Ever since star Anita Dobson showed up as the mysterious Mrs. Flood in ‘The Church on Ruby Road’, fans have been eager to know who Ruby Sunday’s nosy neighbor really is. Especially since across her several appearances, Mrs. Flood revealed that she knew Sutekh would return, is familiar with who the Doctor is, and even warns that his story will “end in absolute terror”.
There is clearly a big mystery to solve here with fans putting on their tinfoil hats, theorizing that Mrs. Flood is everyone from the Doctor’s former Time Lord companion Romana to the God of Stories. Thankfully, showrunner Russell T Davies recently revealed to our sister magazine SFX that “spectacular answers” are coming with the upcoming Doctor Who season 2, which will see Mrs. Flood pop up in every single episode.
That news was music to the ears of star Ncuti Gatwa, who returns as the Fifteenth Doctor and has been “desperate to find out” Mrs. Flood’s real identity since she debuted. Speaking to GamesRadar+ in a recent interview, Gatwa reveals that he didn’t know the truth until production started on the upcoming season: “We found out on the day of getting the script, I won’t tell you what script number but it was so exciting. I couldn’t have expected it!”
It turns out that Dobson is very good at keeping secrets, as is showrunner Davies. However, opening up about the character, Davies does tell us that who Mrs. Flood really is hasn’t always been locked in place. As he explains, the character evolved with Dobson’s participation: “I was always in two minds. You sort of judge how things are going. From the moment we cast Anita though, I knew we would do a lot with her. She came in initially to just do one episode, but she was lovely and completely up for it. You kind of evolve it as you’re going along with the actor’s participation.”
Continuing, Davies reveals that the truth behind Mrs. Flood was locked in by the time they filmed last season’s finale ‘Empire of Death‘, which ended with her ominous warning about the fate that awaits the Doctor.
As he explains: “Once it reaches the end of season 1, where she clearly states her intentions on a rooftop, declaring that she will bring the Doctor absolute terror, you properly lock her into place. She does crop up this year in every single episode and every time she does it to absolute delight. She was only in three or four episodes last time, so she’s a much more constant presence this time, which builds and builds to, I promise you, genuine, fantastic reveals.”
The new season of Doctor Who arrives on April 12 via Disney Plus internationally and BBC iPlayer in the UK. For more that should be on your watch list, check out our guide to the new TV shows to look out for.
