Doctor Who: Books versus audios – the Doctor’s and Susan’s reunion
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor has reunited with his granddaughter in two very different continuities. But which interpretation is stronger?
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
We look at two versions of when the Doctor finally reunited with his granddaughter Susan in Doctor Who: one in books and one in audios. But which medium handled it better?
What’s interesting about the expanded universe of Doctor Who is that there are a lot of inconsistencies. If not with the TV show, then certainly between other media. Which isn’t surprising, really. Because when you’ve got so many different stories told in books, comics and audios, conflicting stories are bound to crop up.
This is especially noticeable when comparing the books with the audios. Sometimes, the audios reference major events from the books. But most of the time, they take the stories and adventures in their own directions. And this is especially true of the Eighth Doctor’s stories.
One of the biggest major conflicts between the two is their depiction of the reunion between the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan. Both of which take place during the Doctor’s eighth incarnation. They also take place in very different continuities.
Legacy of the Daleks
The first take on the story was in John Peel’s novel Legacy of the Daleks in 1998. This story is very much a direct sequel to The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and features the Doctor arriving on Earth thirty years after the original Dalek invasion. Naturally, you’d think that a reunion with his granddaughter would be a huge focus within this story.
But, sadly, you’d be wrong. There’s a lot that happens in Legacy – including the return of a major enemy – but the reunion’s not really one of them. Susan is a major part of the story, that much is true. But her and the Doctor are kept separated throughout.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with this approach necessarily. Keeping them separated and building up to the reunion makes a lot of sense, especially if you want to increase the anticipation for the readers. But what you don’t expect is for the reunion to not happen at all!
There is one brief moment – one far too brief moment – when the Doctor and Susan see each other, while she’s held hostage. But that’s over with much too quickly, before she’s taken away in a TARDIS and never sees him again. She doesn’t even get to say “Grandfather!” before it happens, and that’s a huge mistake.
Even worse, the Doctor and Susan are never reunited in the novels. A hugely anticipated moment, and it’s utterly wasted.
However, I wasn’t too disappointed when I discovered this. Because, thankfully, I had already listened to An Earthly Child.
An Earthly Child
Released over a decade later in 2009, An Earthly Child was, essentially, the Doctor and Susan reunion we had really been waiting for. Like Legacy of the Daleks, a good portion of the story does keep the Doctor and his granddaughter separate from each other.
Unlike Legacy, however, the buildup actually pays off about halfway through, and Susan and the Doctor are truly reunited. Honestly, hearing her say, “Grandfather!” is such a satisfying moment.
And they get plenty of interaction with each other, too. There are a number of key scenes when each finds out what the other has been up to all this time. Susan’s reaction to finding out what incarnation her grandfather is currently is an especially brilliant moment.
What really helped An Earthly Child is that there wasn’t too much plot to it, at least not compared to Legacy. With the novel, Susan’s involvement was only a part of the story; with An Earthly Child, the reunion between her and the Doctor basically is the story. That, plus the fact that she has a son now, Alex, which is definitely an interesting addition to the mythology.
Further meetings
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On top of all that, the story of Susan and Alex doesn’t end there. With the Doctor finding out that he has a great-grandson, he makes more of an effort to see his family again. First, it’s a conscious choice when he invites them round for one of the most disastrous Christmas dinners ever that wasn’t in a British soap in Relative Dimensions.
When he meets them once more in Lucie Miller and To The Death, it’s far less of a happy occasion. The Doctor is summoned back to Earth when the Daleks invade for a second time. And by the end of that story, the Doctor’s lost both friends and family.
The Doctor and Susan meet each other one more time in the short story All Hands on Deck. This is especially crucial, as it reveals – to some extent – what happened to Susan in the Time War. The goodbye scene is particularly heartbreaking to listen to.
So, we have two distinct versions of Susan’s return. The novels hardly feature a reunion at all, while the audios has the Doctor meeting her and her family several times, with plenty of satisfying development along the way. While I usually try to avoid comparisons over which is better, it’s hard not to see which is the stronger option in this case.
Next. Series Twelve: Five writers that need to come back. dark
Have you read Legacy of the Daleks or listened to An Earthly Child? Which do you think is the stronger reunion? Which do you think is the stronger story overall? And which interpretation would you prefer to be canon? Let us know in the comments below.