TV series where an actor left, then later came back (possible spoilers) (Not Soaps)

Cafe Society
1

My wife and I just finished watching the BBC murder mystery series “Vera” last night. In the first four seasons, her sidekick was DS Joe Ashworth, played by David Leon. Leon left after S4 and for seasons 5-12 her sidekick was DS Aiden Healy, played by Kenny Doughty. Then Doughty left and Leon came back to finish out the last two seasons of the series as Ashworth (now a DI).

I’m trying to think of another series where one of the major cast left the series for several seasons but then came back as a regular cast member. Coming back in a one-off or guest appearance does not count.

2

Does Patrick Duffy leaving Dallas and coming back 2 seasons later count? His character was killed off in season 8 and returned later with the Soapy excuse it was all just a dream.

Long running shows like Law & Order, CSI and Criminal Minds are likely candidates. The one I know of is Paget Brewster left Criminals Minds and rejoined as a regular 4 or 5 seasons later.

This probably happens often on actual Soaps, do you want to ignore those?

3

Lauren Cohen left The Walking Dead during the 9th season to star in the show Whiskey Cavalier. That show was cancelled after one season, and she rejoined TWD in season 10.

4

Lecy Goranson (Becky) left Roseanne to be replaced by Sarah Chalke for seasons 6-7, then was back for season 8, left again, and was back in season 10 and then also for the spin-off/continuation The Connors.

5

Tony Head left Buffy. However, once the final season gets going, he pretty much comes back for much of the story.

6

Damn, good one. I should of remembered that one.

7

I’ll say yes, let’s ignore soaps.

8

Another British murder mystery, Death In Paradise, had Josephine Jobert (Florence) leave for season 9, come back for 10-11 and then a few episodes in season 13 before she left for good.

That show is crazy with its revolving cast, tho! She’s the only one who came back for a full season after she left.

9

Dr Crusher was forced out of TNG in season 2 due to office politics but came back in season 3 until the end, and the movies.

10

I should have remembered that, since we are still slogging our way through that one.

11

Another The Walking Dead actor, Andrew Lincoln, played Rick Grimes for the first several seasons of the show. He then left, and returned at the end of the series in a post-credits scene to set up a spinoff where he reprises the character.

I don’t know if that counts, though, since the return to the original series was essentially a cameo, and the spinoff hasn’t aired yet.

12

I updated the subject.

I watch Death in Paradise and didn’t consider the Florence departure as it was set up that she would probably return. But it does seem like it counts. They’ve had a lot of old characters return for short bits.

13

Ming-Na Wen was in season 1 of ER for 8 episodes as medical student Deb Chen. I don’t know if she was ever in the lead credits but she was a regular for the second half of the season. She came back in season 6 as resident Jing-Mei Chen and stayed for 6 seasons.

Sherry Springfield did the same thing but she was definitely a headliner for seasons 1-3. She came back for seasons 8-12.

14

Another “gone for S2 and then back again” is the actor who plays Sgt Billy McCabe in “Shetland”. Not sure why he left or came back though. (And it’s nice to see Billy have a bigger part this season than just chasing down phone records and bank accounts and checking CCTV footage!)

15

Supernatural foolishly killed off Bobby Singer. Also did it in a really stupid way.

Technically, he was never a lead on the show, but he was very much a regular for quite some time.

He came back due to some kind of multiverse thing. Lame as that is, my wife and I were really happy because we liked Bobby.

Supernatural, did it get better after a few years, or are the first 2 years and next 13 largely the same?
16

David Tennent played the 10th Doctor in Dr Who from 2005-10. He then returned as the 14th Doctor for three episodes in 2023.

17

David Duchovny left The X-Files and returned. It was not in the same full-time capacity as the first 7 seasons, but it was more frequent than a guest or one-off appearance, so I think it should count per the OP. An AI summary:

David Duchovny left The X-Files as a full-time cast member after Season 7 due to contract disputes and a desire to pursue other projects. He returned in a limited, recurring capacity for Season 8 (appearing in about half the episodes), was mostly absent in Season 9, and fully returned for the 2008 movie and the two-season revival (Seasons 10 and 11).

18

Yes, and he was a series regular for seasons 10 and 11. Definitely counts.

19

Ronnie Schell played Pvt/PFC Duke Slater on Gomer Pyle, USMC, from 1964 to 1967. He left to play a disk jockey at a Los Angeles radio station in the CBS sitcom Good Morning, World. Despite being produced by a team that included Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard, the series ran only one year. Schell returned to Gomer Pyle in its final season to replace Roy Stuart, who had until then played Cpl Chuck Boyle, Sgt Carter’s second-in-command. Slater’s absence was explained by him attending the Marine Corps’ Leadership School for a year and being promoted to Corporal.

The IMDb entry on Gomer Pyle shows some familiar faces in the cast: Larry Hovis (Hogan’s Heroes), William Christopher (MASH and Hogan’s Heroes), and Ted Bessel (That Girl)

20

Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG:1. (Also guest reappearances of RDA.)