Doctor Who airs major development in Mrs Flood mystery

Flood was first introduced in 2023 Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road as the neighbour of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) – though at first she appeared to be an ordinary human, she later revealed knowledge of the TARDIS, and in subsequent appearances seemed familiar with the malevolent Sutekh.

The latest episode, however, delivered a new twist in the character's arc as she popped up in entirely new surroundings...

The Robot Revolution saw new companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) snatched from her home by a horde of rampaging robots – and present to witness the abduction is none other than Mrs Flood.

Now apparently posing as Belinda's entirely unremarkable neighbour – much as she did with Ruby – Flood at first appears to be baffled by events as Belinda is escorted aboard the robots' spaceship.

But the mask soon drops as she adopts a more non-plussed attitude. "Take care Belinda, bye-bye!" she beams, as the nurse is whisked away from Earth.

Seconds later, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) appears on the scene and Flood makes herself scarce, hiding as the Time Lord arrives too late to save Belinda.

She then departs with one of her now-trademark asides to the audience, breaking the fourth wall as she insists, "You ain't seen me!"

Previously, Flood has only ever appeared in the guise of Ruby's neighbour, but it now appears, whoever she might be, she is inhabiting a number of different roles.

The same was true of the character played last season by Susan Twist, who was unwittingly appearing in various forms across time and space – although Flood seems far more cognisant of what's happening.

Twist's character was eventually revealed as a herald of Sutekh, so could Mrs Flood similarly be acting as harbinger for another of the all-powerful Pantheon of Discord?

Anita Dobson previously confirmed to that the new season of Doctor Who will reveal "who [Flood] is and what she's about" in its final episodes.

Showrunner Russell T Davies has also confirmed that Mrs Flood will be "popping up every week" ahead of the finale reveal – and even compared her presence to the recurring character played by Susan Twist.

"Last year, we had Susan Triad popping up every week, but she had no idea who she was," Davies said.

"This is the complete opposite – this is someone who clearly knows very much [who she is]... she kind of unveiled herself at the end of the last series, standing on a rooftop, with a parasol, in a white fur coat, in the snow, saying, 'I'm going to bring absolute terror!' – so the gloves are off, really!"

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.

Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.