Doctor Who: Who Is Mrs Flood?

Since Ncuti Gatwa's first full episode as our heroic Time Lord, we've had one question on our lips. Who is Mrs Flood? The mysterious next door neighbour of Ruby Sunday (and now Belinda Chandra) has been a huge mystery since Christmas 2023 and we're yet to understand her true identity and intentions. She seems sweet and bubbly here and there, then she also seems to have a sinister and other-worldly side.

All we know is by the end of Season 2 we'll know a lot more about her and she'll have a big impact on The Doctor. but until the Season 2 finale airs, all we can do is theorise. So, let's do just that...

1. A Member Of The Pantheons Of Gods

This one is probably a bit of an obvious guess, but let's just prepare for the possibility shall we.

The Fifteenth Doctor's era has stepped more into the mystical side of the Whoniverse, and with that has come the Pantheon of Gods. Maestro, Sutekh and Lux are the Gods we have bumped into so far, and with them also being in Season 2, we can only expect more to come out of the woodworks.

With that in mind, who is to say the big Mrs Flood mystery won't mix up into it? After all, she seemed to have foreknowledge of Sutekh, and seemed to believe herself as massively inferior to Cherry Sunday. So, what if she's one of the bigger Gods who is yet to appear? What if she's even somehow connected to The Doctor's true origins? That ability to regenerate is pretty God-like when you think about it. Time Lords just spliced it and adapted it.

2. A Known Previous Companion

Yeah, this one feels very unlikely, but you just never know when it comes to Doctor Who. What if Mrs Flood did turn out to be a previous friend and companion of The Doctor, and he simply doesn't recognise her due to aging.

She could be an older Ruby Sunday caught in some kind of timey wimey scenario, not too dissimilar to the situation from '73 Yards'. She could be an older Clara Oswald who has been travelling for decades in her final moments of life, and with the knowledge she has obtained over her travels, now developed a bit of a malignant side. I mean, that jumper-blouse combo is something Clara wore one of the last time's we saw her.

Realistically, there could only be 2 past friends that possibly fit this bill. Anita Benn, who we met in last year's Christmas special 'Joy to the World', is in with a chance. She seemed to strike up quite a bond and fascination with the Doctor over the course of a year. Plus, her name is actually the same as the actress who plays Mrs Flood, Anita Dobsen.

There is also the chance that this could be a new version of River Song. Flood? Song? It's not massively out of the ordinary, especially after the whole Pond-River link when her identity was revealed. This new version of River would definitely give a completely new dynamic to her and The Doctor and would keep that relationship fresh.

3. An UNKNOWN Previous Companion

This would be a big swing, but could work if handled well by Russel T Davies and his team at the BBC.

What if Mrs Flood is a former companion, but one that we've never seen. Before you wave this idea off, remember that there was actually a whole incarnation of the Doctor that we never knew about, this being John Hurt's War Doctor.

What if this is a companion that The Doctor did wrong. Maybe he abandoned her. Maybe he led her down a dark path and it was too late to save her soul. Maybe he even left her for did in a poor moment of judgement. Whatever it was, this companion could have settled on Earth, never thinking she'd see her Time Lord again. That is until she saw that blue police box materialise on Christmas Eve 2023.

From there, Mrs Flood started to set about her revenge and thus used technology and information she acquired from her travels to set up her way of getting back at The Doctor.

We could be reaching here, but it would be a cool way to dig into other dark areas of The Doctor's past and see how they've come back to bite him.

4. The Rani

Come on. Would it really be a Doctor Who theory if this character wasn't involved?

For those who aren't in the know, The Rani is a fellow Time Lord of The Doctor's. Or shall we say Time Lady. The Rani was evil, just like The Master, but was more focused on expanding her scientific knowledge instead of the domination of the universe.

The Rani has been a part of Doctor Who mysteries as far back as characters such as River Song, Clara Oswald and Missy. But could this actually be the time to bring The Rani back to Doctor Who?

What became of The Rani after the Time War was unknown, but it is believed she perished along with all other Time Lords. Although remember, we thought the same about The Master until his return in 2008. It is also interesting to note that The Doctor mentioned her name when listing off examples of Time Lord names in the 2024 episode 'Space Babies'. Yes, the first episode of Ncuti Gatwa's debut series.

So, could it be time for yet another evil Time Lord to make their return officially?

5. Another Time Lady

Less fun, but we'll run with it. It could be the case that Flood is a Time Lady indeed, but not one we've officially met before.

It's not the most exciting of prospects, but at the end of the day the likes of The Rani, The Master and Rassilon have all had to make their debut at some point. Why couldn't this be a similar situation? And maybe this new addition to the list of individuals from Gallifrey somehow add a new layer to The Doctor's enemies.

Oh, speaking of Rassilon...

6. Rassilon

She does seem overly self-righteous over the human race and seems powerful beyond belief. Could the former Lord President be back?

The last time we saw Rassilon, ruler of the Time Lords, he was cast out of Gallifrey by a rage-filled Twelfth Doctor into the dark abyss at the end of time, with The Doctor taking his place for a brief moment.

The question is, what is Rassilon been doing since way back in 2015? Well, we can't imagine one of the strongest and ancient Time Lords was beaten so easily. It wouldn't surprise us if Rassilon risked it all to escape Gallifrey's pocket universe at the end of the universe and it came at the cost of him somehow being humanised in some way.

Then, the moment Rassilon saw the Tardis for the first time in years on Christmas 2023, he knew it was time to get his revenge and start bouncing around time again to prep for getting back at the Time Lord who wronged him.

7. One Of The Guardians Of Time

The Guardians of Time were being that were said to pre-date even the Time Lords and are shrouded in mystery. So, being such powerful beings, it wouldn't surprise up if they had knowlege of The Doctor and Sutekh.

One we specifically think would link would be the White Guardian. The knowledge of the universe and that big white coat at the end of 'Empire of Death' blends nicely for this theory and would shape up for an almighty force for The Doctor to reckon with.

The only hole in this theory is why would the White Guardian, an all seeing being, be flabbergasted to see a Tardis disappearing having been living next door to Ruby beforehand, presumably for some time?

Although, we did miss out the mention of one particular former companion earlier. Mainly because they do tie to the White Guardian and could be the key to all of this...

8. Romana

Romana was a companion of The Doctor, who was tasked with travelling with him by none other than the White Guardian and also happened to be a Time Lady herself.

She did wear one hell of a white fluffy coat at one point, she saw herself as inferior to The Doctor here and there but came to respect his intelligence over time.

So, the big white coat. The fact Mrs Flood has shown herself to think she is an inferior being. She has even referred to The Doctor as a "clever boy" when saved from Sutekh. So, it could be very likely that this is our answer. But, Russell T. Davies sure does know how to have us tricked here and there.

9. Susan Foreman

One of the fan favourites. Could be. Might not be. But it's a really good one either way.

Susan is engraved in Doctor Who lore as The Doctor's grandaughter from his first adventures. She travelled with him until he abandoned her on Earth for her own good, and she hasn't been seen since.

The most recent full series of Doctor Who alluded to Susan heavily. Firstly she was mentioned in 'The Devil's Chord'. She was then part of the plot for 'The Legend of Ruby Sunday' when it was theorised that she was Susan Triad's true identity. Then in the final moments of 'Empire of Death' we got the impression that The Doctor regretted parting ways with Susan the way he did and never touching base with her afterwards, hinting that a reunion was on the cards.

Could it be that The Doctor's grandaughter has been in front of him these past few years and he never realised? It wouldn't be the first time he didn't recognise a fellow Time Lord when they were right in front of him (which has likely rubbed Susan the wrong way). It would definitely make Mrs Flood's surprise at seeing the Tardis disappear more believable, plus how she is from that moment on. And if your grandfather abandoned you and then never came back after so long, you'd probably go a bit over board if you were a Time Lady, right?

The only thing that pushes this theory away from the likely box? Susan's orignal actress, Carole Ann Ford, is still with us thankfully. If Susan were to return, it would be a massively missed opportunity to not get the last remaining cast member of the original Doctor Who episodes back on our screens for a reunion with Ncuti Gatwa's incarnation.

Then again, Ford could have refused to return? We'll not know for now I guess.

Our Thoughts?

Well, our thoughts are pretty simple. There's what we'd like to see, and what we think we'll see.

Personally, as a fan who has wanted to see a shocking return from Rassilon for years now, I would like to see one of the oldest Time Lords in existence to return for his revenge.

As for what we think we're going to get here, I think it's got to be the White Guardian or Romana. With how big the stakes are with God-like characters, it does appear to be the route we're going down for the Mrs Flood reveal. Plus, it seems Russell T. Davies is wanting to bring in more big villains from the classic era to breathe new life into New Who, and this would definitely continue with that trend.

The question is, who do you think Mrs Flood is?

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