Doctor Who: what happened to the Doctor's granddaughter?

Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish

Image obtained from: bigfinish.com.

Recently, we asked what happened to Jenny, the Doctor’s daughter. But now we ask what happened to Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter? Especially during the Time War? Could the answers be found in the audios?

I’m writing up this particular article for two reasons. First, the fact that, as much as I covered in my overview for the final season of the Eighth Doctor Adventures, one key element that was overlooked was the reunion between the Eighth Doctor and his granddaughter Susan. This was a huge part of the season, after all, and deserved to be looked at as a whole.

More from Winter is Coming

The other reason though is that I get to look beyond the season, too. With last year’s All Hands on Deck, there’s a key part of this relationship that I get to cover. One set long after the events of the intense finale To the Death.

So how well was the Eighth Doctor’s and Susan’s relationship handled by Big Finish overall? And where did it eventually lead? Let’s take a look. Keep in mind, we’re covering major plot points across all of Eight and Susan’s audios together, so we’ll be discussing major spoilers for this article.

Susan’s original final story in the show was The Dalek Invasion of Earth. In that key story, the First Doctor left his granddaughter on Earth, so she could start a new life with David Campbell, whom she had fallen in love with.

It was far from an easy choice, of course. Earth had just defeated a Dalek invasion, and the Daleks had caused a lot of devastation. Earth needed to take time to rebuild. But Susan’s grandfather was confident that she could make a life for herself there, rather than continually looking after him.

(You can watch the original clip where he says goodbye to her below, from the official Doctor Who YouTube channel. Be warned, it’s an emotional scene.)

Reunion

Across the whole of the TV series, Susan and the Doctor were only reunited once in The Five Doctors. And at the time, it only really focused on Susan with the First Doctor, so they didn’t really have much of a chance to catch up.

And this is where An Earthly Child comes in. When Big Finish released this story, they were very keen to make it clear that this was the first time the Doctor had seen his granddaughter since The Five Doctors. So while a reunion between the two had been covered in other media, particularly the Eighth Doctor novel Legacy of the Daleks, Big Finish chose to ignore that for their own interpretation.

It was very understandable, too. While Big Finish does sometimes acknowledge the continuity of other expanded media, the Eighth Doctor and Susan meeting each other was a big moment. Big Finish wanting to give their own take on that, particularly with the original actors, made a lot of sense. It also allowed the story to have a lot more impact, too.

The reunion itself was a rather sweet one. We got to see how much Susan had changed since her grandfather had left her. Naturally, she’s more grown up, and more responsible. She’s even a mother at this point, something the Doctor was very surprised to discover.

A more alien Doctor

As for the Doctor himself, in some ways, he wants to continue acting like his current self. He’s a man who enjoys having adventures and embracing life. He’s also far less crotchety than when he originally travelled with his granddaughter.

But at the same time, he starts slipping into some old habits. He starts forgetting his responsibilities, and hides too many things from his granddaughter. He’s especially far too keen for either Susan or his great-grandson Alex to travel with him. When neither of them like the idea, he can’t really understand why.

Considering that, like the Tenth Doctor, Eight was always one of the more emotional and perhaps relatable Doctors, it’s interesting seeing more of his alien side.

This is almost a constant across all of his adventures with Susan. While we saw more of the emotional side in To the Death – a lot more, in fact – throughout An Earthly Child, Relative Dimensions and even All Hands on Deck, his very alien and over-protective attitude tended to cause a lot of problems. So seeing that, as much as the Doctor had changed, he had also remained the same, was fascinating.

Old companions face old enemies, as Lucie, Susan and Alex face the Daleks in Lucie Miller.

(Photo credit: Big Finish Productions. Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Alex

Alex really highlighted the key sides to both the Doctor and Susan. With Susan, we explored how much she had grown, and how she had taken on the responsibility of being a mother. Particularly in a very difficult world and raising him without a father.

With the Doctor, it was almost an opportunity for him to travel with family once again. He saw Alex as the perfect person to inherit the TARDIS one day, and really wanted to prepare him for that.

Of course, this completely ignored what Alex himself wanted. Which changed considerably, mainly through character development. When we first met Alex in An Earthly Child, he was very xenophobic, and completely against the idea of aliens. Of course, he didn’t know the truth about his own biology.

A death in the family

Over time, however, he started to have more of an open mind. Initially, the idea that his great-grandfather was an alien was pretty weird for him in Relative Dimensions.

But he slowly grew more used to it. We also got to see how clever he was, and how he was keen to try an adventure.

At the same time, however, he also wanted to have an adventure on his own terms. He didn’t want to see the universe with the Doctor, just explore the Earth, at least for a while. It was interesting to see that, while he shared a lot in common with his family, he was also very much his own person, too.

You’d think he’d have been around for quite a while longer. Especially as a member of the Doctor’s family. So it was quite a shock when he was killed off in To the Death. It was a fitting exit for his character, though. Sacrificing himself to help others to save the Earth from the Daleks is definitely something his great-grandfather would do.

Susan has one last meeting with her grandfather before the Time War calls…

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The Time War

Naturally, both Susan and the Doctor were devastated by such a loss. Susan was left full of grief. The Doctor, meanwhile, was full of rage. At the Daleks, at the universe, and at himself. He needed some time alone, or thought he did.

So, once again, he left Susan behind on Earth. It would be a long time before he would see her again. (Though thankfully, not quite as long as before.)

Which brings us to All Hands on Deck. If any story needed to be told about Susan, it was definitely this one. Because this explains what happened to Susan in relation to the Time War.

Across the New Series, up until The Day of the Doctor, the Doctor had always stressed that he was the last of the Time Lords. That there were no other survivors, and certainly, that none of his family survived.

This would have included Susan. While neither Russell T Davies nor Steven Moffat answered the question of what happened to her directly, we can assume that she was one of the casualties. At the very least, she could have been on Gallifrey when the Doctor chose to use the Moment to end the Time War.

Because honestly, if she really was on Earth during the Time War, then the idea that the Doctor would not have checked up on her afterwards sounds more than a little unlikely. In fact, it just sounds absurd.

A final goodbye?

And this is where All Hands on Deck comes in. While it’s a Short Trip, with only Carole Ann Ford narrating the story, it’s still an incredibly significant one. Because it’s the story of what happens when Susan leaves Earth.

By this point, the choice is a very natural one. With both her husband and her son dead, there’s little left for her on Earth. When she receives a call to arms from Gallifrey, it’s really just an excuse for her to leave.

She could have ignored it, as her grandfather desperately wanted her to. But with even the slightest sense of purpose, she knows she has to go back.

Once again, the goodbye between her and her grandfather is an emotional one. It echoes the original goodbye the Doctor gave her back in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. But this time, it’s Susan telling it to her grandfather. Doing her best to reassure him at such a difficult moment. Reversing the roles in this case feels very natural.

A suitable ending

Will we have any more stories of the Doctor and their granddaughter? It’s possible, perhaps. But if All Hands on Deck is the last story for the two chronologically, then it’s a great one to end things on.

At this point, everything has come full circle. Particularly with Susan. In the beginning, she had been running away from Gallifrey when the series started. When we last saw her, she had finally chosen to return home. It would certainly be a very fitting end for her story.

When Big Finish decided to reunite the Doctor with Susan, it could have been a very risky move. But thankfully, across many stories, it’s a decision that’s worked brilliantly. It deepened and developed their relationship considerably.

Susan herself has been written far better on audio than on television. And we have a much better idea of what happened to her during the Time War. Overall, the journey of the Eighth Doctor and Susan was very satisfying, both for fans of the character and for those curious about the Doctor’s family.

Next: Review: The Demon Rises (Fourth Doctor audio)

Have you listened to any of the Eighth Doctor’s and Susan’s stories? Which one was your favorite? What did you make of their relationship overall? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Home/Doctor Who

Doctor Who: the Eighth Doctor and Susan – what happened to the Doctor’s granddaughter?

By James Aggas | May 22, 2018