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Tonight, Doctor Who’s latest season comes to an end, as the Doctor and Ruby prepare to battle an almighty foe from the Time Lord’s past. But it also means there’s one last chance to see the most constant of factors in what has been a very up-and-down season—one more appearance from guest actress Susan Twist, who’s been Doctor Who’s most literally named Easter egg in a very long time.
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Last we saw the erstwhile actress, Twist was playing Susan Triad—the nebulous Tech mogul head of Triad Technologies—who was revealed to be a herald of none other than Sutekh, the God of Death, a classic Who villain not seen on-screen in 50 years. But Triad was only the latest in a long line. It’s been the meatiest of the roles, but Twist has appeared in every episode of Doctor Who since last year’s Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road” (and even appeared before that, in Who’s 60th anniversary specials), playing different characters unified across time and space by her mysterious visage.
What that’s actually meant yet? That remains to be seen, other than as a tease for Sutekh’s inevitable rise—“The Legend of Ruby Sunday” climaxes with Triad becoming a harbinger of Sutekh, transformed into a skeletal vessel for his ancient power. Whether “The Empire of Death” turns her into a mook, or there’s more to just why she kept manifesting in the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures, we’ll find out tonight. But before that, let’s celebrate the Twists along the way, with our definitive ranking.
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9) Penny Pepper-Bean (“Dot and Bubble”)
Immediately last place for being from planet of the white supremacists. Probably got eaten by a slug, but who cares?
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8) A Portrait of the Duke of Pemberton’s Late Mother (“Rogue”)
Twist doesn’t actually appear in “Rogue”—we’re only left this extremely lavish portrait of her for Ruby to notice. It’s a nice painting, but you can’t really do much more than hang it on a wall for maximum ominous vibes.
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7) Mrs. Merridew (“Wild Blue Yonder”)
The Twist that started it all! A Twist so Twist-y the Doctor and Donna never even actually cross paths with her, bumping into her employer, Isaac Newton, instead. Even then, do you think she recognized the mavity of the situation?
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6) Gina Scalzi (“Space Babies”)
She only gets to show up on a screen for a few seconds, but I’m loving the faux-Star Trek vibes of Scalzi’s comms officer uniform. Plus, we only get to see her because she’s resigning to protest the treatment of Baby Station Beta and its abandonment by the corporate forces operating it. A good Susan Twist! Actively good! Good for you, Gina Scalzi.
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5) Tea Lady (“The Devil’s Chord”)
An absolutely incredible look, honestly. Puts up with the Doctor yelling about tea prices with aplomb. This is a Susan Twist that has seen it all, faced the wrath of a Time Lord, and come out of it completely unfazed.
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4) Band Heckler (“The Church on Ruby Road”)
It seems clear that the Susans Twist are not aware of their intended existence before Sutekh fully reveals himself, so we can’t blame the god of death for why this woman at Ruby’s band gig is dressed like a hippy for a Christmas pub night. But she’s enthusiastic, at least. We got the Goblin song, we got “There’s Always a Twist at the End,” why did we never get “Gaudete” by Steeleye Span, BBC!?
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3) Random Hiker (“73 Yards”)
The hiker Ruby encounters just after the Doctor goes missing in “73 Yards” marks the first time a Susan Twist gets to explicitly interact with our heroes, even if it ends pretty horribly when Ruby inadvertently sets her on a path to the strange elderly figure following her—sending poor Hiker Susan screaming away in terror, never to be seen again.
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2) Villengard Ambulance AI (“Boom”)
A Susan Twist that’s actually allowed to be a proper character! Well, a horrifying wandering killer capitalist ambulance, but still! The Villengard Ambulance is the de facto antagonist of “Boom”, and it’s the most involved Twist actually gets to be in an episode’s narrative up until Susan Triad—even is she’s a holographic face on a screen. It’s a great turn as well, cool and clinical and chilling in all the right ways. The inverse Gina Scalzi—a Twist of villainy!
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1) Susan Triad (“The Legend of Ruby Sunday”, “The Empire of Death”)
Again, like the Villengard AI, Triad is a top-tier Twist because she’s allowed to be an actual character in the episode instead of a cameo tease—Susan Triad is fundamental to the tense build up of “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” the catalyst that drives the Doctor’s suspicion and doubt, until she gets to deliver us in the episode’s dramatic climax, the ultimate reveal: that Sue Triad is Sue Tekh! Not only is the cliffhanger a great one, we also get to see Twist have some classic Doctor Who fun when Triad is transformed into Sutekh’s skeletal vessel of death. It’s a killer bit of make up costuming work, looking creepy as all hell. And she even gets to disintegrate a guy! It took nine appearances, but at long last, Susan Twist got to be a proper Doctor Who baddie, if only for a few moments.
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