor, the Valeyard could have been born in between the change from Peter Capaldi to Jodie Whittaker, which means this is a perfect time for the villain to reappear. If this sounds like something that wouldn't work because it's just too fan-oriented, then, OK, there may be some truth to that. But you wouldn't have to make the history of the character important - just leave it to the fans to join the dots. Regardless of the continuity issues, it would just be interesting to explore an evil version of the Doctor. Sure, a Matt Smith episode, 2010's "Amy's Choice," previously touched on the idea, but it's too ripe for potential to leave it at just that. Clara (And Ashildr) Usually when the companion leaves the show their storyline is wrapped up in some way - they might be carted off to another universe, get their memories wiped or even, very occasionally, die. The exit of Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald, however, only did the opposite - it promised lots more adventures for the character that we'd really love to see. At the end of 2015's season 9, Clara was resurrected by Time Lord tech and stole a TARDIS with the immortal Ashildr (as played by Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams). As two women who practically can't die, the implication is that the duo went on to travel in time and space for the rest of, well, time. Given that, it would be kind of unlikely that they would never bump into the Doctor again. So, it would be pretty mean for the show to give us this set-up and then do nothing with it. Although the character's creator, Steven Moffat, has moved on, there's nothing stopping Chris Chibnall from revisiting this part of the show's history. In fact, Jenna Coleman just returned for a cameo in the Christmas special, which tells us she's still game for more Clara. The ever-busy Williams might be more difficult to coax back, though. Missy While it took until 2017 for us to get a female Doctor, the way had already been paved by Michelle Gomez taking on the role of the Master back in 2014 - with the character renamed Missy. This was the first time a previously male Time Lord had become a woman on the show so it was a potentially risky move. Thankfully, Gomez was terrific in the part and now easily ranks as one of the best Masters of the lot. Which is why we would love to see her face off against the Thirteenth Doctor in this new era of the show. Sure, Michelle Gomez has said that she should probably say goodbye to the series now that her Doctor Peter Capaldi and Missy's creator Steven Moffat have left, but she hasn't ruled out the idea of returning. Of course, it's fairly traditional for a new Master to be cast opposite the new Doctor but, damnit, we're just not ready to let go of Missy yet. The last time we saw the villain also left room for more appearances. If you'll recall, she had a shoot-out with her own past self in the form of John Simm's Master, with the pair apparently killing each other. But, as the history of Doctor Who has taught us, the Master is a survivor, so there's no way this is really the end. Susan Let's dive right back to the beginning of Doctor Who. For the first year of the show, the Doctor travelled with his granddaughter Susan - the only member of his Gallifreyan family we've ever met. As the mystery surrounding the Doctor's past increased, the series partially swept the memory of Susan under the rug, but what if the character was to come back fifty years later? In a similar way to how it was thrilling to see the two ends of the series collide in the recent "Twice Upon a Time" Christmas special, which featured the First Doctor teaming up with the Twelfth, we'd love to see what Susan would make of how different her "grandfather" is from when she last saw him. Obviously, she's now a woman but the character has also changed personality in so many ways. The original actress, Carole Ann Ford, even still plays the role from time to time on the radio, while Claudia Grant also played a recast version in 2013's biopic An Adventure in Space and Time. Alternatively, if they wanted to do a completely different take on Susan, she is a Time Lady, so that would be easy to do. Basically, there are several options here and few reasons why this wouldn't be fantastic to see. Jenny Sticking with members of the Doctor's family we'd like to see again, Jenny is someone who deserves a comeback even more. Appearing in season 4’s fittingly-titled “The Doctor’s Daughter,” Jenny was created from the Time Lord’s DNA and promised to be an interesting addition to his life. However, at the end of the episode she flew off into space on her own, never to be seen again. She's a character with so much potential - even spinoff series potential - that it's just mind-boggling that the show has never brought her back in the ten years since her first and only appearance. Thankfully, the wheels are beginning to turn finally as Jenny's getting her own audio drama series starring original actress Georgia Moffett - who, as the daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and the wife of David Tennant, just so happens to be Doctor Who royalty. What's more, Moffett has hinted that she might know something about Jenny returning to TV. "I have high hopes for Chris Chibnall," she said when discussing Jenny's potential comeback. "So, it’s all going to be fine." Come on, Chibnall, make it happen! River Song For most of these characters, we have to argue our case as to why now is the best time to bring them back. For River Song, however, it would be a crime not to bring her back. She's the Doctor's wife and (intimately) knows each and every one of his different incarnations. Of course, she has to meet the Thirteenth Doctor! First appearing back in 2008, Alex Kingston initially turned up as the time-travelling archaeologist opposite David Tennant's Time Lord before becoming a regular alongside Matt Smith. Back in 2014, though, she also encountered Peter Capaldi's regeneration. That episode documented the fabled last time the lovers would meet, so in effect it brought River's story to a close. While that was her last appearance on TV to date, however, the character has featured in several official audio productions since - pairing her up with a number of past Doctors - so it's clear that there's a lot more room to explore here. Most of all, though, we'd just like to see River's reaction to the Doctor becoming a woman. She adores all of the Doctors, but this is a bigger change than most, so it would be fascinating to see how the very different dynamic would be explored. K-9 Here's the character who kickstarted this article. In a recent batch of set photos, something curious happened. As well as snaps of Jodie Whittaker and the rest of the new cast, one image captured the one and only K-9, the Doctor's faithful robot dog, on set as well. So, does this mean the beloved character from the classic series is really making a return? Well, maybe not. It could have just been a very high quality replica that some fan had brought along to filming (other photos depicted fan-made Daleks, for instance). However, even if this pic is misleading, then we're starting the campaign to get K-9 back on board the TARDIS for real. Since appearing opposite Tom Baker's Doctor in the 1970s, the metal mutt has proven indestructible, even starring in both The Sarah Jane Adventures and the little-remembered K-9 spinoffs. We've heard that Chibnall wants to bring the show back to being a family series and what better way is there to do that then to bring back a character that children will love and parents, and even grandparents, might remember fondly from their youth? Interestingly, there was a rumour last year that the Thirteenth Doctor could be getting an "animal companion," so maybe we shouldn't dismiss that K-9 photo, after all. Captain Jack Harkness If we had to pick just one character to return and meet Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, we would probably choose Captain Jack Harkness. The immortal Time Agent hasn't been seen on TV since 2011 yet he's still remembered fondly as one of the modern series' best creations. Fans have repeatedly called for him to return opposite either Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi's Doctors but, sadly, it wasn't to be. That has to change with the Thirteenth Doctor, though. It's definitely not actor John Barrowman who's keeping Jack from returning. He's kept himself busy by appearing as Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow for the past few years but he's always found time to lend his voice to numerous audio productions. He's also been very public about his efforts to get his spinoff show Torchwood back on the air, though that's clearly proving difficult. In the absence of a renewal for his own series, then, the best thing to do would be for him to return to Doctor Who for, say, a multi-episode arc, at least. The joy of Jack is that his charms mean he bounces well off any character and we'd love to see what sort of dynamic he would share with Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. After all, Barrowman has been vocally supportive of the decision to cast the actress.