‘NCIS: Origins’ Sets Adam Campbell’s Return as Young Ducky (PHOTOS)

NCIS: Origins will continue to explore the beginnings of Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) friendships with two key people in his life in the NCIS timeline. So far in Season 2, Adam Campbell has brought his younger version of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) over from the mothership (and began talking to the victims), and in the March 16 episode, Shea Buckner took on the role of the probie version of Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula on NCIS: New Orleans).

Now, details for the Tuesday, March 31, episode reveal that Campbell is returning as Ducky. The logline for “Homeward Bound” reads: “When Dr. Tango (Julian Black Antelope) is arrested for stealing human remains from a national park, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (Adam Campbell) returns to assist the team in proving his innocence.” Check out photos below.

When Campbell first appeared earlier this season, Franks (Kyle Schmid) in particular was wary of the young ME. But he did end up helping everyone, including Franks and especially Gibbs, while he was there. We could easily see why Gibbs and Ducky will be so close one day. It sounds like it’s a good thing that he left things that way because maybe now the team won’t mind why Ducky’s there — and will more easily trust him to help them help Doc Tango.

“Maybe we’ll see [Campbell as Ducky] again,” NCIS: Origins executive producer David J. North told TV Insider in October 2025. TV Insider. He said at the time the chances of that happening were “pretty good.”

Campbell’s first episode ended with Gibbs calling him Ducky and was the first scene that the actors filmed together. Campbell loved that moment, calling it “wonderful. I think there is that reiteration that this is a deep friendship and a lasting one, and it is an indication of just how close these guys are going to be in the coming years. … Like a puppy, Ducky never really lets up until he brings out the kind of close friendship that he knows he has with Gibbs.”

Executive producer Gina Lucita Monreal explained that it was important to show the “progression forward of how Gibbs really went from seeing him as an acquaintance that he had crossed paths with years ago to this friend who will become a presence in his life.”

What are you hoping to see in Adam Campbell’s next Origins episode as young Ducky? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS: Origins, Tuesdays, 9/8c, CBS