What happened to the Doctor's granddaughter Susan and why doesn't he mention family?

Matt_1979Matt_1979 Posts: 226
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I often think it is strange that after the Doctor's granddaughter Susan "Foreman" left, she was never mentioned again and since Doctor Who returned, there has been hardly any mention of the Doctor's family - I read that he said something like "I know the feeling" in response to a character a few years ago who said that he had "been a father and a grandfather but not any more".

If Susan really was The Doctor's granddaughter, I am surprised that she hasn't been referred to, and no more hints about the Doctor's family have been made.
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  • PiippPiipp Posts: 2,440
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    She was referred to in s7 episode Rings, in which he tells Clara he took her to the same place.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 513
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    Having Susan turn up during the anniversary special or at the end as a cliffhanger would be good. They would not even need to use the same actress of cause. Ok, they may have finished filming but a 1-2 minute cliffhanger recorded in secret a few weeks before broadcast can still be done to hide a lead in to a 2014 series.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,003
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    I think the reason why he rarely talks about them is because it hurts him too much. Like in A Good Man Goes to War when he brought his cot out of the TARDIS, Amy asked him if he had children and he avoided answering the question.
  • Face Of JackFace Of Jack Posts: 7,181
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    I'm pretty sure that Carole Ann Ford would have been happy to make a cameo role in the 50th. Who knows?

    I also read rumours were rife many years ago in Jon Pertwees days that a final confrontation with The Master would reveal that they were in fact BROTHERS!
    Unfortunately Roger Delgado died, and the story was scrapped.
  • RorschachRorschach Posts: 10,818
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    Matt_1979 wrote: »
    I often think it is strange that after the Doctor's granddaughter Susan "Foreman" left, she was never mentioned again and since Doctor Who returned, there has been hardly any mention of the Doctor's family - I read that he said something like "I know the feeling" in response to a character a few years ago who said that he had "been a father and a grandfather but not any more".

    If Susan really was The Doctor's granddaughter, I am surprised that she hasn't been referred to, and no more hints about the Doctor's family have been made.
    So your question is "Why doesn't the Doctor ever mention his family , other than the times (once or twice a series) when he does indeed mention his family?"
  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    I'm pretty sure that Carole Ann Ford would have been happy to make a cameo role in the 50th. Who knows?

    I also read rumours were rife many years ago in Jon Pertwees days that a final confrontation with The Master would reveal that they were in fact BROTHERS!
    Unfortunately Roger Delgado died, and the story was scrapped.

    Carole Ann Ford is appearing in the Docudrama but not as Susan.



    As to Family mentions by the Doctor in NuWho


    He's mentioned he's a father a couple of times (Fear Her, the Doctors Daughter)
    That he's had at least a couple of Weddings (Blink) not including the one to River.
    That he Had a Brother (Smith and Jones) but clarified this wasn't the Master (Sound of Drums IIRC).
    Mentions his Dad in passing (Fires of Pompeii).



    And as already mentioned that he brought his granddaughter to Akhaten and that before the "War" he was a Father and a Grandfather.
  • be more pacificbe more pacific Posts: 19,061
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    He remembered his childhood and looking at the Gallifeyan sky with his father during the TV Movie. Of course, there was all that other controversial stuff about his mother's side of the family during the same story.:D
  • CD93CD93 Posts: 13,939
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    She was in Name of The Doctor - does that count? :p

    ( and as above, mentioned in Rings )
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    Canon to some, not canon to others:-

    Whatever happened to Susan is dealt with in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novel "Legacy Of The Daleks" (a novel whose last chapter also serves as a prequel for the Fourth Doctor TV story "The Deadly Assassin" - all very timey-wimey, but I digress).

    Whatever happened to Susan is also dealt with in the Big Finish audio drama "An Earthly Child" (starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Carole Ann Ford reprising her role as Susan).

    The depiction of Susan's post-companion life as depicted in the novel is generally at odds with the depiction of her post-companion life as depicted in the audio drama.
  • CoalHillJanitorCoalHillJanitor Posts: 15,634
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    They sleep in his mind.
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    If the Fourth Doctor alters the Daleks' future history in "Genesis Of The Daleks" does that mean that the events of "The Dalek Invasion Of Earth" do not occur, and if they do not, what happens to Susan?

    On the assumption that the events of "The Dalek Invasion Of Earth" do occur, and Susan is indeed on 22nd Century Earth, what happens when the Time War begins? Is she, as a Gallifreyan, automatically transported to Gallifrey in order to participate in it?
  • Face Of JackFace Of Jack Posts: 7,181
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    One of the above posts mentions "Whatever Happened to Susan".....reminds me that on one of the DVD's is a spoof audio monologue made by Susan (voiced by Jane Asher).
    It was quite witty and tongue in cheek....can I remember which DVD it's on? Naaa! I'll have to hunt through them all!
  • be more pacificbe more pacific Posts: 19,061
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    One of the above posts mentions "Whatever Happened to Susan".....reminds me that on one of the DVD's is a spoof audio monologue made by Susan (voiced by Jane Asher).
    It was quite witty and tongue in cheek....can I remember which DVD it's on? Naaa! I'll have to hunt through them all!
    The Jane Asher radio play is "Whatever Happened to Susan?" from a Radio 4 series about various fictional characters. Other episodes explored the later life of Postman Pat and George from the Famous Five.

    I think the Susan episode is on the Dalek Invasion Earth DVD.
  • DogmatixDogmatix Posts: 2,286
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    Matt_1979 wrote: »
    I often think it is strange that after the Doctor's granddaughter Susan "Foreman" left, she was never mentioned again [...]

    She was in 'The Five Doctors'.
  • November_RainNovember_Rain Posts: 9,145
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    Didn't Ian and Barbara try convincing the First Doctor to go back for Susan in the story following The Dalek Invasion of Earth?

    And of course she appeared in The Five Doctors. So that's at least two nods to her from the classic run.

    There have been quite a few mentions of her/his family in the current run too, as illustrated above.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 414
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    Corwin wrote: »
    Carole Ann Ford is appearing in the Docudrama but not as Susan.



    As to Family mentions by the Doctor in NuWho



    That he Had a Brother (Smith and Jones) but clarified this wasn't the Master (Sound of Drums IIRC).




    It's been a while since I've seen this episode. In what part does that Doctor say that he had a brother?
  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    WhoFan55 wrote: »
    It's been a while since I've seen this episode. In what part does that Doctor say that he had a brother?

    Near the start when he's pretending to be a patient. Martha questions him about how she just saw him outside the Hospital.

    MARTHA
    Well, that's weird, cause it looked like you. Have you got a brother?

    THE DOCTOR
    No, not any more. Just me.
  • Davetherave70Davetherave70 Posts: 553
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    What did happen to her?
  • AdelaideGirlAdelaideGirl Posts: 3,498
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    I'm pretty sure that Carole Ann Ford would have been happy to make a cameo role in the 50th. Who knows?

    I also read rumours were rife many years ago in Jon Pertwees days that a final confrontation with The Master would reveal that they were in fact BROTHERS!
    Unfortunately Roger Delgado died, and the story was scrapped.

    They were also thinking of revealing it in Planet of Fire when the Master burning is in the blue gas flame.
    The line "Won't you even show mercy to your own..." Was going to end "brother" but it got cut. My memory of the commentary is that Peter Davison particularly wanted it cut.
  • adams66adams66 Posts: 3,945
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    They sleep in his mind.

    I love that exchange between Victoria and the second Doctor, a genuinely magical moment...

    Victoria: You probably can't remember your family.

    The Doctor: Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they... they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about. To remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing, that nobody in the universe can do what we're doing.
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    They were also thinking of revealing it in Planet of Fire when the Master burning is in the blue gas flame.
    The line "Won't you even show mercy to your own..." Was going to end "brother" but it got cut. My memory of the commentary is that Peter Davison particularly wanted it cut.

    Well, good on Peter Davison. I really don't like the idea of the Master being the Doctor's brother.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,027
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    Matt_1979 wrote: »
    I often think it is strange that after the Doctor's granddaughter Susan "Foreman" left, she was never mentioned again and since Doctor Who returned, there has been hardly any mention of the Doctor's family - I read that he said something like "I know the feeling" in response to a character a few years ago who said that he had "been a father and a grandfather but not any more".

    If Susan really was The Doctor's granddaughter, I am surprised that she hasn't been referred to, and no more hints about the Doctor's family have been made.

    The simple answer is that the 1963-89 series has absolutely no relevance to the 2005+ series - they are not canon.
  • DanielFDanielF Posts: 2,006
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    DariaM wrote: »
    The simple answer is that the 1963-89 series has absolutely no relevance to the 2005+ series - they are not canon.

    Spectacular bit of fishing, good luck with it.
  • johnnysaucepnjohnnysaucepn Posts: 6,775
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    DanielF wrote: »
    Spectacular bit of fishing, good luck with it.

    Hasn't worked for a long, long time. Needs a new angle.
  • C. SamuraiC. Samurai Posts: 362
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    What did happen to her?

    She had a son and eventually met the Eighth Doctor when he returned to visit her. Her grandson however was unfortunatly killed during another Dalek invasion that also killed the Doctor's companion of the time Lucie Miller.
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