A story that starts kind of wobbly and never quite reaches its full potential, but with an ending so poignant it’s easy to forgive.

We start this story off with an older Susan, sitting near a campfire on a hill in the middle of nowhere. No one is around, until a local man decides to join her for a while. After some general pleasantries, Susan decides to tell him a story, something that happened long ago.

This brings us into the meat of our story: The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan land on a mysterious ship. The crew of the ship is missing, but the computer is still active. However, some of the commands and rules it follows don’t seem to make any sense. What is really going on?

The main plot in this story centers around the computer and it constant need to follow protocol. It is bound to abstract rules and regulations, yet it finds itself in a condition where those kinds of rules don’t make sense anymore. For example: Access to certain parts of the ship is limited to the captain, but the captain is long gone. This causes a web of rules, terms and agreements that our party has to wiggle around and work within. Which is interesting!

However, it never feels like the story fully dives into this concept. It feels like we never discover the boundaries of the rules and restrictions. They never really test what they can get away with or what happens if an established rule is broken. The most they’ll do is hit a wall and try something else.

It would’ve added some tension if the loopholes they find close up after use. Or if the privileges they do earn are frail and could be taken away again. It would differentiate the situation within the group and spice up the generally slow exploration of the ship.

Another part that didn’t really agree with me is the main topic of the story: Suffering alone vs. suffering together. Susan and her guest discuss this topic every now and then, as if it is relevant to the story. The idea being that the computer, even though it adheres to all these weird rules, tries to help our team so they can turn him off and end his suffering.

That alone is a solid concept, but I never bought the idea that the computer is helping them in any way. It tries to connect the dots: There’s a recording device here, a loophole for interaction there, but it never feels like it is the computer’s doing. It just feels like our party had a clever moment. Nothing really signifies the computer is actually doing anything. It is pure speculation that doesn’t feel backed up or even logical.

That said, at the end of the story, this discussion of alone vs together does become relevant. As the story ends. Susan reflects and comes to the conclusion that it is better to have others around in difficult times. As she has walked up this hill several times, but never finished what she meant to do here: Give a last farewell to her son and spread his ashes. Tears are shed as she sings her son one last lullaby as a final goodbye.

And I’ll be honest, this moment, regardless of what came before, is incredible. A little kindness from a stranger is enough to push her towards doing what she dreaded for so long. And Carole Ann Ford acts the hell out of it. You feel every emotion of this mother who has to go on living after her son has passed away. It is, without a doubt, the strongest piece of acting Susan has ever had.

On a more personal note, it also wrapped up a lot of my Doctor Who experience this year in what has become an unexpected reevaluation of Susan. As it happens, she makes certain remarks throughout the story that closely match the stories I’ve consumed this year, as she mentions her son Alex was named after Alexander the Great (Who Susan met quite intimately in “Campaign”) and she has seen horrors that made her rely on stereotypical her role as granddaughter (As shown and discussed in “The Witch Hunters”). Hell, even her needing to more towards the future felt earned, as most people expected her to return to the tv show in the series finale around the time this story came out.

I know this is all coincidence, but it made the whole experience, which really stands on its own as something special, even more beautiful. A true bookend to the character which closely matches her earlier experiences and emotions. But do not get me wrong, even without the extra bells and whistles, it is an unbelievable scene for a character who has always been knows and underwritten and neglected. It alone makes the story worth it.

“Stardust and Ashes” has a main plot that doesn’t really stand out. It tries to do some fun stuff with restrictions and rules, but doesn’t really push the concept far enough to make it interesting. However, it does push the character of Susan into a direction we’ve never seen before and the acting gives it an emotional impact that’s simply the strongest Susan has ever been given. That alone is more than enough to make this story worth it. Both Susan and Carole Ann Ford finally got what they deserved after all this time.