Doctor Who shares update on Susan's fate in The Devil's Chord
A much-needed update on the very first companion!
*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14 episode 2, The Devil's Chord.*
Although season 14 is a fresh start for Doctor Who, the series has still paid homage to its incredible history in the new episodes, particularly with a reference to the first ever companion, Susan, played by Carole Ann Ford.
However, things aren't looking good for her if the Doctor's comments are anything to go by.
As the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) adventure back to 1963, the Doctor recognises his surroundings and points out that he used to live very nearby.
"I live over there, Shoreditch, I’m there right now," he tells Ruby. "In the past, right now, I live in a place called Totter’s Lane. 1963, I parked the TARDIS in a junkyard and I lived there with my granddaughter Susan."
Naturally, Ruby's a bit stunned by the revelation, asking if he has children. "I did have, I will have. Time Lords get a bit complicated," he responds.
However, he admits that he has no idea where Susan is – before referencing a "genocide" that wiped out the Time Lords, and suggesting that she might actually have been killed.
"The Time Lords were murdered," he says. "Genocide rolled across time and space like a great big cellular explosion – maybe it killed her, too."
So could Susan actually be dead? Here's hoping the Doctor is assuming wrong...
Ford first appeared as Susan in the very first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child, alongside the First Doctor, William Hartnell.
She left in 1964, but has made various appearances since, most recently in The Name of the Doctor in 2013.
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To celebrate Doctor Who's 60th anniversary last year, RadioTimes.com caught up with Ford, with the actress pointing out that she has various ideas for Susan's return.
She added that she's keen to work with a modern Doctor, saying: "I would love to have been re-instated when Jodie [Whittaker] was on, it would have been marvellous working with her," she pointed out.
"I’d love to meet her. That would have been doable, I think. But I can’t imagine myself saying, 'Grandmother!'"
Doctor Who continues on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on 18th May. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.
