The news that “NCIS” actor David McCallum had passed away at the age of 90 stunned and saddened the entire world. McCallum has been acting all of his life, and throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he gained notoriety for his roles as Illya Kuryakin on “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” Simon Carter on “Colditz,” and Steel on “Sapphire & Steel.” The long-running CBS procedural series “NCIS,” in which McCallum played Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, is largely responsible for cementing his reputation as one of the most active TV actors of his generation.
Unfortunately, McCallum was never quite given the same kind of send-off on “NCIS” that his co-star, Mark Harmon, received when he stepped away from the show in 2021. On the contrary, McCallum continued to appear as Ducky, although sporadically, throughout the most recent season of “NCIS.” He even appears briefly in the show’s Season 20 finale, titled “Black Sky.” Now, due to McCallum’s death, his appearance in that episode marks his final screen turn as Ducky Mallard.
Despite playing a relatively minor part in the episode, McCallum does give Alden Parker (Gary Cole) and Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) some crucial new information regarding their most recent target. The actor’s lack of a larger send-off on the program is undoubtedly unfortunate, but it’s important to remember that Ducky’s role on “NCIS” had already diminished significantly in the years before to McCallum’s final appearance.
NCIS Season 20 features very few appearances from David McCallum’s Ducky
Only four episodes of “NCIS” Season 20 and the prior season feature Ducky Mallard, played by David McCallum. Actually, the last “NCIS” season in which McCallum had an appearance in more than half of the episodes was the 16th, which ran from 2018 to 2019. The actor started to appear in less episodes every year after the season ended.
In a November 2022 interview with Radio Times, McCallum revealed how strange it felt to continue appearing on “NCIS” even after many of his previous co-stars had left it. “When I go there it’s like being in a different show,” the star confessed. “It doesn’t quite make sense any more.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter conducted prior to McCallum’s death, “NCIS” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson also acknowledged the smaller role that the actor had adopted in the show’s most recent seasons.
David McCallum no longer appears as frequently in the series, according to Johnson. He might make four or five episodes when he returns. He’s been put through much too much, and I believe he’s ready to stop. Notably, McCallum never formally ended his involvement with “NCIS” or retired before his passing. He also never had the opportunity to record any additional sequences for “NCIS” after his participation in its Season 20 finale because of this year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which prevented the production of any new episodes.
Whether or not he was even going to is a question that may never be answered. Either way, “NCIS” fans can at least rejoice in the sheer number of episodes that McCallum’s Ducky was a part of over the course of his 20-year run on the series.