The Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who has very much had an “out with the old, in with the new” kind of attitude so far, with no returning characters – except a sole Dalek – in the Thirteenth Doctor’s first 11 on-screen adventures. A bunch of stars of Who past have made it clear that they’d be up for a return in future seasons, though, and now another has added their name to the ever-growing list.
Ingrid Oliver first turned up as uber-fangirl Osgood in 2013’s 50th anniversary bash “The Day of the Doctor” opposite Matt Smith’s Doctor. She later showed up for four further episodes starring Peter Capaldi. The scientist with a fondness for cosplay has always been popular with fans, but she hasn’t appeared on the show since 2015. Despite now starring in Hollywood movies like The Hustle, Oliver told EW that she’d still jump at a Who return.
“I’d love to. Osgood never got to go in the TARDIS, and I think that’s such a shame, and I’d love her to be with a female Doctor as well. I think Osgood and a woman Doctor would be brilliant. I still work for UNIT, as far as I’m concerned!”
As Whovians know, Osgood was a top employee of UNIT, the alien-busting military organization that’s been a major part of the show since the 1970s. Controversially, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce was apparently written out of the series in the recent New Year’s special. When the Thirteenth Doctor calls the UNIT hotline, she’s redirected to an unhelpful phone operator who tells her the organization’s been shut down to due to lack of funding.
At least Oliver’s positive comments give fans hope that the Doctor’s old allies will return in time, hopefully with Osgood in tow. Until then, though, the actress still plays the Doctor who character on audio as part of Big Finish’s UNIT spinoff series.
