Auld Mortality ( audio story ) Auld Mortality was the first " Doctor Who Unbound " audio story produced by Big Finish Productions . It featured Geoffrey Bayldon playing an alternate version of the Doctor . Bayldon was considered for the roles of both the First and Second Doctors in the 1960s . Carole Ann Ford also performs in this audio story in the role of Susan albeit an alternate version to her TV role . Publisher ' s summary . " What if . . . the Doctor and Susan had never left Gallifrey ? " Whatever happened to the Doctor ? He could be Gallifrey ' s favourite author . Or a bad - tempered recluse . Or crossing the Alps with Hannibal . Or all three . But an adventurer in Time and Space ? Hardly . . . The family would never approve of that . . . they had other plans for the Doctor and the awesome power of the Time Lords . Plot . The Doctor is waiting to meet an army in the Swiss Alps when a force of Gauls attack . The Gauls are defeated , and the Doctor and his " cabinet " are taken captive by the army — the Carthaginians , led by Hannibal and his talking elephant , Surus , who are on their way to invade Rome . They believe the Doctor is a Roman spy , especially when he reveals he knows all about their plans . The Doctor refuses to tell Hannibal what to do or what the Romans know . At the same time , in his rooms on Gallifrey , the Doctor is disturbed by his artificial manservant Badger , who brings him the news . The Doctor takes no notice of the local politics and instead reviews news of the galaxy , noting with dismay that the Thalek Empire continues to expand with no - one doing anything about it . He also discovers Badger , acting on his usual instructions , has declined an invitation to attend a Presidential reception celebrating the 300th anniversary of his book , " An Adventure in Time and Space " . Badger tries to hypnotise him into taking more interest in politics , but fails . The Doctor is then visited by his great - granduncle , Ordinal - General Quences , who expresses disapproval at the Doctor ' s writing , and reiterates an old argument that the Doctor is wasting his potential and a great disappointment to the family . To Quences ' surprise , the Doctor responds by transporting them both to the Capitol , where the Doctor is being invested as the new President of the High Council of Time Lords . Quences is at first very pleased , but soon shows a darker side when he speaks of the importance of the " tradition " that each President dies in office , showing the transient nature of power . Disturbed , the Doctor reveals that the inauguration is a projection , created using a possibility generator he uses to conduct research . As Quences and the Doctor resume arguing , there ' s a knock at the door and the Doctor sends Badger to turn away the visitor . The visitor will not be dissuaded , however , and shoots Badger — it ' s Susan , the Doctor ' s granddaughter . Badger recovers and as Susan retreats into the room , she finds the Doctor seemingly unconscious and connected to a machine ; she touches him and enters the possibility projection of the Swiss Alps , where the Doctor has seemingly been all along . Quences appears and angrily orders Badger to follow Susan . Inside the projection , the Doctor reveals to Hannibal that he created them all as research for his next novel , but perhaps hadn ' t done enough research of his own ; the army is dying in the cold , unsure how to proceed , and the Doctor wonders whether he has a duty to intervene for their sake . Susan and Badger are brought to the camp , having been found by Surus , by the Doctor doesn ' t recognise her . Allowed to speak alone on the promise of telling Hannibal what he should do , Susan tells the Doctor of his family , and that she has grandchildren of his own who love his books . The Doctor ' s memories return and he wonders if he has made a mistake hiding away in his possibility generator , researching his adventures , and whether he should have acted on his long ago plan to steal a TARDIS and leave Gallifrey with Susan . . . but he realises she is hiding something . Susan leaves the Alps possibility , and the Doctor accompanies her , but before they can leave his rooms Badger tries to stop them . Susan realises the servant has a hypnotic hold over the Doctor , and as she tries to help him escape Quences appears , having discovered Susan ' s secret : she is shortly to be made President of the High Council . Susan is shocked by his arrival , as Quences died long ago , when she was still a girl . Susan ' s revelation breaks the hypnotic hold on the Doctor , and he realises Quences illegally transferred his consciousness not into the Matrix , but instead into Badger — it was Quences who gave the servant to the Doctor . The Doctor escapes with Susan back into the possibility generator , this time taking the controls with him to prevent outside interference . They arrive on the other side of the Alps , and must wait for Hannibal ' s army to arrive if they are to leave . Susan reveals she has sent many letters , and now realises that the brusque replies were sent by Badger to keep her away from the Doctor . Despite this she has learned from her Grandfather , and wants to be President not for family reasons , but to reinvigorate Time Lord society . The Doctor promises to help her , but when the Carthaginians arrive , they have suffered great losses ; Hannibal , dissatisfied with the Doctor ' s advice , has sought help from Quences , who has entered the possibility generator with the help of Badger . The Doctor tries to give Hannibal advice before retrieving his cabinet — his TARDIS — and leaving with Susan , reluctantly agreeing to take Badger , though Susan thinks she ' s seen Quences ( or someone like him ) in old archive records . The cabinet , however , is just that — an empty box — since it was only a literary device . The Doctor realises his imagination is in control of the possibility generator , however , and whisks himself and Susan away to a rose garden . There , the wearied and confused Doctor nearly becomes lost in the infinite possibilities within the generator ; in most of them the Time Lords remain aloof and do nothing to stop the evil in universe , but in one he sees himself and Susan stealing a TARDIS . Susan helps him navigate his way out of the infinity , and they return to his rooms . However , Susan was thinking about Badger and Quences as they returned , and this allowed them a path to exit the generator too . She has realised his true identity : Auld Mortality , the living reminder that power is fleeting and that all things must end , and he has been present at the investiture of every President . If a family member — Susan — becomes President , Quences will achieve ultimate power . The return to the Panopticon , as it is time for Susan ' s investiture ; Quences whispers in her ear , as he has for every President , but this time the Doctor is whispering in Quences ' ear too . Now President , Susan tries to use her power to banish Auld Mortality , and the Doctor addresses the council , warning them about Quences ' corruption . Quences orders Badger to kill the Doctor , but the servant hesitates , and in that moment Hannibal and his army — thanks to the Doctor ' s previous advice — exit the possibility generator and storm the Panopticon . Surus destroys Badger , causing Quences to flicker out of existence , and the curse of Auld Mortality to be lifted . Back in his quarters , the Doctor bids Hannibal farewell as his army returns to their possibility , noting sadly that they will die in their war . Describing the generator as dangerous , Susan switches it off , overcoming the Doctor ' s fear that she is just a possibility too . This clears the Doctor ' s mind , and he realises his rooms are really the console room of the TARDIS he planned to steal all those years ago . Susan encourages him to leave Gallifrey now while he has the chance , and he invites her to join him . Perhaps she does ; perhaps she doesn ' t . There are so many possibilities . . .