The actress has appeared in every episode of the season so far – leading to much speculation about what it all means.
One of the many mysteries of the ongoing season of Doctor Who has been the repeated presence of Susan Twist – with the actress playing a different minor character in every episode so far.
After first popping up during the 60th anniversary special episode Wild Blue Younder last year and then appearing again in the Christmas episode The Church on Ruby Road, Twist has now been seen in Space Babies, The Devil’s Chord and Boom, with the latter marking her most prominent role to date as an AI Villengard system.
We already know that she will appear in next episode, 73 Yards, as a hiker and now her role has also been confirmed for the fifth episode, Dot and Bubble.
Twist will be playing a character named Penny Pepper-Bean in the episode, who will presumably be a relative of another character in the episode named Lindy Pepper-Bean – who is set to be played by Henpocalypse! star Callie Cooke.
Given that Cooke is expected to have a fairly major guest role in the episode, this suggests that this could also be one of Twist’s most substantial appearances to date, although that remains to be seen.
Speculation as to the meaning of Twist’s frequent appearances has already been rife, with some fans theorising that she might have something to do with Triad Technology, a company name that was spotted on set when season 14 was filming.
Meanwhile, the fact that she has appeared in so many different timelines has led other Whovians to suggest that she could possibly be another time traveller who is on the tail of the Doctor – although whether her intentions are good or bad is up for debate.
It was confirmed earlier this week that Dot and Bubble – which also includes Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines, The Split) among its guest cast – will air on BBC One at 6:50pm on Saturday 1st June 2024.
A synopsis for the episode reads: “The world of Finetime seems happy and harmonious. But an awful terror is preying on the citizens. Can the Doctor and Ruby make them see the truth before it’s too late?”
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Of course, before then we have 73 Yards to look forward to, which Russell T Davies has intriguingly promised fans will include the “strangest villain you’ll ever see”.
On the Official Doctor Who Podcast, Davies added: “This is Welsh folk horror coming up, with an astonishing cast… It’s spooky, it’s strange, it’s genuinely unlike any other episode we’ve ever done before. We all found ourselves fascinated by making this. We had to test so much and get so much exactly right.”
In addition to Twist’s appearance as the Hiker, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson will be joined in the cast for this one by Peaky Blinders‘ Aneurin Barnard as politician Roger ap Gwilliam and Siân Phillips as Enid Meadows.
Doctor Who continues on Saturday 18th May on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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