Susan's Dead? Massive Doctor Who Reveal Is An Injustice To 1963's Original Companion

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 2, "The Devil's Chord."

Summary Susan's fate in Doctor Who season 14 remains uncertain, with the Doctor speculating about her possible demise.

Despite being absent for decades, Susan's return is crucial for addressing unanswered questions about her story.

Bringing back Susan would not only honor the show's history but also serve as a tribute to one of its earliest characters.

Doctor Who season 14, episode 2, "The Devil's Chord," teases the fate of the Doctor's very first companion, although if the explanation from Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor is accurate, it would be somewhat of a disappointing exit for such a pivotal character. Susan Forman is the granddaughter of the Doctor, which when it's considered that all his other blood relations have since perished, makes her a very compelling character. Susan hasn't appeared on Doctor Who in any meaningful way for decades, and now, her return may no longer be possible.

Susan belongs to a group of Doctor Who companions not from present-day Earth. Like the Doctor, Susan once called Gallifrey her home, and while the Timeless Child storyline perhaps altered the Doctor's genetic lineage, it doesn't change the fact that Susan is a biological relation of Gatwa's Doctor and all his previous regenerations. Despite Susan's prolonged absence from the long-running British sci-fi, her whereabouts haven't been spoken about in any great detail, but the second installment of Doctor Who season 14 finally fixes that.

Related Doctor Who: Why Every Companion Actor Left The Show Since its premiere in 1963, many actors have starred in Doctor Who as the Time Lord's traveling companion, but not many lasted too long on the show.

Why The Doctor Thinks Susan Is Dead In Doctor Who Season 14

The Fifteenth Doctor gives Ruby his best theory about Susan's fate in "The Devil's Chord"

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"The Devil's Chord" is set predominately in 1963 London, which is also the year the first episode of Doctor Who was aired. As a result, the Fifteenth Doctor points out to Ruby that the First Doctor will currently be on the other side of the city, living with his granddaughter. When Ruby enthusiastically asks where Susan is, the Doctor's somber reply doesn't paint a promising picture of his granddaughter's fate:

"I don't know. The Time Lords were murdered. A genocide rolled across time and space like a great, big cellular explosion. Maybe it killed her too."

The explosion in question is a reference to the Master's actions during the Timeless Child storyline when he killed all the Time Lords on Gallifrey. The Doctor's theory regarding what happened suggests that whatever the Master did also reached Time Lords not on Gallifrey at the time, and this would include Susan. The Doctor was spared the same fate, but it's unclear whether the Master intentionally avoided killing his nemesis or whether the Doctor's status as an unknown alien race made him immune.

The Doctor May Not Be Right About Susan

Gatwa's version of the Time Lord doesn't seem convinced by his own statement

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The Doctor is only speculating about what happened to Susan, as he even admits he doesn't know for sure. There's also evidence to suggest that some Time Lords survived the Master's purge. For example, Tecteun survived the attack, so there's reason to assume that Susan did too. The Doctor's uncomfortable laughter when Ruby hugs him after the reveal could be a sign of this uncertainty. If he is sure his granddaughter is dead, then laughter arguably wouldn't be a conventional way of reacting when delivering the news.

Susan was played by Carole Ann Ford.

It's also possible that the Doctor is making excuses to avoid a reunion with Susan. From his perspective, it will have been centuries since he and Susan last spoke, and coming face-to-face with such a key part of his past may be too much to bear after such a lengthy separation. Alternatively, a combination of both could be true. While the Doctor probably thinks the Master's actions resulted in Susan's death, trying to orchestrate a definite meeting could confirm an upsetting reality.

If Susan Died Offscreen, It Would Be A Huge Doctor Who Injustice

Susan Foreman deserves better than to be killed off in this way

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Even though Susan hasn't been a part of Doctor Who for a long time, her status as the show's first companion and the Doctor's granddaughter makes her a very important and interesting figure within the show's canon. Seeing that she is a Time Lord, it's very reasonable to assume she has survived all this time by regenerating through various forms. So, the unspoken implication is that Susan has always been in some distant corner of the Doctor Who universe, ready to make a comeback at any given moment. An unseen death would be incredibly unceremonious for a character like Susan.

Despite being absent from the show, Carole Ann Ford has reprised the role of Susan Foreman several times, including in Doctor Who audio adventures as recently as 2023.

Hopefully, the Doctor is jumping to conclusions in "The Devil's Chord," and ones that he doesn't fully believe. One of the harsh realities of the classic era of Doctor Who is that parts of it are outdated. However, the Toymaker's recent return in the final episode of the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials is proof that certain elements can be redeemed, and Susan is a prime example of someone who would benefit from being brought into the show's modern era. Killing her off with a few lines of dialogue would be a waste of a promising character with an untold story.

Susan's Return Is Now Even More Important After Doctor Who's Death Hint

Doctor Who needs to address Susan's story properly

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Susan hasn't been completely absent from Doctor Who. For instance, footage of her stealing the TARDIS with the First Doctor was featured relatively recently in Doctor Who season 7, episode 13, "The Name of The Doctor." Although she wasn't shown in detail, and it wasn't Carole Ann Ford playing her, Susan's cameo was a rewarding event for Doctor Who fans old and new. However, she's been missing from the show for so long that there are several unanswered questions about where she's been and what she's been up to.

With such a strong mention in "The Devil's Chord," Susan's comeback is now essential to either confirm or deny whether the Master is responsible for her death. What's great about Susan's background is that the show doesn't necessarily need to worry about casting a Carole Ann Foreman lookalike to play the Doctor's granddaughter if she were to return. Just like the Doctor, Susan would also completely transform after each regeneration cycle, so she could have a completely different face.

Related Ruby Sunday's Strange Parallel To Doctor Who's First Companion Can Explain Her Identity Mystery Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday isn't the first Doctor Who character to have a clue-laden name, but her ties to a classic companion could be very strong.

Doctor Who's new era is the perfect time to reintroduce Susan to the story, regardless of what form she might take. The early installments of Gatwa's run as the Doctor are clearly walking the tightrope of adhering to established canon while also trying to bring in new fans. As such, mentioning Susan when so many fresh faces will be tuning in will leave newcomers to the franchise wanting to know more about the Doctor's storied, tumultuous past.

So, the tease about Susan being dead might be just that - an unconfirmed hypothesis that needs confirming. If she were to come back, Doctor Who would be paying tribute to one of the earliest characters ever established in its decades-old lore. The show's willingness to shift even a little focus back to Susan's fate after so long of ignoring it is a positive sign, but Doctor Who needs to provide a more solid answer as to her whether she is alive or dead.

Episode Disney+ Release Date "Space Babies" & "The Devil's Chord" May 10 "Boom" May 17 "73 Yards" May 24 "Dot & Bubble" May 31 "Rogue" June 7 "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" June 14 "Empire of Death" June 21

A new episode of Doctor Who is available each Friday on Disney+.