Doctor Who confirms how Varada Sethu’s companion connects to Boom
Belinda Chandra is a blood relative of Mundy Flynn – but what force has brought them both into the Doctor's orbit?
The new season of Doctor Who is officially underway, spinning up a new mystery for the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) to solve as he made a new friend... with a familiar face.
The Robot Revolution saw the Time Lord on a mission to track down Belinda Chandra (played by Varada Sethu), revealing that he'd been told about her and that she "would be important" by an as-yet-unknown figure.
Belinda is kidnapped by a horde of rampaging robots and spirited away to their home planet, but the Doctor is eventually able to free her with the help of a band of rebels and the pair take refuge in the gloomy under-city.
In hiding from the mechanical marauders, nurse Belinda laments that she is supposed to be starting a new shift at the hospital "on Monday" – a passing comment that sparks recognition for the Doctor...
Varada Sethu, of course, previously appeared in Doctor Who as Mundy Flynn – an ordained Anglican marine – in the 2024 episode Boom. Her performance so impressed showrunner Russell T Davies that he decided to bring Sethu back full-time as new companion and series regular Belinda... but how does the show address the fact that Mundy is Belinda's doppelganger?
Sethu had previously confirmed that there is a "genetic link" between the pair that spans "thousands of years"– with Belinda living in the 21st century and Mundy in the 51st – and in The Robot Revolution, it's confirmed that Mundy is Belinda's descendant.
"There is something already connecting us, Belinda – way beyond robots," the Doctor says. "I have been to the future and I have met your descendent on a planet far away in the 51st century – her name was Mundy Flynn."
But is there more to the link between Sethu's two characters? The Doctor also points out that the pair are physically an "absolute match" – improbable, even if they are related.
This "amazing" genetic link has the Doctor "worried" as he speculates, "Is that just chance, or something more? I can’t help thinking, Bel, that we are meant to be connected."
It seems there's plenty more mystery to unravel – including what mysterious force brought the Doctor together with, first, Mundy and, later, Belinda, and is now preventing the latter's return to Earth in 2025 – as this latest season of Doctor Who continues...
Read more:
- Doctor Who's Anita Dobson was "halfway" to guessing Mrs Flood's true identity
- Doctor Who - The Robot Revolution ending explained: Why can't Belinda go home?
Doctor Who continues next Saturday (19th April) at 7:15pm on BBC One, with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK. The series will be available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
