10 Reasons RTD's Doctor Who Return Failed
6. Making Stuff Up As He Went Along
In theory, the idea of one of the Doctor’s old nemeses hiding in the background for two seasons, before dramatically revealing herself, is a good one.
But if you think Mrs Flood didn’t exactly feel like the Rani in her early stories, there’s a reason. RTD has admitted that he was in originally “two minds” about making Mrs Flood the Rani – and that Anita Dobson was originally only down to do one episode.
It’s not clear if he’s referring to The Church on Ruby Road (which was broadcast first) or 73 Yards (which was shot first).
Either way, it perhaps explains why Mrs Flood doesn’t initially seem to recognise the TARDIS, and her weird monologue to Cherry Sunday about seizing heaven “in her true name”.
The same goes for the Boss. When asked by David Tennant on the Star Beast in-vision commentary, Phil Collinson claimed to know who the Boss it.
But now we know nothing had actually been filmed by that point. So did RTD really know? Or was it always just a meaningless tease?
Not pinning stuff like this down from the start is just disingenuous. If you want the audience to engage with your mysteries you can’t suddenly change the outcome halfway through.