The following article discusses MAJOR SPOILERS about Mrs. Flood for the most recent episode of Doctor Who, “The Interstellar Song Contest”. Read the following article at your peril!
Doctor Who finally did it. Last week’s episode “The Interstellar Song Contest” was certainly one of the most memorable of this year and not just for the Dugadoo song. It saw the return of Carol Anne Ford as the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan. But more importantly audiences learned the identity of Anita Dobson’s mysterious Mrs. Flood at the end of the episode. After being blasted out into space, Mrs. Flood returned to the land of the living. With the Doctor and Belinda Chandra having gone back to Earth, she began to regenerate herself and revealed that she’d been The Rani the whole time. In fact much like The Doctor did at the end of “The Giggle”, she bi-generated into a newer incarnation portrayed by actress Archie Panjabi.
Who is The Rani?
In a nutshell, The Rani is an another evil Time Lord. They’re a scientist of very dubious morals who sees other species as lesser and potential test subjects. They first appeared in the later years of the original run of Doctor Who played by actress Kate O’Mara. At the time of their first appearance, they were the female equivalent to The Master before Michelle Gomez memorably portrayed that character as Missy (and gender really stopped mattering when discussing citizens of Gallifrey). This incarnation fought both Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor and Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor. She proved herself a deadly adversary, so deadly that she caused the regeneration of the Doctor from his Sixth to Seventh incarnation. Though only appearing in two serials (and the Dimensions in Time), O’Mara’s performance struck a chord with fans making them a memorable foe.
Why is this return a big deal?
Since the revival started and initial show runner Russell T. Davies made it a big deal to bring back old foes, there’s been a demand for the return of The Rani. When a female hand reached down for a ring worn by John Simms’ Master at the end of “Last of the Time Lords”, the guess was “Well it’s gotta be The Rani!” It wasn’t. In the years since, anytime a potentially villainous woman showed up, the initial guess continued to be “Well it’s gotta be The Rani!” This was certainly a guess when the aforementioned Missy first appeared. “It’s never The Rani” then became Doctor Who’s “It’s not lupus” with fans. In fact, this writer even said it in a review for last season’s closer “Empire of Death”. Well folks, it had to be lupus one time.
There are two episodes left in this season; “Wish World” and “The Reality War.” This whole season built towards explaining why the Earth was destroyed on May 24, the day Belinda left Earth, and the ending to this last episode promises something explosive. The dynamic between the two Rani set up at the end of “The Interstellar Song Contest”, of a deliciously arch Panjabi ordering around her submissive predecessor Dobson, offers some fun possibilities for these two episodes. Who knows what scheme they’ve cooked up or how The Doctor’s vindicator device ties in. This has been an excellent season of Doctor Who and this finale promises to be a memorable one.
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