Chatter Box Film

[Contains spoilers for multiple episodes].

This new season of Doctor Who is certainly not short of mysteries such as who is Ruby Sunday and her mother? Why does Mrs. Flood and the Doctor break the 4th wall? And besides these questions, there’s also multiple characters all played by Susan Twist.

Where has Susan shown up?

Actress, Susan Twist has been appearing across six episodes so far (since writing this on May 28); which includes the 60th special Wild Blue Yonder and Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road.

Wild Blue Yonder

Even before Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie’s Ruby ever turned up, Wild Blue Yonder was the first time that Susan Twist appears in the 1600’s as Mrs. Merridew; a woman cleaning a yard where Isaac Newton discovers the laws of “Mavity”. Although, David Tennant’s Doctor and Catherine Tate’s Donna never saw her.

The Church on Ruby Road

In the Christmas special titled The Church on Ruby Road; the Doctor briefly visits Ruby Sunday while she is peforming music in a band and there is an unnamed concertgoer also played by Susan.

This character requests the band to play a song called “Gaudete”; which the singer has not heard of. Gaudete is Christmas carol originating from the 16th century about the rejoice of a Virgin Mary. There’s also Gaudete Sunday; which refers to the church service that takes place on the second-final Sunday before Christmas Day.

Space Babies

During the first episode of Doctor Who season one, Susan appears as a character called Gina Scalzi. Gina is one of the crew members who recorded a message on-screen about leaving the ship which created Space Babies.

The Devil’s Chord

While the Doctor and Ruby visit the swinging 60’s, they are faced with restoring music back to the timeline and they also have exchanges with The Beatles in a cafeteria. There’s a tea lady played by Susan Twist, and unusual song in the final act mentioning “a twist at the end”.

Boom

In a sinister third episode titled “Boom“; Susan appeared as a roving AI ambulance owned by the Villengard Corporation, which nearly killed The Doctor and Ruby on an alien planet.

73 Yards

A Welsh folk horror story combined with politics; both Ruby and The Doctor have stepped on fairy circles. This action freed Mad Jack and caused Ruby to be “semper distans” by a woman 73 Yards away; who turns out to be somewhat posessed or taken over by Ruby’s future older self in the end. Twist stars as a hiker in Wales this time; interacting with Ruby and running away scared after approaching the woman in distance.

Dot and Bubble

Susan Twist is set to star in this fifth episode which is yet to release; the actress will be be playing as another character called Penny Pepper-Bean. It’s not clear how this character will show up.

Rogue

Rogue is the sixth episode in this season however it’s not yet revealed if Susan Twist will be in this one.

Update May 29: Susan Twist will be in this episode; the actress is on the BBC cast list as “The Portrait”.

Who is Susan Triad?

Eventually, this is all leading to Twist playing a character called Susan Triad; owner of Triad Technology. She will appear somewhere in the two part-finale: The Legend of Ruby Sunday, and Empire of Death.

Triad was also referenced in The Giggle episode at @35:23, when Donna Noble needs access to the sub-frame and asks “Mel, is this static or dynamic?” and Mel replies “Dynamic, we’re using Triad”. This means that company already has emdedded itself within UNIT HQ for a while now.

In the season 1 trailer @1:49; TRIAD technology is getting ready to make an announcement on TV, while the TARDIS is getting scanned at UNIT.

Framed magazine cover close-up

Here is a closer look at that ICON magazine cover from the trailer, which can be seen in Russell T Davies’ office during a Blue Peter episode.

Triad is appearing throughout time wherever the TARDIS lands, she has more than likely entered into the Doctor’s personal timestream, or maybe her own since this character has created the Triad Technology company. She may have access to other time travel equipment which can splice herself across the timeline.

In series 7 Episode 14: The Name of the Doctor; there was a decaying TARDIS on Trenzalore where Clara Oswald jumps into the Doctor’s own timestream, spreading many versions of herself across time in order to stop Simeon from attacking The Doctor’s entire life.

Apart from the Ambulance in Boom, these multiple characters showing up have seemed harmless.

It’s also apparent that an anagram of “S TRIAD” is “TARDIS”; it could be that this character is another manifestation of the TARDIS itself, which has gone out of control. Since there are two out there, this could have happened to David Tennant’s TARDIS after he was gone.

There’s also the triad meaning of a union/triangle of three sides; usually the Doctor, companion (s) and the TARDIS?

There is another theory that she is the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan Foreman; who has regenerated. Foreman has always been played by Carol Ann Ford, however if this character has regenerated or is using perception filter, she has waited a very long time to meet the Doctor again. Potentially being “The One Who Waits”, as teased by the Toymaker, in The Giggle.

In The Devil’s Chord, the Doctor also mentions to Ruby that in the 60’s his past self is out there with his granddaughter Susan.

Whoever she turns out to be, the Doctor will also get to meet Susan Triad as seen in this image above, while she questions who the Doctor is, maybe he’ll recognize that he’s been seeing her face show up during his time travel adventures. Much like how Ruby started to notice she seemed familiar in 73 Yards since Boom.

Read about all of the 8 episode release dates and times for Doctor Who Season 1 here.