NCIS star Brian Dietzen has shed light on how David McCallum’s passing significantly impacted Season 21.
McCallum’s death at the age of 90 occurred while plans for the new season were still underway. In response, producers opted to craft a special episode to bid farewell to McCallum’s character, Ducky, and pay homage to his enduring influence on the show.
The production team turned to McCallum’s longtime co-star Brian Dietzen, known for his role as chief medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer, to co-write the episode titled ‘The Stories We Leave Behind,’ alongside Scott Williams.
In this poignant installment, the NCIS team grapples with Ducky’s demise by delving into one of his unresolved cases, involving a woman whose father was dishonorably discharged from the Marines.
Though Brian had previously contributed to the show’s writing, he revealed to TVLine that he hadn’t initially planned to write for the shortened Season 21 until McCallum’s unexpected passing.
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“Before David passed, we had that work stoppage with the WGA and SAG strikes, so I had said to Steven Binder and David North, our showrunners, ‘I don’t need to write this year,’ because we only have 10 episodes,” he explained.
“I didn’t want to insert myself. But then when David passed away, Scott Williams, my co-writer, volunteered to do this episode and he said to me, ‘I thought it was only right that you co-write with me.’ And then everybody in the room said, ‘Yeah, that’s perfect. That’s what should happen.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely, I’d be honored to’.”
The episode will focus on Jimmy’s response to his colleague’s untimely demise, including the revelation that it was Jimmy who discovered Ducky’s lifeless body.
“Since Jimmy worked so closely with Ducky, for a couple of decades, it made sense that a lot of the story would be retold through his eyes and his memories,” Brian remarked.
“And certainly, McGee had been there with him as well, but what was really important to Scott and I, and to the whole crew, was that we honor Ducky’s relationship with the larger team, not just the current team of Parker and Knight and Torres and McGee and Kasie, but also the teams that came before.
