Doctor Who Series 15 Let Susan Down, But the Original Plan Was Far Worse
Feature by Martin Elwood.
A few weeks ago, Susan Foreman came back to Doctor Who. Briefly. Mysteriously. And then, just as quickly, she was gone again.
Many of us were hoping for some resolution in the finale, but it wasn’t to be. As rumoured details have started to emerge about what might have been planned instead, that disappointment comes with a strange kind of relief. Because if the alternative had gone ahead, the outcome could have been much worse…
The Echo That Went Nowhere
But let me rewind a bit. Right in the middle of “The Interstellar Song Contest“, the Doctor, frozen in space, sees her. Yes, Carole Ann Ford, back as Susan, calling out through the void: “Grandfather. Go back. Find me.”
Seeing Susan again, and not just in name but properly on screen, wasn’t just a nice callback for long-time fans. It was emotional and substantial. She is not just any old character. She is of course the Doctor’s granddaughter, the very first companion, and the first person he left behind.
When she appeared, it felt like the show was building to something. Especially because, in the very next episode, “Wish World”, she appeared again. A fleeting glimpse on a screen, but enough to feel deliberate. It seemed to suggest this thread was going somewhere. A slow burn.
Except it didn’t go anywhere. Not in the finale, not in a post-credits tease, not even in passing dialogue. Just seemingly forgotten about.
The Finale That Might Have Been
Over the past week though, new rumours have surfaced, and they suggest that “The Reality War” originally had a very different ending. When Ncuti Gatwa’s departure was brought forward, the finale was rewritten to change the Poppy storyline. And Susan’s return was shelved.
According to these rumours, Susan was going to appear again. The episode would have ended with a celebration, the Fifteenth Doctor and friends dancing, joy in the air, and reportedly the Vlinx acting as DJ. Then the camera would have pulled back to reveal someone watching from a distance. Susan, in a grey trench coat echoing her The Five Doctors look, standing beside Poppy. She would have said to Poppy, “Let’s go, Mum.” Then credits.
Yep, that one line would have dropped a massive reveal, that Susan is Poppy’s daughter. So yes, we lost the original Susan follow-up. But if this was the alternative ending, maybe that loss is easier to live with.
The Doctor Needs Mystery
Because let’s be honest. Do we really need to know who Susan’s mother is?
Part of what makes the Doctor compelling is the ambiguity. The gaps. The things left unsaid. The more we know about his family, his biology, his origin, the more that mystery is diminished. Chibnall already tried changing the Doctor’s origin with the Timeless Child revelations, and we all know how that went down (not well).
Susan has always existed in that liminal space, important but slightly unknowable. Giving her a defined parental link, especially one as narratively tangled as being the daughter of the Doctor and Belinda while simultaneously travelling with the First Doctor decades earlier, would not just be complex. It would be a mess.
Yes, it’s frustrating that her story remains unfinished in this form. But the idea that it might have been “finished” by tying her into an already convoluted storyline feels worse. A final twist that rewrites everything about her, the Doctor, and even Poppy, in the name of shock value, would have done more harm than good.
Still a Missed Opportunity
That said, dropping this particular version of events does not mean the show was right to do nothing at all. Even without that storyline, there were meaningful ways to reintroduce Susan in the finale. A proper scene. A heartfelt reunion. A sense of closure.
The Fifteenth Doctor’s regeneration would have been the next most fitting moment. A final, quiet encounter with Susan could have served as a poignant farewell, a tribute to where the Doctor’s journey first began.
To reintroduce her halfway through Series 15, only to leave the thread hanging, feels not just unfinished, but oddly careless.
“Go Back. Find Me.”
To be fair, Russell T Davies already missed what would have been the perfect chance to reintroduce her properly. The 60th anniversary of Doctor Who back in 2023, a celebration of the show’s rich history, packed with callbacks and familiar faces, would have been the natural moment. Yet, for whatever reason, it did not happen.
Still, her line continues to echo. Not just as a message from Susan to the Doctor, but perhaps as a message to the show itself. Go back. Reconnect. Honour the past not just in passing, but with genuine intent.
