On TV, you’re never really dead. When a beloved character is killed off on your favorite show, a little skepticism is understandable. After all, who’s to say they won’t be miraculously revived later?
The BBC hit The Night Manager brought arms-dealing villain Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) back to life mid-series to face off against his old adversary, MI6 agent Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston). The action quickly intensified, building excitement for Sunday’s finale. Will Roper be eliminated for good this time?
Meanwhile, fans of the Bafta-winning Belfast police drama Blue Lights were thrilled by this week’s news that fan-favorite Constable Gerry Cliff (Richard Dormer)—tragically shot dead in the first series—will make a shocking return in the upcoming fourth season. It’s likely to be in flashback, exploring his mysterious past in special branch, but we’ll find out for sure when it airs this autumn.
Yes, returning from the grave has become a common TV trope. Here are TV’s 10 best “Lazarus” moments. Beware: plenty of spoilers ahead…
10. Jon Snow (Game of Thrones, 2011-2019)
“They stabbed me. Olly put a knife in my heart. I shouldn’t be here.” Fans mourned when Jon Snow (Kit Harington) died in the season five finale, stabbed by mutinous brothers of the Night’s Watch and left bleeding in the snow. Luckily, the red priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten) resurrected him two episodes into season six. This mystery was never fully explained, and some saw it as the beginning of the show’s decline. The fur-clad favorite might have been better off staying dead.
9. Dan Conner (Roseanne / The Conners, 1988-2025)
Goodman’s alive! Patriarch Dan (John Goodman) was later revealed to have died of a heart attack in the blue-collar comedy’s eighth season. The lovable goofball seen throughout season nine was apparently a figment of his grieving wife’s imagination. Thankfully, the 2017 revival reversed his death. When Dan reappeared, he made a meta-joke to Roseanne about being killed off (“I’m sleeping! Why does everybody always think I’m dead?”) and lived on to star in the spin-off The Conners—by which time Roseanne was dead and he was a widower. Confused? So are we.
8. Nathan Young (Misfits, 2009-2013)
Howard Overman’s streetwise sci-fi romp was an underrated gem, following a ragtag crew of young offenders who gained supernatural abilities after an electrical storm. Among its breakout stars was Robert Sheehan as the mouthy rebel Nathan, who grew increasingly annoyed that he didn’t seem to have a power. That is, until he fell from a roof and was impaled on railings, only to wake up in a coffin and realize he was immortal. After his friends dug him up, he was so smug (“I bloody knew it!”) that they soon wished they hadn’t.
7. Rory Williams (Doctor Who, 2010–2012)
He wasn’t the coolest TARDIS companion—fiancé to the more kickass Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), he often felt like a third wheel to her chemistry with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)—but Arthur Darvill’s bumbling sidekick grew into an unlikely hero. He was shot dead by a Silurian but revived by the Autons as a Roman Centurion to lure the Doctor into the legendary prison, the Pandorica. Restored to his own timeline, Rory finally married Amy, had a daughter (who became River Song—just go with it), before the couple were sent back in time by the Weeping Angels and lived happily ever after. How’s that for a timey-wimey character arc?
6. Kenny McCormick (South Park, 1997-present)
It became the Colorado comedy’sFirst catchphrase: “Oh my God, they killed Kenny.” The mute eighth-grader in the orange parka suffered a gruesome death in every episode of the first five seasons—including having his head bitten off by Ozzy Osbourne—before returning the following week to meet the same fate. This totaled nearly 100 resurrections until the joke grew stale for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They’ve since explained that Kenny is cursed, meaning he’s killed but never stays dead, and nobody can remember.
5. Richard Roper (The Night Manager, 2016-2026)
“When you’ve slain the dragon, always check its breath.” So warns Richard Onslow Roper (“My friends call me Dickie, but you’re not one of them”), played with polite menace by Hugh Laurie, in the long-awaited sequel to John le Carré’s elegant espionage thriller. Hotelier-turned-spy Jonathan Pine was convinced his warmongering nemesis—AKA “the worst man in the world”—had been executed by Syrians. He even helped identify his corpse. He reckoned without Roper’s ability to bribe, lie, kill, and rise from the ashes of chaos. The rematch is on.
4. Buffy Summers (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003)
Buffy came back from the dead not once but three times. Our teen heroine, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, was bitten by a vampire (an occupational hazard), flatlined in hospital, and most memorably, sacrificed herself to save her little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). The latter was supposed to be permanent, but when the show was renewed for two more seasons, showrunner Joss Whedon had to bring her back. Resident Sunnydale witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan) cast a resurrection spell, forgetting it meant Buffy would have to claw her way out of her own grave. Buffy complained she’d been “ripped out of heaven,” but her comeback drew one of the show’s biggest ever audiences. If the apocalypse comes, beep her.
3. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock, 2010-2017)
In the second season finale, The Reichenbach Fall, Benedict Cumberbatch’s otter-cheekboned sleuth hurled himself off the roof of Barts hospital, his signature Belstaff overcoat flapping in the breeze, and was scraped off the pavement by paramedics. Don’t fret, Cumberfans. He’d fooled his arch-foe Moriarty by faking his death using a strategically placed airbag, a body double, several accomplices, and a squash ball to stop his pulse. Allegedly. Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) wasn’t best pleased to see his pal alive and well two years later, punching him on the nose for putting him through the grief.
2. Dirty Den (EastEnders, 1985-2005)
“‘Ello, princess.” With that two-word greeting, soap’s most gasp-inducing resurrection was complete. Dodgy pub landlord Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) was shot by a hitman in 1989 and dumped into the Walford canal. It turned out he wasn’t dead but survived and did a runner to Spain. His momentous comeback was watched by 16 million viewers. His Dirtyness was murdered for real two years later, bludgeoned with the Queen Vic bust and buried under the beer cellar.
1. Bobby Ewing (Dallas, 1978-91)
The original. The infamous one. Both the best and worst at the same time. In the most ridiculed reversal in TV history, the demise of Texan oil baron Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) was written off as “just a dream” when he reappeared in the shower a full season later as if nothing had happened. Viewers of the shoulder-padded supersoap were heartbroken when the much nicer younger brother of villainous JR was mown down by a car and died in hospital. Yet a shameless twist saw the tragedy—and the entire ninth series—retconned as a bad dream of his wife, Pam (Victoria Principal). The preposterous plotline was kept so secret that even the cast didn’t know.They didn’t know until it aired. That was probably wise, as they wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs From Jon Snow to Buffy TV Characters Who Made Surprising Comebacks
Q What exactly is a surprising comeback for a TV character
A Its when a character returns to a show after being definitively written out often by being killed off disappearing or having their story seem completely finished The return is usually unexpected and changes the course of the story
Q Why do shows bring characters back like this
A For several reasons to create a major plot twist to please fans to revive interest in a declining show or because an actors schedule freed up or they agreed to return after initially leaving
Q Isnt bringing back dead characters bad for a show
A It can be risky If done poorly or too often it can make death feel meaningless and reduce tension But when done well with a clever explanation it can create iconic moments
Q Can you give me a classic example of this
A Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer She died at the end of Season 5 and her resurrection in Season 6 was a central traumatic storyline that explored the consequences of being torn from heaven
Q What about a more recent famous example
A Jon Snow from Game of Thrones He was murdered by his own men at the end of Season 5 His resurrection by Melisandre in Season 6 was a huge gamechanging moment that confirmed major fan theories
Q Are there comebacks that arent about resurrection from death
A Absolutely Sometimes a character leaves the show alive but is presumed gone forever A great example is Steve Harrington in Stranger Things He started as a disposable bully but made a surprising character comeback to become the beloved babysitter and heart of the show
Q How do writers make a comeback feel believable and not like a cheap trick
A The best comebacks are often foreshadowed have a clear inuniverse rulesbased explanation and most importantly have significant emotional or plot consequences for the returning character and those around them
Q Whats the difference between a surprise comeback and just a regular character return
A
