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Doctor Who: Carole Ann Ford on How Doctor-Susan Reunion Would Go Down

After coming close to it becoming a reality, Doctor Who legend Carole Ann Ford shared how she envisions a Doctor-Susan reunion going down.

If you're a fan of Doctor Who, then you know the heartbreaking story of Carole Ann Ford's Susan Foreman and the way she ended up parting ways with the Doctor.  In 1964's "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," William Hartnell's Doctor locks his granddaughter and original companion out of the TARDIS, explaining to Susan that she needed to part ways with him in order to build a normal life with David (Peter Fraser). But before departing, he promised to return one day. Well, he didn't – though it seemed that ex-Showrunner Russell T. Davies was building towards that long-awaited reunion during his recent run on the show (more on that below). Now, Ford is sharing her thoughts on how she sees Susan reacting to seeing the Doctor in person after so many years.

Checking in with host Tia Kofe for the latest edition of The Whoniverse Show, Ford and legendary director Waris Hussein offered some fascinating insights into the early days of the show and what went into getting Doctor Who onto our screens. From working on the original TARDIS set with Hartnell to the making of "An Unearthly Child" and the lost episode "Marco Polo," Ford and Hussein definitely don't disappoint in painting a picture of what 1960s productions were like. But the duo also touch on the modern era of Doctor Who, too – including Peter Capaldi's run as the Doctor and what Hartnell would think of how the show's universe has evolved.

At one point during the conversation, Kofe asks Ford how she would want to see a reunion between Susan and the Doctor play out. "Well, obviously very emotional. It had to be. How would it not be? And also, I think she'd be reprimanding him. Why did you abandon me? You promised to come back. Why the hell didn't you come back? You left me all on my own in god knows when times. You know, I met the most extraordinary hazards, and I wanted you by me," Ford shared, before laughing and adding, "I'm writing the script."

Speaking with fellow Doctor Who actress Katy Manning at Club Parramatta in Sydney, Australia, in October 2025, Ford revealed that she had filmed an unused scene for the recent second-season finale, "The Reality War," which would have been the originally planned ending leading to a third season. As you know, Susan made two brief but important appearances during Ncuti Gatwa's run as the Fifteenth Doctor, in "The Interstellar Song Contest" and "Wish World," and apparently filmed a third appearance as a kind of cliffhanger to tease the third season arc that Davies was originally planning.

"You didn't see the episode which was to sort of introduce my coming back," Ford told Manning. "Where I was holding hands with a little – beautiful little tiny black child, three years old. And we were watching through the window somewhere where the audience wasn't supposed to know where we supposed to be. And we were watching by newly-embodied grandfather, who was now Ncuti Gatwa, and watching him have a wonderful time singing and dancing in a party in a shop opposite where we were. And obviously I, my character Susan, was longing to just go there and fling her arms around her grandfather and say, 'Grandfather, how lovely to see you after all this time and how did you survive your floating about in space… and why have you changed?'"

That sure sounds a lot like an official image of the season finale that was released, showing Gatwa's Doctor and Belinda (Varada Sethu) smiling and enjoying themselves at what could be a celebratory event. Maybe they were celebrating having saved the universe once again – but in a way we never got to see? "Anyway, that was unfortunately not to be – for reasons I know and will not disclose," Ford added before moving on with the conversation.

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