Joan Wright

Joan Wright (PROSE: A Long Night, The Time Travellers) was the loving mother of Barbara Wright.

Raising Barbara
She and her husband decorated their home and celebrated Christmas with Barbara when she was young. One Christmas, during the war, she managed to get toys and sweets for Barbara's stocking despite the difficulty. (PROSE: All I Want for Christmas)

According to some account, her husband was killed in the early stages of World War II. (PROSE: Tell Me You Love Me, All I Want for Christmas) However, according to other accounts, Joan was still married years after the war. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby, The Face of the Enemy)

In later years, Joan was visited by her daughter every Sunday for lunch so they could each catch up and chat about the weeks they both had. Barbara told Joan about Susan on their last meeting before she went off with the Doctor in his TARDIS. (AUDIO: A Small Semblance of Home) According to another account, the pair actually lived together in a house not within walking-distance from Coal Hill School. (PROSE: A Long Night)

Barbara's disappearance
Barbara Wright disappeared on 23 November 1963. (PROSE: A Long Night) when she and fellow teacher Ian Chesterton became unwilling companions to the First Doctor and Coal Hill student Susan Foreman aboard their TARDIS. (TV: An Unearthly Child) At 7pm on the day of her disappearance, Joan walked to Barbara's school to check up on her, but found no trace of her. The next day, Joan informed the police and discovered that Ian Chesterton and Susan had also gone missing.

Joan was left devastated and confused by the event, spending a whole year waiting for Barbara, unaware that they were travelling with the First Doctor. on 23 November 1964, she still hadn't given up hope in finding her daughter. That night, Barbara and Joan met in a dream as an unintentional side effect of the TARDIS' telepathic circuits, where Barbara told Joan of her whereabouts and that she would one day return. This put Joan's mind at ease that her daughter was safe and having the experience of her life. (PROSE: A Long Night)

On 26 June 1965, Ian and Barbara returned home and Joan was the first person they visited. (PROSE: The Time Travellers) Joan provided Barbara with a place to stay while she reorganised her life after returning home from her travels with the Doctor. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy)

Later life
By the 1970s, Joan was a grandmother. When Ian was called to assist UNIT and Barbara accompanied him, Joan agreed to look after their son John while his parents were away. Joan had been looking forward to spending time with her grandson before that point. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy)

Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline, during the WOTAN crisis, Joan was visited on 16 September 1967 by an ageing duplicate of Ian Chesterton who had been separated from the Doctor by time travel. He told Joan that Barbara was never coming back. Joan simply asked what had happened to them and Ian told her their story. (PROSE: The Time Travellers) This timeline was averted when the Doctor defeated WOTAN in 1966. (TV: The War Machines)