Hi all,

Just watched most of the pilot episode to Classic Who - An UNearthly child. Unfortunately the last part was not available. Nonetheless, it was good to see most of the episode for the first time.

IN the episode Susan Foreman is introduced as the Doctor's granddaughter - which I already knew about through reading. With this it is obvious that writers had not worked on cming up with a "Bible" for a series not knowing the series would span decades and become such a hit. Little did they suspect that the series would go on to have followers who would analyse every minute detail lol.

Anyways, I have read that throughout Who history there have been several references to susan including one later appearance in an Anniversary episode.

However, the Doctor continues to state that he is the last of his kind, that he has no family etc. Has Susan just been ommited from NuWho; has an explanation been given or any further references made during NuWho era??? Also, if Susan was his granddaufghter the Doctor must be a father. Any reference to his own son/daughter in any Who serial classic or Nu???

P.S How theatrical is early 60s TV?? lol Also, quite surprised that the Doctor did not make his first appearance until halfway through the pilot episode! And on first impression, I really dislike the way they tried to portray the First Doctor - but admittedly have to watch a few more First Doc adventures!

Thanks

Its not that he said he didn't have a family....in New Who its been maintained that he "did" have a family.....for example in Fear her when the Tenth Doctor said i was a dad once...and so on...so in that alone Susan can be included, she just hasn't been mentioned by name....and therefore, there is no way of knowing if she died or not...say during the Time War....

I love the sixties look...and I love the grouchy Doctor...in a sense, for me the RTD years have had a bit of a common theme in terms of the first Doctor....where here he is kidnapping moody looking alien....but one that mellows due to the influence of his companions....same with Nine, he is worn torn.....but towards the end, starts to become more open due to Rose's influence...

Family References in NuWho

The Doctor Dances - The Doctor implies he has lost Children and Grandchildren to the War.
Fear Her - The Doctor tells Rose he was a Father once.
Smith and Jones - The Doctor says he had a Brother once.
The Doctors Daughter - He tells Donna he was a Father once but lost it all a long time ago.

Thanks for your info peeps.

It would be really something for NuWho to bring back someone like Susan Foreman or introduce the Doctor's son/daughter or even introduce the mother of this lost child.

With such a long hsitory and so many questions being raised over a number of decades, it would be really cool if some of these issues were addressed in NuWho, especially cool for those who have followed Who form the strat or have committed so much time to viewing all episodes available.

Personally Id love to go back and watch every episode available, but there are so many! And then, I think that with most episodes loooking really dated, I might find it hard to watch!

I think RTD indicated Susan was dead, but that hasn't been specifically stated on the show. There's no reason why she should have died in the Time War really as the Doctor left her in 23rd century England.

Personally, I would hate this. The fact that the Doctor is a bit of a mystery is one of the central points of the series, it's one of the things that make him interesting. The more we learn about him, the more 'human' he becomes to us, and the more he is diminished.

The main reason not to bring her back is practical. She simply wouldn't mean much to the average viewer. The average viewer is not familiar with very early episodes. 1963 was a very long time ago. Leaving that aside...

Susan was left in 23rd century England after the successful defeat of the Daleks however:
[LIST][*]Was this timeline altered by Genesis Of The Daleks? If so, doesn't that leave her in a parallel universe?[*]Was Susan a Time Lord at all? It is likely that not all Galefreyans are Time Lords (Think of palace guards and other functionaries. They don't seem to be lords of anything.) Would The Doctor have left Susan on Earth with the humans if she was going to live for thousands of years* and regenerate? It seems more likely that he would have left her with the humans if she were a non Time Lord Galefreyan with a similar life span to humans and hence able to fit in.[/LIST]
There are loose ends here, which are not resolved in The Five Doctors, but given that the Time War is the loose end to end them all and nobody seems keen to tidy that one up I can't see any need to deal with this.

* - The Doctor may only be 900 years old but he keeps regenerating due to his dangerous activities. The only Doctor to regenerate naturally was the first at 450 years old. That gives a better idea of the normal Time Lord lifespan. If Susan was a Time Lord she could have watched David grow old and die, only ageing slightly herself, and then lived for another 6000 years, regenerating from time to time.

In all fairness when Susan was left behind there was no such thing as a regeneration

I don't think the Doctor would have not let her stay only because she would live forever....he let her stay because he believed she would be more happy and that is what she really wanted....

So we don't know for sure that Susan is a proper Time Lord that can re-generate then??

Imagine if Carole Ann-Ford agreed to reprise her role as Susan for a story! Matt Smith and his OAP grandaughter!!
(Mind you, I'll bet Carole still looks mighty fine now). How do these Doctor Who girls keep their looks?

Another actress could take thr role in the event that she too can regenerate.

It's never been established that she was a Time Lord, and several lines in The Invasion of Time, Arc of Infinity and The Deadly Assassin make it clear that not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords. I agree with whoever said the Doctor would not have left Susan with David if she was likely to outlive him by centuries.

Consider his thoughs on the subject in 'School Reunion'

And it wasn't established that she isn't a time lord either...


It doesn't matter....he is talking about himself...he doesn't say that is why us timelords never decide to settle on Earth....after all why would Time Lords then exile the Doctor to Earth, if him living there would cause a problem like it may do for Susan if she outlives David? And Other Time lords like Professor Chronotis decided to hide on Earth, Romana decided to stay in another universe altogether...she may have gone back, but initially she stayed without a Tardis...and K'anpo Rimpoche who lived as Buddhist abbot...

In the ned, when they set about leaving Susan behind the concept of regeneration hadn't been invented....so really the Doctor wasn't thinking about that at all....but within the context of the show, he was helping her make the decision she wanted, and wasn't going to stop her just because she can live forever....he had let go...

Oh indeed. I'm not suggesting they bring her back, just saying there's no reason why she should be dead or impossible to visit should the Doctor wish to.

Big Finish have just announced that Carole Ann Ford will be in more than one episode of their upcoming 8th Doctor run as Susan (I'd imagine those episodes may well end up on BBC7 as well), meaning Cardiff have no interest in using Susan, at least at the moment.

I can't remember 100% of An Earthly Child (the previous BF Susan was in), but I'm pretty sure Susan is a Timelord in Big Finish continuity.