Helen Sinclair's grandmother

The grandmother of Helen Sinclair died of a terminal illness sometime before her granddaughter left to travel with the Eighth Doctor in 1963. After she learned of her illness and that she was dying, it took Helen a long time to come to terms with and accept it. Later, when trapped inside a life pod at the end of the universe by Padrac with seemingly no way of escape, Helen recounted this experience to Liv Chenka and the Doctor. She compared the way she came to terms with her grandmother's inevitable death to the way that they may need to accept that they had no way of returning to save the universe. (AUDIO: Ship in a Bottle)