An Earthly Child

Special

Released: 8 December 2009

Listened: 10/26/21

After the events of the last story, the Doctor is alone, which provides another convenient place to stick some Eighth Doctor solo stories. This story is specifically placed at this spot, and released at the same time as “Death in Blackpool,” and you could certainly infer that the Doctor goes to find Susan because he’s upset after losing Lucie, but that’s not stated. It’s now 20 years after “The Dalek Invasion of Earth,” and things have changed for Susan. She has a son, Alex, for one thing, and David Campbell is dead. Susan has decided to dedicate herself to helping the Earth, a process that started in “After the Daleks” (written and recorded much later). In this case, that means calling for help to rebuild, even though Earth is turning increasingly xenophobic. And she ends up calling the wrong race, needing her grandfather to bail her out. The real core of this story, though, is the Doctor reuniting with Susan and meeting Alex for the first time. The Eighth Doctor is perfect with Susan, being more demonstrative and empathetic than his previous incarnations. Unfortunately, he’s also rather more idealistic, and has some unrealistic expectations for Alex. That won’t resolve until later, though. This is really just an introduction to these characters, setting up a plotline for Season 4. Susan doesn’t really come out looking best in this story, but it is good to see her again.