Roberts Explains Why Ian Chesterton Didn’t Appear in The Caretaker

Many fans were hopeful that First Doctor companion Ian Chesterton (William Russell) would turn up in The Caretaker given the Coal Hill setting and the character’s appointment to Chairman of the Governors. As we now know, sadly it didn’t happen.

Writer Gareth Roberts has explained the omission saying he felt it would be too much of distraction and something deserving of its own episode.

Speaking to CultBox, Roberts said: “I just thought [including Ian in ‘The Caretaker’] would be too much of a distraction. I think that’s an episode all of its own. I thought, particularly after the 50th, where there were lots of references to past Doctor Who, sometimes you need to just put your foot on the accelerator and keep going forward.”

However the writer doesn’t rule it out in future: “I’d love to see William Russell back in the show! That’s so rich and so fertile for someone to do. You’d have to explain it enough so that everyone would get it.”

He added: “There’s a tiny reference to that first year of Doctor Who in ‘The Caretaker’ which is the Coal Hill motto, on the wall of the parent’s evening: “a great spirit of adventure”, which is what the Doctor says about Ian and Barbara in ‘The Sensorites’. I thought that was a nice nod in the background.”