10 Doctor Who Mistakes Confirmed By The Creators

As the Doctor’s first onscreen companion, Susan holds a special place in Doctor Who history.

She was also his granddaughter, and an alien in her own right. But sadly, this is something the writers quickly seemed to forget.

Following a promising introduction in An Unearthly Child, Susan was treated more as a human teenager than a Time Lord, playing second fiddle to the other leads. It’s a great frustration looking back – not least for the woman who played her.

Reflecting on her decision to leave the series, Carole Ann Ford recalled that:

“It had become so repetitive. For a large part of the time, Susan was arriving somewhere with her grandfather and the other two, being told not to get into danger, having them come and get her out of danger, then flying off again. In the meantime, I was watching visiting actors do really interesting stuff.”

Ford wanted Susan to be a much more interesting character. She came to the show as a trained dancer, acrobat, swimmer, and horse-rider, but was given no opportunity to use these talents in the scripts. She was also told Susan would have telepathic powers and a cool wardrobe – neither of which happened.

Given that was 60 years ago, it’s probably too late to make amends, though who knows what the future holds?