14 Doctor Who Companions That Need To Return

By Mike Morgan /

5. Susan

The Doctor's granddaughter, Susan (Carole Ann Ford), was the first companion to leave in Doctor Who. At the end of the First Doctor story The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Susan falls in love with human freedom fighter David Campbell. Realising that his granddaughter, out of a sense of duty, will never voluntarily leave the Ship and find happiness with her love, the Doctor locks her out of the TARDIS and insists she stay with David instead, thus beginning a new life on post-Dalek-occupation Earth. On TV, the Doctor was briefly reunited with his granddaughter in The Five Doctors, but then Susan was returned to Earth. Since then, there have been no further on screen updates on Susan's situation. Surely, by now, the Doctor wants to know if she's OK? Did she survive the Time War? Of course, the fate of Susan was dealt with in the BBC Eighth Doctor books (Legacy of the Daleks) - she steals the Master's TARDIS and leaves Earth. But her fate was also revealed in a Big Finish audio story, An Earthly Child, wherein she is still in London and has a son called Alex. Perhaps these tales need to be swept aside in favour of an on screen resolution to the question of "Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?"