Doctor Who loves to play games with its fans by dropping sneaky teases as to its latest story arc, rewarding those who watch every week and encouraging others to pay closer attention.
In the old days, there used to be a phrase, like “Bad Wolf” or “Torchwood,” that was repeatedly mentioned in the background of episodes before we learned the meaning behind it in the season finale. Now that OG showrunner Russell T. Davies is back at the helm, though, he’s resurrected the tradition with a very literal Twist (capital T intended).
In season 14, Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Doctor, the same actress has appeared in each episode as an entirely different character every time; some minor figure in the story who appears for a single scene or with only one line of dialogue. Whovians being Whovians, it didn’t take long before people started noticing the odd trend. So who is actress Susan Twist playing and why is her name so important?
Every Susan Twist character, explained
Coronation Street actress Susan Twist made her Doctor Who debut in 2023 special “Wild Blue Yonder,” in the small role of Mrs Merridrew, housekeeper to Isaac Newton. Twist then reappeared in Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” as the patron of a bar Ruby Sunday was performing at with her band. Twist’s unnamed character, dressed in hippie-esque fashion, asked Ruby if they could play the 16th century Christmas carol “Gaudete.”
These two appearances alone painted the picture of Twist as some kind of character out of time, and that’s only intensified in her subsequent roles. In “Space Babies,” Twist played Comms Officer Gina Scalzi, appearing via a video recording, who explains why the crew abandoned the spacestation. Then, in “The Devil’s Chord,” Twist plays a dinner lady working at the Abbey Road Recording Studio in 1963. In ‘Boom,” Twist has a voiceover role, playing an AI named Ambulance.
Is Susan Twist playing the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan?
“The Devil’s Chord” was really the episode that set Susan Twist theories flying as this same adventure also saw the Doctor namedrop his long-lost granddaughter, Susan. Introduced in the show’s pilot back in 1963, Susan (Carole Anne Ford) traveled with her grandfather, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) before leaving the show in 1964’s “The Dalek Invasion of Earth.”
As the Doctor Who mythos grew and the notion of the Doctor having a family fell by the wayside, Susan was mostly forgotten about, which is why her reference in season 14’s second episode is so notable. The Doctor opens up to Ruby about how he doesn’t know what happened to her and if she’s still alive after the destruction of his people, the Time Lords. To many, this feels like a Chekov’s Gun — surely this means we will finally find out what happened to Susan soon, right?
The thinking goes, then, that actress Susan Twist may be a walking spoiler. What if she is Susan — a regenerated Susan who is following her grandfather around time and space? It’s a compelling theory, and it would be entertainingly bonkers to build a plot twist entirely around someone’s name. That said, Twist’s character’s real identity may have been accidentally revealed via a peak into Davies’ office in an episode of Blue Peter.
A mock-up of a magazine cover reveals Twist’s character is called Susan Triad — set pics have confirmed one episode revolves around a mysterious company called Triad Technology. Still, it’s possible Susan Triad is just another of this mysterious time-travelers’ aliases rather than her true name. Hopefully the Susan Twist twist will be unraveled by the time Doctor Who season 14 concludes on June 22.
