The true fans of NCIS love to watch those familiar actors in their known roles. And some of those are Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Eleanor Bishop, Timothy McGee, Ziva David, and of course Nick Torres. And another favorite is Ducky, who is played by David McCallum. But unfortunately, David McCallum didn’t have as much screen time in the past episodes. So, the fans are wondering what is happening with the Ducky character? Is David McCallum leaving the show? Because if he is, that would be heartbreaking. We are going to share with you, what we know about the issue.
For how long David McCallum has played Ducky?
![](https://thefrisky.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ncis-david-mccallum-ducky-cbs-730x409.jpeg)
Source: PopCulture.com
The character of Dr. Donald Mallard, ‘Ducky’, first appeared on NCIS in an episode that was titled “Yankee White”, in 2003. Ducky is the chief medical examiner and what was the most interesting about this character was that he talked to the cadavers while he was working on them. And there was an explanation of this in season 6 when he said that dead bodies tell him a lot about the cases, so that’s the reason he talks to them. The Ducky character was also known for telling random stories from the past and having long discussions with his co-workers.
Will David McCallum come back to NCIS?
![](https://thefrisky.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/david-mccallum-ncis-730x414.jpg)
Source: Closer Weekly
In an episode called “Silent Service” in season 16, we see Ducky preparing for his last day with NCIS because he was going to retire. But there was a twist, Director Leon Vance offered Ducky a new position, he offered Ducky to be NCIS’ historian. He said that he can work as a historian part-time and that he can come and go as he pleases, so he doesn’t have to retire. Ducky happily agreed with that and he accepted the offer.
So, there is a possibility that Ducky will be making occasional appearances. Fans can expect to see Ducky in some episodes, but no one knows what those episodes are going to be. You can also see him in the opening credits of the show, so that is definitely a good sign. You are going to see Ducky in some new episodes, but not as much as you would like.
And what about Cote de Pablo?
![](https://thefrisky.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cote-de-pablo-730x487.jpg)
Source: getty
Besides Ducky, everyone loved Zita David, that was played by Cote de Pablo. Cote de Pablo left the series a few years ago, but she appeared in a recent episode, and the fans were very confused. The reason why they were confused is that her character Ziva was supposed to be dead. But we still don’t know if she will be coming back to the show.
Source: cheatsheet.com