Once you’ve played a Doctor Who character, the door is very rarely shut. Since the 60th anniversary alone, we’ve seen David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Carole Ann Ford, Jodie Whittaker, Gabriel Woolf, and Billie Piper return onscreen, and there are undoubtedly more comebacks on the horizon.

One especially rich source of classic character returns has been the series of short films made for Doctor Who‘s The Collection Blu-ray releases. From Leela fighting off Daleks in the Time War to tacit confirmation of Tegan and Nyssa being romantically involved, The Collection’s short movies have been a delight.

Doctor Who Brings Back Mark Strickson As Turlough

The short film attached to Doctor Who season 21’s Blu-ray release focuses on Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor and Janet Fielding’s Tegan as they come face-to-face with the Daleks in London once again. Davison and Fielding have made several recent onscreen appearances, even featuring together on two separate occasions – once in “The Power of the Doctor” and again in Tales of the TARDIS.

The film released to promote Doctor Who The Collection season 21, however, sees the Fifth Doctor and Tegan locate a message from none other than old companion Vislor Turlough, once again played by Mark Strickson. Turlough was last seen returning to his home of Trion, but the message reveals Turlough’s planet is under attack from a mysterious foe, and he pleads for the Doctor’s aid.

Like most former Doctor Who actors, Strickson has been a regular presence in Big Finish’s audio stories, but his last onscreen appearance came via 1984’s “The Caves of Androzani,” where the soon-to-regenerate Fifth Doctor glimpsed his old companion in a vision. The trio might not be physically in the same room here, but witnessing the Fifth Doctor with Tegan and Turlough once again is heartwarming stuff, and it’s fascinating to hear that Turlough’s troubles are continuing many years into the future.

This potentially sets up a bigger narrative in terms of saving Turlought’s planet. The story will perhaps be resolved in a future short film for The Collection, or might continue through future audio stories featuring the three actors.

Are Doctor Who’s The Collection Short Stories Back?

Doctor Who The Collection season 15 came with the short film titled “The Final Battle,” arguably the best of the lot. It featured Leela on Gallifrey and had the strongest production values of any entry in the series. Soon after, producer Pete McTigh announced the series would be “rested” for future releases. Sure enough, the next batch of The Collection box sets came with less fanfare.

The reunification of Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, and Mark Strickson for Doctor Who The Collection season 21, however, suggests that period of rest might now be over. The short is more stripped back compared to “The Final Battle,” but still captures the same fan-pleasing charm we’ve come to expect from the series. With the main Doctor Who series not returning until next December, a new run of The Collection shorts would be the perfect antidote to an otherwise TARDIS-lite 2026.

Release Date

1963 – 1989-00-00

Network

BBC One, BBC Television

Directors

Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Peter Moffatt, Richard Martin, Chris Clough, Lennie Mayne, Pennant Roberts, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Graeme Harper, Gerald Blake, Hugh David, Mervyn Pinfield, Rodney Bennett, Waris Hussein, John Gorrie

Writers

Robert Holmes, Bob Baker, Malcolm Hulke, Dave Martin, David Whitaker, Brian Hayles, Robert Sloman, David Fisher, Dennis Spooner, Terrance Dicks, Eric Saward, John Lucarotti, Don Houghton, Chris Boucher, Ian Stuart Black, Louis Marks, Peter Grimwade, Henry Lincoln, Johnny Byrne, Mervyn Haisman, Jane Baker, Pip Baker, Robert Banks Stewart, Anthony Read

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  Barry Jackson

  Gordon Lowery

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