WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Doctor Who Season 14!
Summary
ThroughoutDoctor Whoseason 14, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) have encountered multiple characters played by actress Susan Twist. So far, Susan Twist has just played minorcharacters inDoctor Whoseason 14, but this is about to change in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”. The first part ofDoctor Who’s two-part finale introduces Susan Triad, Twist’s most substantial role in the season.The episode’s trailer revealed that Susan Triad dreams of the mysterious Susan Twist characters seen earlier in the season.
Susan Triad is the tech pioneer who is behind the Triad Technology used byUNIT inDoctor Who. The synopsis for “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” refers to Time Windows, pioneered by Susan Triad, which may explain how she’s appeared in the past, present, and future. Perhaps Susan Triad will be splintered across time and space by her new technology, likeClara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) inDoctor Whoseason 7. If that’s the case, then it would explain why Susan Twist played all the mysterious characters encountered by the Doctor and Ruby throughoutDoctor Whoseason 7.
“Dot and Bubble”
“The Legend of Ruby Sunday”
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9Mrs. Merridew in “Wild Blue Yonder”
Susan Twist’s firstDoctor Whoappearance was as Mrs Merridew in the second 60th anniversary special, “Wild Blue Yonder”. Merridew was the housekeeper of Isaac Newton (Nathaniel Curtis) when the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) landed their TARDIS on his apple tree. Thanks to the Doctor and Donna’s carelessness,gravity is now called mavityin theDoctor Whouniverse. This has set up a series-long arc for the Doctor and Ruby, in which they too have had a cavalier approach to the butterfly effect.
By masquerading as Isaac Newton’s housekeeper, Susan Triad could dissuade him from going ahead with his theory of mavity.
This could mean that Susan Triad is using her Time Windows to correct mistakes made by the Doctor and their companions. By masquerading as Isaac Newton’s housekeeper, Susan Triad could dissuade him from going ahead with his theory of mavity. While “Space Babies” confirmed that mavity was still an established part of theDoctor Whouniverse,the Doctor stated that the dot in “Dot and Bubble” had anti-grav technology, suggesting that the mavity change has since been reversed.
“Give it some welly!”
Susan Twist returned in 2023’sDoctor WhoChristmas special, as the heckler in the pub who told Ruby’s band to “Give it some welly!“after the goblins pulled the plug on their amp. The script directions for this episode specifically referred to the fact that the same woman who played Mrs. Merridew would play the heckler. Interestingly, Susan Twist’s second character is the first of many who specifically interacts with Ruby, perhaps setting up a direct link between them.
It’s possible that Ncuti Gatwa’s choice of costume is a hint that it’s the Doctor going back to confirm that Penny Pepper-Bean is the same woman in the pub at Christmas.
More interesting still is that the Doctor is wearing his costume from “Dot and Bubble”, albeit with the addition of a new hat. There have been many Doctor costumes this season, and hardly any have stuck around beyond one episode. It’s possible thatNcuti Gatwa’s choice of costumeis a hint that it’s the Doctor going back to confirm that Penny Pepper-Bean is the same woman in the pub at Christmas. While"The Devil’s Chord” established that the Doctor had watched Ruby play keyboard at Christmas, “Dot and Bubble” was filmed first, so it’s possible that the Beatles episode was pulled forward in broadcast order.
“The Devil’s Chord” established that six months had passed since the events of “Space Babies”.
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7Gina Scalzi in “Space Babies”
“…signing off, 56-56-22.”
Susan Twist’s next role was Gina Scalzi, one of the Baby Station crew members that left behind a final message for the Doctor and Ruby to analyze.Twist’s costume as Gina Scalzi was reminiscent of a Starfleet uniform, enhancing “Space Babies"crossover betweenStar TrekandDoctor Who. However, it’s unlikely that this is the meaning behind Susan Twist’s appearance in “Space Babies”. It’s interesting that she’s one of the crew that left the babies behind, drawing a comparison with Ruby’s own parents.
Is the combination of the child abandonment theme, and Ruby’s viewing of Gina’s footage supposed to imply that Susan Triad is Ruby’s mother?
It’s also worth noting that, once again, Ruby is the person directly interacting with Susan Twist’s character. The Doctor and Nan-E have already looked away from the screen by the time Susan Twist’s Gina Scalzi appears on-screen. Is the combination of the child abandonment theme, and Ruby’s viewing of Gina’s footage supposed to imply that Susan Triad is Ruby’s mother?The synopsis for “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” does draw links between Susan Triad’s Time Windows and returning to Ruby Road on Christmas Eve, after all.
6Tea Lady in “The Devil’s Chord”
“That’s me, Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady.”
Doctor Whoseason 14, episode 2, “The Devil’s Chord” contains the most explicit references to Susan Twist’s potential role in the series.Twist plays the Tea Lady who rips off the Doctorby charging him half a crown for two cups of tea. When the Doctor objects to the daylight robbery, the Tea Lady references the Margaret Lockwood movie,The Wicked Lady. This feels like an overt reference to the fact that Susan Twist will be playingDoctor Whoseason 14’s antagonist.
There’s also the infamous musical number, “There’s Always A Twist At The End”, which further emphasizes Susan Twist’s key role inDoctor Who’s season 14 finale.
In theseason finale trailer, Susan Twist plays another character, a creepy looking grey lady, who could, like Margaret Lockwood, be described as statuesque. There’s also the infamous musical number, “There’s Always A Twist At The End”, which further emphasizes Susan Twist’s key role inDoctor Who’s season 14 finale. “The Devil’s Chord” also explicitly references another Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter. In the first-ever episode, “An Unearthly Child,” Susan claims to have created the name TARDIS.Could the Doctor’s granddaughter also have created the name S TRIAD from the same initials?
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5The Ambulance in “Boom”
“Sharp scratch”
Susan Twist was the face of the Ambulance on Kastarion 3 in Steven Moffat’s “Boom”, and was therefore the avatar for the episode’s true villain. “Boom” depicted a planet locked in a made-up war that was being staged by the Villengard Algorithm. The imaginary war was designed to maximize profits for the intergalactic arms dealers introduced in Steven Moffat’s firstDoctor Whoscript. It’s interesting that Susan Twist was playing the face of a corporation in “Boom”, because she’ll be doing so again as Susan Triad inDoctor Who’s season 14 finale.
…the seemingly niche Steven Moffat Easter egg could actually be a neat bit of foreshadowing for the Doctor’s conflict with another villainous tech company.
Therefore, the seemingly nicheSteven Moffat Easter eggcould actually be a neat bit of foreshadowing for the Doctor’s conflict with another villainous tech company. Susan Triad is the face of S Triad Technology in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”, and like Villengard, has provided tech to military organizations, in this case UNIT.Triad Technology was first mentioned inDoctor Who’s final 60th anniversary special, “The Giggle” in which Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford) name-checked the organization, setting up Susan Twist’s major role in the finale.
4The Hiker in “73 Yards”
“Have I walked into something?”
Susan Twist’s appearance as the hiker in “73 Yards” is one of her more interesting cameos inDoctor Whoseason 14. After she offers to speak to the mysterious woman stalking Ruby, the hiker screams and runs away, implying that she’s too terrifying even for Susan Twist. The scene plays differently after the audience knows that it’s an older Ruby Sunday who’s speaking to Susan Twist’s hiker. If whatever Ruby has to say is too terrifying for the hiker with the face of Susan Triad, then it may hint that Ruby is the key to defeating whatever’s going on with S Triad Technology in the finale.
Susan Twist’s characters have worn blue in the future and red in the past, a reference to the first RTD era’s time vortex.
It’s worth pointing out what Susan Twist is wearing in “73 Yards”, and how it connects to her previous appearances. In each of the Ncuti Gatwa episodes between “The Church on Ruby Road” and “Boom”, Susan Twist’s characters have worn blue in the future and red in the past, a reference to the first RTD era’s time vortex. In “73 Yards”, however, which begins in the present day,Susan Twist’s hiker carries a red backpack and wears a blue anorak, representing both colors of the time vortex. This further hints that Susan Triad may be splintered across time inDoctor Who’s season finale.
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3Penny Pepper-Bean in “Dot and Bubble”
“Happy Finetime, Lindy-Loo.”
Doctor Who’s social media satire “Dot and Bubble” featured a surprising appearance bySusan Twist as Penny Pepper-Bean. Previously, Susan Twist’sDoctor Whocharacters had no explicit connections to other characters in the episodes in which she appeared. While she was implied to be caring for the Space Babies, Gina Scalzi only appeared alone on-screen. The fact that Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke) is actually related to one of the Susan Twist characters could back up the idea that she’s also playingRuby’s mother inDoctor Who.
As with the rest of Finetime residents' parents, Penny Pepper-Bean has been eaten by the Mantraps, perhaps foreshadowing a similarly sticky end for Susan Triad…
As in “73 Yards”, Ruby and the Doctor explicitly acknowledge the appearance of Susan Twist, briefly derailing their attempts to save Lindy. As with the rest of the Finetime residents' parents, Penny Pepper-Bean has been eaten by the Mantraps, perhaps foreshadowing a similarly sticky end for Susan Triad at the end ofDoctor Whoseason 14. Although Penny Pepper-Bean isn’t wearing red or blue in her “Dot and Bubble” scene,Penny’s bubble background is blue, reflecting that the Doctor and Ruby are in the future.
2The Duke’s Late Mother in “Rogue”
“Her eyes still follow me around the room…”
Doctor Who’sBridgertonepisode, “Rogue” didn’t feature a live-action Susan Twist cameo, as she was represented by a portrait instead. Once again noticed by Ruby,Susan Twist’s likeness was captured in a portrait of the Duke’s late mother. The Duchess (Indira Varma) observes that the eyes of the painting follow her around the room, an old adage about creepy paintings that has added meaning when it comes to Susan Twist.
Susan Twist represents another dead parent, which isn’t doing anything to debunk the possibility that she’s linked to the story of Ruby Sunday’s birth.
It’s interesting that once again Susan Twist’s likeness is applied to a character who has been a parent, or cared for children. Gina Scalzi worked on the Baby Station in “Space Babies”, the hiker showed a maternal concern for Ruby catching her death in “73 Yards”, and Penny Pepper-Bean sent encouraging messages to her daughter in “Dot and Bubble”. Now in “Rogue”, Susan Twist represents another dead parent, which isn’t doing anything to debunk the possibility that she’s linked to the story of Ruby Sunday’s birth.
“In every dream, I’m there!”
In the trailer for “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”, the Doctor explains thatSusan Triad remembers all the Susan Twist characters that he and Ruby have met so far. However, she doesn’t know why, and a haunted Susan Triad is heard to wail “In every dream, I’m there”. The trailer also reveals two other Susan Triad characters, a demonic looking woman and a glitching cyborg character. How these two characters impactDoctor Who’s season 14 finale remain to be seen.
Brian Hayles, who created the Toymaker forDoctor Who, originally imagined a sister called Hecuba, who was the Queen of Time.
It’s possible that Susan Triad is merely an avatar for something much darker, perhaps another ofDoctor Who’s Pantheon of the Gods. Brian Hayles, who created the Toymaker forDoctor Who, originally imagined a sister called Hecuba, who was the Queen of Time. The Doctor has faced the gods of play and music so far, making it possible that Susan Triad is an avatar for the godess of time. Such mastery over time would certainly explain how Susan Twist is able to appear across the entire time space continuum inDoctor Whoseason 14.
“Space Babies” & “The Devil’s Chord”
“Empire of Death”
Doctor Who
Cast
Doctor Who: Released on August 21, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
