NCIS Star Reveals How David McCallum Passing Changed Show

NCIS luminary Brian Dietzen has shared how the passing of David McCallum brought a transformative shift to season 21.Last year, McCallum’s departure at the age of 90, amid the planning phase for the upcoming season, prompted the showrunners to dedicate an episode to both the character Ducky and McCallum’s enduring legacy on the series.

The task of penning this poignant episode, titled ‘The Stories We Leave Behind,’ fell to Dietzen—known for his role as Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer—and co-writer Scott Williams.

In a narrative that reflects the cast’s process of grieving, the episode sees the NCIS team solving one of Ducky’s longstanding mysteries—a case involving a woman whose father faced a dishonorable discharge from the Marines.

Dietzen, who had previously contributed to the series’ script, told TVLine that he hadn’t anticipated taking on writing duties for the shortened 21st season until the unforeseen loss of McCallum.

“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 centre the tribute around Jimmy’s reaction to his colleague’s untimely death, including the revelation that it was Jimmy who’d found Ducky dead.

“Since Jimmy worked so closely with Ducky, for a couple decades, it made sense that a lot of the story would be retold through his eyes and his memories,” Brian said.

“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 meaning just the current team of Parker and Knight and Torres and McGee and Kasie, but also the teams that came before.

“We wanted to make sure that some of these memories, and some of these loved ones and family members from past iterations of the NCIS team, were represented, and that his relationship with with those characters was honored as well.”

This special episode, titled ‘The Stories We Leave Behind’, will air Monday, February 19.