“You will eventually find out more about her.”
After Doctor Who’s 2023 Christmas special ended with quite the cliffhanger, fans are desperate to know more about the mysterious Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) – and showrunner Russell T Davies has hinted at what’s to come.
The Church on Ruby Road, which aired on Christmas Day, saw Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday embark on their first adventure together.
The special ended with a mid-credits scene in which Ruby’s neighbour, Mrs Flood, watches the TARDIS dematerialise.
Unperturbed, she tells neighbour Abdul (Hemi Yeroham): “Don’t make such a fuss,” before turning to the camera, giving us a great big wink, and asking: “Never seen a TARDIS before?!”
Speaking on Doctor Who: Unleashed, showrunner Davies said: “Mrs Flood is a mysterious character. You will eventually find out more about her. She’s a slow burn, Mrs Flood. Who is Mrs Flood? Come back and find out!”
Dobson, meanwhile, wasn’t giving anything away, saying: “Today what you see is a friendly neighbour. What the future may be, no one knows. Russell is writing it as we speak.”
After Unleashed host Steffan Powell suggested she could end up being an evil genius, Dobson mused: “I might, I might not.”
Although it might be a while before we find out who Mrs Flood actually is, there are plenty of theories flying about.
Some fans have suggested she could be the Rani, a character who met Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor in the classic run of the show, previously played by Kate O’ Mara. Others are wondering if she’s another iteration of River Song, played in modern Doctor Who by Alex Kingston. Or could she be an associate of the Master?
Plus, there are even more mysteries from the episode that still need to be solved. Who is Ruby’s birth mother? Where are the Doctor and Ruby flying off to for their next adventure? And will we ever get The Goblin Song out of our heads? Only time will tell!
Doctor Who will return in May 2024. Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.