Season 2 of “NCIS: Origins” will include a special episode dedicated to David McCallum, who played Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard for the first 20 seasons of the flagship “NCIS” series before his death in 2023.
Titled “The Edge,” the tribute episode will feature Adam Campbell reprising the role of young Ducky, which he has played as a guest star in four episodes throughout the run of “NCIS.” Per the official logline for the episode, “Ducky is sent to Camp Pendleton to shadow the team while they work a case and, in the process, he reconnects with Gibbs after the two crossed paths years earlier.”
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The episode is titled after McCallum’s song of the same name, which will be featured in the episode. The song, which is an instrumental, was released via Capitol Records in 1996 and is well known as the sample in the intro to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s hit 2000 single “The Next Episode.”
“We wanted to do this episode to honor the memory of our dear friend David McCallum,” said “NCIS: Origins” showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North in a statement. “He was a beloved member of the ‘NCIS’ family for so many years and we’re incredibly lucky to have the talented Adam Campbell back to bring the younger version of this iconic character to life once again. We even got to feature David’s music in the episode. We’re all very excited and can’t wait for the fans to see it!”
“NCIS: Origins” is narrated by original “NCIS” star Mark Harmon, who originated the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The series stars Austin Stowell as young Gibbs in the early ’90s. Season 2 follows the NCIS Camp Pendleton Team, led by Mike Franks (Muse Watson in the original season, with the young “Origins” version played by Kyle Schmid), and Gibbs’ early career as a special agent.
Monreal and North serve as executive producers of “NCIS: Origins” alongside Harmon and Sean Harmon, and CBS Studios produces the series. Season 2 premieres on Oct. 14.
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