| The following article is written from an In Universe perspective. |
"Susan" was the assumed name of a Gallifreyan who was the original companion of the First Doctor, her grandfather. A descendant of Rassilon, Susan travelled with the Doctor and reunited with him in their fifth (DW: The Five Doctors) and eighth incarnations. (DW: An Earthly Child) At different times in her life she was known as "Susan Foreman" and "Susan Campbell",
Biography
Departure from Gallifrey
The First Doctor and Susan left together when they purloined a faulty TARDIS from the repair shop beneath the Capitol. (MOV: Doctor Who: Revelation)
Giving Humans a try
The Doctor and Susan arrived on Earth and observed a Zeppelin attack during World War I. (DW: Planet of Giants)
Life as a Schoolgirl
Susan was enrolled at Coal Hill School (DW: "An Unearthly Child; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis")
She eagerly sampled the cultural fads of British teenagers. She came to love pop groups such as John Smith and the Common Men. (DW: "An Unearthly Child; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis")
This was especially difficult during lessons. There was an obvious imbalance in her knowledge compared with her classmates. She understood advanced physics and chemistry beyond the abilities of her teachers, yet did not know how many shillings made a pound; she thought the United Kingdom was on the decimal system, which only the United States had in 1963 and hadn't yet been introduced to the UK. Her teacher Ian claimed Susan would gradually tell of her knowledge to ensure she didn't embarrass her teachers. (DW: "An Unearthly Child; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis")
On the 22nd November 1963 Susan was heading into School when she unknowingly bumped into the Fourteenth Doctor. Later that night Susan was in the TARDIS when the lights briefly dimmed and went to investigate but found nothing. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)
Travels with Ian and Barbara
Susan's individuality may have been more a problem for her teachers than for her. Susan called her five months on Earth "the happiest of [her] life". When Ian and Barbara followed her home one night to find out more of her mysterious home life, they found the TARDIS. The Doctor kidnapped Ian and Barbara and took a reluctant Susan too, travelling to Earth in the Stone Age. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) The Doctor was taken by Kal, who had seen him produce fire. The others tried to rescue the Doctor but were taken to the Cave of Skulls. The Old Mother released the Doctor and his companions and they escaped into a nearby forest. Za was injured by an animal when he tried to chase after them. Ian and Barbara took care of Za, but the group were still sent back to the cave. Ian produced fire for the tribe and devised a way of scaring the cavemen by setting the skulls on fire. The group escaped to the TARDIS, which took off again. (DW: An Unearthly Child)
When the TARDIS landed on Skaro, the Doctor lied about the fluid link needing more mercury, when there was nothing wrong, so he could explore a nearby city. The Daleks imprisoned the Doctor and his companions inside the city, confiscating the fluid link they brought along. Susan journeyed back to the TARDIS in a thunderstorm in order to retrieve Anti-Radiation drugs that she and the others had discovered earlier. Upon exiting the TARDIS she met Alydon who informed her about the wat with the Daleks and suplied her with his cloak and an extra set of Anti-Radiation drugs. Susan helped the Daleks write an agreement for the Thals, but once they arrived, the Daleks ambushed them, killing the Thal leader, Temmosus. Having escaped, they assisted the Thals in their attack on the Dalek city. The Daleks' power supply was damaged in the attack. The Daleks died and their plans to flood the atmosphere with radiation failed. (DW: The Daleks)
With the fluid link retrieved, the Doctor left Skaro for Earth, using the fast return switch. The spring iin the switch was damaged, causing it to be stuck. The TARDIS was sent to the beginning of a solar system and everyone was knocked out in the trip. The TARDIS tried warning the crew about the atomsforming around them when they came to, but the Doctor assumed that this was Ian and Barbara's sabotage of the ship. Susan had been affected the worst by what had happened. Once Barbara figured out what was going on, the Doctor fixed the spring, ending the fault. (DW: "The Rescue", The Edge of Destruction)
Still heavily damaged and malfunctioning, the TARDIS found its way to Earth but did not make it to Ian and Barbara's time, instead, landing in the Plain of Pamir in 1289. There, the Doctor and his companions met Marco Polo. Polo took the TARDIS and its keys on his caravan the breadth of Cathay to hand to Kublai Khan as part of a bargain for his return to Venice. During this time, Susan formed a strong friendship with a young girl named Ping-Cho who was being made to marry an older man. Ping-Cho later ran away and told Susan who informed the others the next day. Along the way, the Mongol warlord Tegana, also part of Polo's caravan, tried to take the TARDIS for Nogai as part of his plan to assassinate Kublai. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's duel in Peking, the Doctor and his companions escaped in his repaired TARDIS. (DW: Marco Polo)
The Doctor landed on an island on Marinus. Arbitan asked them to search for the keys to the reprogrammed Conscience of Marinus to regain control over the Voord, as all of his other followers and family members failed to retrieve them. Arbitan trapped the TARDIS in a forcefield, preventing the Doctor and his companions' escape.
They used Arbitan's travel dials to reach Morphoton. Barbara released Arbitan's daughter, Sabetha, and the rest of the city from the Morpho's mind control, and retrieved the first key. While Ian and Barbara searched for the second key, Susan and Sabetha were trapped inside a mountain cave. Ian, Barbara and Altos rescued them and found the third key deep inside the caverns guarded by Ice Soldiers.
In Millennius, Ian was framed for murder. The Doctor stood as the defence at Ian's trial, but he was sentenced to death. While Susan was held hostage by Kala, the Doctor learnt from her that one of the conspirators in the murder, the prosecutor Eyesen, was ready to collect one of the keys. Ian was spared execution. The guards captured Eyesen and the last key was found in the mace that killed Eprin.
The Doctor and his companions returned to Arbitan's island, where Arbitan had been murdered. Ian handed the Voord a fake key, which destroyed the Conscience, along with the Voord. They were able to leave in the TARDIS once more. (DW: The Keys of Marinus)
The Doctor and his companions arrived in an Aztec temple in Mexico. They went through a one-way passage that prevented access to the TARDIS. Barbara posed as the Aztec god, Yetaxa, with the others as her servants, to find a way back. For interrupting the first victim's human sacrifice, Susan was sent to a seminary.
Susan was to be punished for denying marriage to the Perfect Victim of the Aztecs' sacrifice and Ian to be executed when he was framed by the High Priest of Sacrifice, Tlotoxl, for attacking the High Priest of Knowledge, Autloc. Autloc's faith in Yetaxa was shattered, and he left for the wilderness. The Doctor, Ian and the Doctor's accidental fiancée, Cameca, distracted Ian and Susan's guard to escape. They worked on a pulley system to open the doorway back to the TARDIS. As they departed, the sacrifice of the Perfect Victim continued as planned. (DW: The Aztecs)
The Doctor landed inside a spaceship in the 28th century, where two crewmembers were suspended in a state resembling death and another, John, had had his mind opened and turned insane, following an attack on their minds by the Sensorites. The Sense Sphere, which the ship had been trapped around, had its aqueducts' water supply poisoned with atropine by survivors of a previous humanexpedition whose ship had been destroyed.
The TARDIS' lock was taken by the Sensorites, leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped on the spaceship. After the Doctor and his companions resisted the Sensorites, the Doctor, Ian and Susan agreed to go down to the Sense Sphere, where the Doctor worked out the cure for this "disease", which had also afflicted Ian, while the Sensorite scientists treated John. The Doctor and Ian, later followed by Barbara, went to the aqueducts where Atropa belladonna had been growing. They found the human expedition and pretended to be a welcoming party for them and that the "war" against the Sensorites was won. The expedition were taken into custody on Maitland's ship. Maitland's ship was free to leave and the TARDIS crew had regained their lock. (DW: The Sensorites)
When the Doctor thought he had landed the TARDIS on 1960s Earth, Susan was sceptical as Barbara, Ian and herself found 18th century furniture in a nearby building. In fact, they had landed in revolutionary France. She noted that this was one of he grandfather's favourite eras of history. Whilst there she was suspected of being a traitor to the revolution and was sentenced to death. On the way to their execution, Susan and Barbara were rescued. However, in the protection of her rescuers, she became ill and learned how primitive medicine was in revolutionary France. The Physician that treated her reported her as an escaped prisoner. Back at the prison, and the Doctor facilitated her second escape, by impersonating an official. (DW: The Reign of Terror)
When the TARDIS began to materialise in what the Doctor believed to be mid 20th Century Earth, the doors suddenly opened during the materialisation causing the scanner to overload. While exploring outside Susan and Ian came across a giant dead Ant, which made Susan realise that they had all been shrunk down. Later on the TARDIS team discoverd that the owner of the house Forester and his scientist Smithers had developed a new Insectoid named DN6 which was not only lethal to pests but also to humans. Susan and the others were able to stop Forester by alerting the Police. After getting back to the TARDIS, the Doctor used a device to return them and the TARDIS to their proper sizes. (DW: Planet of Giants)
Saying goodbye to her Grandfather
In a London devastated by the 22nd century Dalek invasion, Susan fell in love with the freedom fighter named David Campbell. The Doctor realised Susan would never leave him of her own free will; she thought him dependent on her. Rather than let her choose to stay with him or with David, he forced her hand and locked her out of the TARDIS, bidding her farewell and saying that one day he would return. Meanwhile, she had a place where she could belong, and a home which she confided to David she had never really had. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Adult Life
About twenty years after being left on Earth, Borusa captured Susan with a Time Scoop and placed her with the Doctor in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. She met her grandfather in his fifth incarnation (and, briefly, his second and third incarnations), along with Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough, and briefly met Sarah Jane Smith and the Brigadier. She accompanied the First Doctor back to their time streams. (DW: The Five Doctors)
Susan at some point told David that she was an Alien. Although he was initially shocked, he came to accept it. (DW: An Earthly Child)
Reunion with the Eighth Doctor
Susan was able to have a child with David. Her son, Alex Campbell, had only one heart. When Alex was a teenager, Susan asked the Doctor if Alex could be educated on Gallifrey. The Doctor expressed doubts about David's acceptance when told that Alex had only one heart. After David's death, Susan became one of the leaders of the Earth Council to help with the planet's recovery. She contacted the Guldreasi, a seemingly peaceful race that wanted to help Earth. About this time she met with her grandfather in his eighth incarnation and helped stop the Guldreasi enslaving the human race. (DW: An Earthly Child)
Legacy
When the Daleks probed the Fifth Doctor's mind a memory of Susan appeared on the screen. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
Personality
Susan loved her grandfather, as he did her. She was fond of 20th century England, so she enrolled in school there. Despite the Doctor's warnings, she still endangered their secrets. Susan understood contemporary technology and was familiar with historical events, but knew very little about ordinary things, like money. Despite these gaps, however, she was still very intelligent, to the extent that teacher Ian suspected she was not only smarter than him but holding back on her knowledge so that her teachers didn't feel stupid. (DW: An Unearthly Child)
Her sheltered life on Gallifrey resulted in her being quick to show fear, either by screaming or calling for her grandfather. She quickly befriended Ian and Barbara but did not accept their claims the Doctor had intentionally damaged his own TARDIS. (DW: The Daleks)
She also seemed to have a sense of humour, which could take a turn to the morbid side, as seen with her excitement regarding using burning skulls to chase some cavemen off. (DW: An Unearthly Child)
When the fast return switch was stuck, it was Susan who suffered the worst from its effects, possibly due to her having the highest level of psychic sensitivity. She very nearly killed Barbara and Ian. At first, she sided with her grandfather, blaming the teachers for the problems. However, she soon recognised their innocence. (DW: The Edge of Destruction)
On Marinus, Susan travelled ahead of the others and was frightened by the jungle and the screams that emanated from it. Despite her earlier truthfulness, the others did not take this seriously. (DW: The Keys of Marinus)
On 22nd century Earth, Susan developed a relationship with David Campbell. The Doctor recognised this and decided it was best to leave her behind so that she could live a normal life. Susan was reluctant, but the Doctor seemed to convince her it was for the best. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Physical Appearance
During her youth Susan appeared as a young girl in her mid-teens. (DW: An Unearthly Child) Later in life she appeared more middle-aged. (DW: An Earthly Child)
Hair and Grooming
During her youth Susan had short black hair. (DW: An Unearthly Child) By the time she reunited with the Eighth Doctor her hair had gained a few grey patches. (DW: An Earthly Child)
Clothing
While attending Coal Hill School Susan wore the traditional blue Coal Hill School uniform. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)
During the time she traveled with her Grandfather, Ian and Barbara Susan typically wore a red shirt with black stripes and black trousers. (DW: An Unearthly Child) she also usually wore a white buttoned up shirt with a black waistcoat. (DW: The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, Planet of Giants)
When exploring the Plain of Pamir Susan wore a Winter jacket. (DW: Marco Polo)
When in historical settings she would wear clothes that suited the time period. (DW: The Aztecs, The Reign of Terror)
During her time in the Death Zone Susan wore a white buttoned up trench coat with red boots. (DW: The Five Doctors)
When reunited with the Eighth Doctor she wore a black and tan-coloured cardigan with black spots on the tan coloured areas and black trousers. (DW: An Earthly Child)
Other Information
Alternate Versions
See Susan Flemyng
See Stijnte Meyer
Miscellaneous
Susan is the only Chapter One companion to appear in the teaser trailer for Doctor Who: Genesis
Behind the Scenes
Origins
In reality, this character was originally to have been a princess saved from a planet which wasn't the same world as the Doctor came from. Thereafter, she was envisioned as a fugitive from the Doctor's home planet. It was Anthony Coburn who altered the character so that Susan became the Doctor's granddaughter, instead of being a biologically unrelated female teenager travelling with an old man. (The Tribe of Gum (script), "Doctor Who – The Beginning")
Name
Susan's name would have originally been "Suzanne", while she was being conceived as an alien princess.
Other names considered were Biddy Mandy, Sue, Gay, Jill, Janet and Jane.
David Whitaker chose to change the character's name to Susan English for his novelisations, though it's unclear why he did so. All other novelisations and original novels have used the Susan Foreman name.
Casting
According to The Inside Story: 1963-1980, among other young actresses considered for the role in 1963 were Anneke Wills and Jackie Lane, who each later played companions in the series. Director Waris Hussein is credited with recommending Carole Ann Ford for the part. According to the authorised scholarship of David J. Howe and friends, however, there is no evidence of Lane or Wills actually having read for the part, at least not for Rex Tucker, the original director assigned to the first serial. Lane doesn't even appear on the audition list that has survived in the archives, and Wills was marked as a no-show. (REF: The Inside Story: 1963-1980)
In the 50th Anniversary film Doctor Who: Genesis Susan was played by Claudia Grant.
Other Matters
Carole Ann Ford's hairstyle as Susan was created by famed stylist Vidal Sassoon.