Russell T Davies addresses fans correctly guessing huge Doctor Who mystery
Doctor Who fans finally know who Mrs Flood is.
Doctor Who’s singing, dancing, Eurovision episode finally revealed the longstanding mystery of who exactly the gilet-clad Mrs Flood is, bringing back a vintage Whovian villain.
The Interstellar Song Contest unmasked Mrs Flood as the Rani, in an episode the BBC One ratings have cemented as the highest watched of this season so far with 2.57 million viewers.
The show was granted a welcome bump from a jam-packed schedule that squeezed the episode in between the FA Cup final and the live Eurovision Song Contest.
After a season spent popping up in every episode, Anita Dobson’s Mrs Flood followed in the footsteps of David Tennant’s Doctor and bigenerated – split in two – into Archie Panjabi.
The Rani pair are now poised to face off against the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) in the upcoming two-part finale of the show.
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The episode saw the universe’s frothy Europop night, hosted by the inimitable Rylan and hologram Graham Norton, devolve into a fight for survival that ended with a longtime nemesis of the Doctor rearing its head.
Archie Panjabi joined the cast in Saturday’s episode (BBC) The Rani will face the Doctor in the two-part finale (Picture: James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/PA Wire)While some Whovians had suspected Mrs Flood would be revealed to be the Doctor’s wife, River Song, others correctly theorised she was the Rani and should be awarded a collective pat on the back.
Although some shows might want their Big Bad reveal to remain unknowable, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has said it’s no bad thing that some fans were on the money.
Speaking on the official Doctor Who companion show Unleashed, he said: ‘Finally, we found out who Mrs Flood is. I think ever since Mrs Flood appeared, people have been saying she’s the Rani, and sometimes you just want to deliver what people expect.
Who is the Rani?The Rani has yet to make an appearance during rebooted Who, so newer fans might have been scratching their heads during Saturday’s big reveal.
The Doctor’s foe first appeared in Colin Baker’s run as the Sixth Time Lord, when she was played by Kate O’Mara.
She’s a renegade Time Lord turned mad scientist, who has caused chaos on planets with her madcap experiments.
Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor summed up the Rani in the Time and the Rani episode, saying: ‘Don’t underestimate her. She’s a brilliant but sterile mind. There’s not one spark of decency in her.’
Russell T Davies has said Ncuti Gatwa always wanted to face the Rani (Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)‘Yes, she’s a Time Lady. Yes, she is the Rani. And yes, she’s bi-generated and now she’s Mrs Flood and Archie Panjabi as the Rani, which is so exciting.
‘It was kind of the plan almost from the beginning. I always thought she was the Rani. Which actually is a very old Doctor Who villain who’s never been brought back since the show came back in 2005. She’s kind of been waiting in the wings, and the time has come.’
Davies has since said that Ncuti Gatwa has always wanted to face the Rani, telling the BBC: ‘It’s an honour to work with Archie – I’ve been a fan for years, and what a joy, to see her twinned with Anita Dobson. It’s the greatest threat the Doctor has ever faced and there are even more villains to come!’
Doctor Who continues with Wish World on Saturday, May 24 on BBC iPlayer and Disney Plus outside of the UK.
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