David McCallum, a name that is familiar to every generation. To me and many others, he was Ducky, a beloved member of the NCIS team who brought up stories about his experiences and wise words that everybody wanted to hear. He was a legend from the first time we saw him in the Yankee White pilot just over 20 years ago. On the day we were meant to be celebrating 20 years, we were also mourning a great loss.

Ducky was like the Grandparent figure on the show, you know, the type who always knew what to say in the toughest of situations, a support system and a great, loyal friend. A character who taught you along the way about how to be a better person, how to be open minded and to be there for others. He was always very generous to those around him too.

Some of the most memorable moments of Ducky for me:

In the pilot when he enjoyed playing Gibbs & Di Nozzo’s boss a little too much. “Move it, men!”

When he told Gibbs how to make tea. What even is tea dust? Surely they have tea bags there? I love that Ducky casually carries around tea bags. That is just iconic. Nothing worse than bad tea.

When Gerald tried to drive Ducky’s car and didn’t know how to drive stick so Ducky is yelling at him to “use the clutch.” It was such a well needed funny moment after the tragedy that previously struck.

When he tried to sort the conflict out between Kate and Tony, explaining that they basically have “Daddy issues” and are trying to impress “the Daddy” aka Gibbs. It was so funny. He went into therapist mode and it was so perfectly timed to embarrass there both of them.

The way he treated autopsies. He treated the dead how he treated the living with the upmost respect and not a lot would do that. He genuinely cared about his work and doing the best by everyone. He took on the most challenging ones, including those of friends.

It was announced before strikes that David wanted to return to the role of Ducky to give him a proper goodbye since the last time we saw his character was over a video call during 2020 season. This brought so much excitement as he was a big miss on the show. He was the OG.

Now that this isn’t possible, fans are all wanting the same thing. They want to see Ducky’s story closed in the best way possible, bringing back all his friends to be there in the last moment to mourn his loss. Maybe even a reminisce of how amazing of a character he was.

From interviews with David’s family, turns out he was a lot like the character which is just how a lot imagined him to be. He would often be the one in the corner at parties, talking with his grandson whom he adored.