“It’s an Extra Little Spin”: ‘Doctor Who’ Showrunner Explains Why There’s a Connection Between Belinda and Mundy [Exclusive]

It’s happened before, and it will probably happen again at some point. Doctor Who has brought back an actor who previously played another character in the franchise. Last season on Doctor Who, fans met Varada Sethu as Mundy Flynn in the Steven Moffat-penned episode “Boom.” It was later revealed that Sethu would be joining Ncuti Gatwa in the new season of Doctor Who. We’ve since learned that Sethu’s character is named Belinda Chandra, but fans have not forgotten about Mundy Flynn, and they also haven’t let showrunner Russell T. Davies forget about her either.

When speaking with Collider’s Samantha Coley ahead of the upcoming season premiere on April 12, Davies expressed that he “might as well ride public opinion with this” — this meaning the Mundy-Belinda connection. He explained that bringing guest actors back as companions has been a Doctor Who tradition since long before Davies signed on as the showrunner. He told Collider:

“I think now you can do it different ways with this. You can just cast the same actor again and have them be a different character, but the program is so scrutinized now and spoken about that I think if I hadn’t said there was a link between the two characters, everyone would be busy imagining a link between the two characters

.”

Davies Says The Connection Will Be “Explained As We Go” in ‘Doctor Who’ Season 2

When we first met Sethu as Mundy Flynn, she was an Angelican Marine (for long-term fans, think “Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone”) on Kastorion 3. In Season 2 of Doctor Who, Belinda is a nurse and a reluctant companion of the Doctor. She’s more interested in getting home than seeing the stars. But throughout the trailers that have been released, it would seem that Belinda will eventually warm to traveling with Gatwa’s fifteenth Doctor.

Davies promises that if you’re a brand-new fan, you need not worry. “It’s not the most important thing in the world because I do think Doctor Who should always be new and open to new viewers,” Davies explains.

“So, don’t worry, if you didn’t see last year, you won’t be lost with anything that Belinda does if you don’t know her past in the program. If you do know her past, it’s an extra little spin. It is kind of explained as we go along because it’s important in a way, but it’s not bogging the program down. It’s just a nice way of doing things because that’s what the internet would be saying about her anyway. ‘She’s been in it before.’ So, you might as well play that game.”

You can watch “Boom” and other Season 1 episodes of Doctor Who now on Disney+. Season 2 premieres on April 12, and in the meantime, you can check out Coley’s interview with Gatwa and Sethu now. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.