Doctor Who Brings Back Original Episode Character Following Years Of RTD Teasing

Published May 17, 2025

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Warning: HUGE spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 6, "The Interstellar Song Contest."Doctor Who season 15, episode 6, "The Interstellar Song Contest," includes an enormous comeback for a character who hasn't properly appeared in the show since 1983 and was pivotal to the franchise's earliest efforts. Among the episode's frantically exciting storyline, Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor is sporadically visited by visions of Carole Ann Ford's Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. As the show's first companion, Susan traveled with William Hartnell's First Doctor, appearing in over 50 episodes between 1963 and 1964. She returned for "The Five Doctors" when Doctor Who celebrated its 20th anniversary, but has been absent since.

Although Ford has reprised her role several times for audio adventures, her addition to Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor mentioned Susan in season 14's "The Devil's Chord," which now feels like a far more important moment than it did at the time. What's even better is that Ford's comeback surely can't be over yet.

What Happened To Susan When She & The Doctor Parted Ways

Susan settled down on Earth after leaving the TARDIS, but also continued her adventures

Susan's departure in 1964 was the first time audiences had to suffer through the Doctor bidding a companion farewell. She was the first character to travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor, but Hartnell's iteration of the character recognized that his granddaughter had fallen in love with Peter Fraser's David Campbell and needed to part ways with her grandfather. The Doctor locked Susan out of the TARDIS, knowing she would try and go with him and abandon any hope of a normal life. Hartnell delivers a tear-jerking monologue that promises he will one day return.

Most of the lore surrounding Susan's life after her 1964 departure from the show has been fleshed out in audio adventures, novels, and other forms of Doctor Who media.

The Doctor's instincts turned out to be right about the future Susan could have with David. The pair married and even adopted three children. Most of the lore surrounding Susan's life after her 1964 departure from the show has been fleshed out in audio adventures, novels, and other forms of Doctor Who media. Some stories confirm Susan remained in 22nd-century London where the Doctor had left her, whereas others say she managed to return to the 1960s. The sheer number of stories written about Susan has resulted in some notable clashes in canon.

Susan's parents have never been revealed in Doctor Who, with one timey-wimey theory even revealing they haven't even been born yet from the Doctor's perspective.

Of course, as always, the live-action Doctor Who show comes first on the matter of what is part of the franchise's primary continuity. So, "The Five Doctors" contains the most information about Susan's post-Doctor life, and reveals she eventually met her grandfather when he had faces other than that of the First Doctor, who was played by Richard Hurndall due to Hartnell's ing in 1975. While this special will presumably be honored for Carole Ann Ford's surprise comeback, it remains to be seen which other stories will be integrated into the main canon, if any of them even are.

Doctor Who Season 15's Cameo Proves Susan Wasn't Killed When The Master Destroyed Gallifrey

The Master killed all the Time Lords near the end of Jodie Whittaker's era as the Thirteenth Doctor

The Master (Sacha Dhawan) and the Cybermasters in the Doctor Who episode The Timeless Children

Like the Doctor, Susan is a Time Lord. So, she should really have died along with all the other of her race when Sacha Dhawan's Master killed them all during Chris Chibnall's Timeless Child arc. Gatwa's Doctor even acknowledges this in "The Devil's Chord," which is primarily set in 1963. During this time in the Doctor's life, both he and Susan lived in London, and Fifteen points out to Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) where they both lived. Fifteen believed the Master's Time Lord genocide caused Susan's death.

Carole Ann Ford returning to play Susan also confirms her character hasn't regenerated, which is an ability she would presumably have inherited as the Doctor's granddaughter.

Now that Susan is reaching out to the Doctor, it would seem that the Master's evil actions failed to end Susan's life as they did the other Time Lords'. I hope Susan's survival is explained, but my main theory at the moment is that her lineage as one of the Doctor's descendants means she isn't a pure-blooded Time Lord. Former showrunner Chris Chibnall altered the Doctor's lineage, so the character didn't originate on Gallifrey, but fell through from another dimension. So, this would factor into Susan's genetics as well, and possibly allowed her to survive the Master's plan.

The Doctor's Visions Suggest Susan Is Trapped Somewhere & Needs The Doctor's Help

It must take something very serious for Susan to reach out to her grandfather after all this time

Susan's message to the Doctor doesn't seem to be one that's being sent for no reason. She sounds worried, scared, and in need of assistance from her estranged grandfather. So, the most likely explanation for her return to the show after so long away is that, even though she's a very capable woman in her own right, she has come up against a threat or risk to her life from which only the Doctor can save her. So, she's probably reaching out from a place of incarceration, but "The Interstellar Song Contest" lacks the context to fully confirm that.

What remains especially unclear, from a writing perspective, is whether Carole Ann Ford's cameo is going to lead to an immediate payoff or if it's setting up a future storyline.

What remains especially unclear, from a writing perspective, is whether Carole Ann Ford's cameo is going to lead to an immediate payoff or if it's setting up a future storyline. Doctor Who season 15 is already dense with twists and storylines that will barely fit into what is sure to be an action-packed final two episodes. In other words, there simply may not be enough time for Russell T. Davies to give Ford the comeback she deserves amidst all the chaos. Even the Doctor himself seems doubtful that what he's been perceiving is real.

Ariyon Bakare shaving his head as the Barber in Doctor Who

Doctor Who Season 15, Episode 5's Villain, Story Engine & The Nexus Explained

"The Story and the Engine" introduces several new pieces of lore to the Doctor Who universe, including an incredibly compelling character.

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What's worrying about the possibility of Susan's real comeback not being planned until Doctor Who season 16 is that the show's current era may be rested after the season 15 finale. Rumors have started to swirl that the show will take a break after "The Reality War" if it doesn't lead to a boost in positive reception, as it has dwindled in recent years. Hopefully, "Wish World" and "The Reality War" either fold Susan into the story or they're good enough for Doctor Who to be renewed.

How Susan Is Speaking To The Doctor's Mind

Doctor Who occasionally re the Time Lords' telephatic powers

Carole Ann Ford looking stern as Susan in Doctor Who

Even though it is Carole Ann Ford making her long-awaited return as Susan in "The Interstellar Song Contest," the character is never physically present in the episode. Instead, she is communicating directly with the Fifteenth Doctor by somehow projecting her message into her grandfather's mind. So, no one else but the Doctor even sees or hears her. This may be strange for human characters, but Time Lords have long been confirmed to have a certain level of psychic ability.

Visualizing telepathic for a live-action TV show like Doctor Who can be tricky, so it's often kept for special occasions.

There have been several instances where the Doctor has utilized this ability to either share or manipulate memories. However, it's not something that tends to come up all too often. Because the Doctor is usually the only Time Lord in the story, it makes it less likely that he engages in telepathic communication. It does work between humans and Time Lords, but its effectiveness and predictability are more sporadic than between two or more Time Lords. Plus, visualizing telepathic for a live-action TV show like Doctor Who can be tricky, so it's often kept for special occasions.

Doctor Who Season 15's Release Schedule On Disney+
Episode	Title	Release Date (2025)
1	"The Robot Revolution"	April 12
2	"Lux"	April 19
3	"The Well"	April 26
4	"Lucky Day"	May 3
5	"The Story and the Engine"	May 10
6	"The Interstellar Song Contest"	May 17
7	"Wish World"	May 24
8	"The Reality War"	May 31