Doctor Who's Varada Sethu reveals how Belinda is linked to Mundy Flynn
New companion Belinda is "a special person that the Doctor's looking for".
Varada Sethu is set to return to Doctor Who – but not as her former character Mundy Flynn, with the Andor star instead playing a new character, Belinda Chandra, in the BBC sci-fi's latest episodes.
The show won't simply ignore the fact that these two characters are portrayed by the same actor, however – instead, the link between Mundy (who appeared in last year's Boom) and Belinda will be addressed in the new season, and will be part of a story arc involving Sethu's companion.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com at the launch of the new season, Sethu confirmed that there is a "genetic link" between the pair.
"It spans, obviously, thousands of years – and it's like an added layer of why she's a special person that the Doctor's looking for," she teased.
Belinda's connection to Mundy will be "acknowledged straight away", added Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies, who also pointed to past instances of Doctor Who bringing back previous guest stars to play companion characters.
"There's a fine old tradition of this. We did that with Freema [Agyeman, who played Martha Jones], where she played her own cousin who was murdered by the Cybermen. Brilliant! How did we think of that? Amazing!
"That's been going on forever... Ian Marter, who played Harry in the Tom Baker era, he'd appeared in a story called Carnival of Monsters. Peter Purves did that way back in 1966, [playing the one-off character Morton Dill, before returning as companion Steven Taylor].
"So it's all been done before, but this time the Doctor clearly thinks, 'Oh, I've seen someone that looks like you before' – he clearly says out loud, 'Is this a coincidence?' – keep watching!"
Sethu has described Belinda as "the main character of her own story" who is not "in awe" of the Doctor – and fans can also look forward to the return of Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.
Additionally, Anita Dobson is set to reprise her role as the enigmatic Mrs Flood, hinting at intriguing developments for her character.
Other guest stars include Freddie Fox, Christopher Chung, Rose Ayling-Ellis, and returning faces from UNIT, such as Jemma Redgrave and Bonnie Langford.
The season will feature eight episodes, written by Russell T Davies alongside contributors Pete McTighe, Juno Dawson, Inua Ellams and Sharma Angel-Walfall.
Doctor Who will air from Saturday 12th April at 6:50pm 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.
Read more:
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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.
