Everything We Know About Doctor Who Season 3
7. Susan Was Set Up To Play A Key Role In Season 3
Though it was delightful to see Carole Ann Ford reprise the role of Susan Foreman after decades of fan clamouring, her brief cameos in The Interstellar Song Contest and Wish World left many fans scratching their heads by the time the credits rolled on Season 2.
Was that it? Why bother bringing her back just for that? What was the point?!
But she wasn’t included simply for pointless nostalgia baiting or ‘Absolute Content’ as Russell T Davies might call it – the plan was to do more, only for behind-the-scenes troubles to nip those plans in the bud. For now.
Various leaks have described an alternate ending to Season 2 that was not only written, but filmed, in which the Fifteenth Doctor and his fam would be celebrating their defeats of the Rani, Omega, and Conrad, only for the camera to pan to the side and reveal Susan (alongside Poppy) watching over them, presumably setting her up as the key mystery for Season 3.
This ending was then scrapped when Ncuti Gatwa decided to leave the show, and the new regeneration ending was filmed in early 2025.
Leaks should of course be taken with a pinch of salt, but in this case the supporting evidence is damning – including an officially-released image of what appears to be the Doctor and Belinda dancing at said party, along with the mother of Poppy’s actress seemingly corroborating the leak by sharing it on her social media.
Not to mention a special feature on the Season 2 blu-ray called "Reality War Companion Catch-Up", which involves a chat between Varada Sethu and Carole Ann Ford. So... Carole Ann Ford was supposed to be in The Reality War then?
And really, it just makes sense. The Doctor is all about family these days, and say what you want about Russell T Davies, but it’s hard to imagine him bringing back one of the most important characters in Doctor Who history to unfreeze the Doctor in space, and then say hi to him on Zoom. Carole Ann Ford is no spring chicken, so he’ll have wanted to get more use out of her sooner rather than later.
How exactly Susan factored into Season 3 is unclear, though if the Captain Poppy element of the leak is also true, then we could’ve been set to get some major revelations about the Doctor’s family history.