In my article on the First Doctor's newly animated Christmas message, I pointed out that "The Feast of Steven" was the only episode of Doctor Who that aired on Christmas Day, at least from the Classic Series. But while that's true, other episodes did air extremely close to it.
One major example is "Flashpoint", the sixth and final episode of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", which aired on Dec 26, 1964 - exactly 60 years ago today. In context, this serial proved to be a major turning point for Doctor Who, in a couple of ways.
First of all, it brought back the Daleks, in arguably the biggest way possible. One year after they terrified viewers in their debut story, the Daleks had not only reached Earth but had conquered it, wiping out much of humanity in the process. This essentially established the pepper pots as the Doctor's biggest threat yet. It's no wonder that they became the show's biggest monsters.
But perhaps even bigger than that was the story's final scene. Over the course of the serial, Susan falls in love with David Campbell, a resistance fighter. When the Doctor and his allies had finally defeated the Daleks, it meant a fresh beginning for Earth. David of course asked Susan to stay and build a new life with him. Susan was reluctant to leave her grandfather. But then, as you can see in the below clip, the Doctor made Susan's choice for her...
"One day, I shall come back"
The Doctor leaving Susan is quite possibly one of the most emotional moments from the Classic Series, at least. And understandably so. It was the first time ever that viewers had to say goodbye to a companion.
Of course, Susan wasn't just any companion - she was the Doctor's granddaughter. The Doctor deciding to let Susan live her life by abandoning her creates a huge mix of emotions. It's clear that he's doing it out of love, but it's also a decision that he takes away from his granddaughter.
Perhaps worst of all is that at this point, the Doctor can't control the TARDIS. It's the only reason why his human companions Ian and Barbara travel with him at all - the small hope that they will find a way home. The Doctor's promise to Susan that he will come back one day feels like a hollow one - and yet, thanks to Hartnell's heartbreaking performance, we believe it.
Brief (and barely addressed) reunion
We have only seen the Doctor reunited with Susan once on-screen, in the 20th-anniversary story "The Five Doctors". Perhaps unsurprisingly, the story skips over the emotional significance of this. There's a brief moment when the First Doctor and Susan are happy to see each other, but then it's very much "business as usual" for the rest of the story.
Even when she meets her grandfather in his Fifth incarnation in the same story, it isn't treated as a major moment, and they hardly address each other at all. Honestly, "The Five Doctors" feels like a wasted opportunity when it came to bringing back Susan. And yet at the same time, considering how many Doctors and companions the special included, it's easy to see why her return was perhaps undervalued.
Expanded media has addressed reuniting the Doctor and Susan better, notably in "Legacy of the Daleks" and "An Earthly Child" - two distinctly different takes on the Eighth Doctor reuniting with Susan on post-Dalek invasion Earth. But we've seen nothing on-screen since "The Five Doctors". Not so much of a hint of her return...until this year.
Susan's return - red herring or something more?
With this year's season of Doctor Who, one of the major arc elements - along with Ruby's search for her biological mother, of course - was Susan. In "The Devil's Chord", for the first time in years, the Doctor directly talked about his granddaughter. And he even admitted that he didn't know what had happened to her.
This helped to set up the two-part finale "The Legend of Ruby Sunday"/"Empire of Death", when the Doctor found out about a mysterious woman duplicated across time and space called Susan Triad. Of course, as we now know, this was just a massive red herring. Or rather, a massive trap by the godlike being Sutekh.
But while it's a shame that the references to Susan didn't lead to anything this season, one can't help but wonder: is Russell T Davies playing the long game regarding Susan's return? Could she appear in the next season? Considering last season's red herring, it's hard to get our hopes up.
Yet at the same time, it feels like Davies is deliberately laying the groundwork for her return. At the very least, the more casual audience has been firmly reminded of Susan's significance - or even found out about Susan for the first time. And now that it has been sixty years since the Doctor said goodbye to her, is it time for them to be reunited once more?