Doctor Who fans 'disappointed' as iconic villain makes 'underwhelming' comeback

Doctor Who fans said the same thing as a classic villain made an unexpected comeback on Saturday night (May 17).

During the latest episode, titled The Interstellar Song Contest, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his new companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) unexpectedly arrived on a space station that was hosting a famous song contest.

However, a harmless night of fun soon became a battle to survive as the arena was hijacked by a pair of Hellions, who threatened to kill all spectators as revenge against the event's sponsor.

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At the end of the episode, Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson), a mysterious character who has appeared throughout the series, was revealed to be an incarnation of the Rani, a villainous Time Lord.

She underwent a bi-generation process, with a new version of the villain soon emerging (played by Archie Panjabi).

"As for the Doctor, I will bring him absolute terror," the Rani warned before the credits started rolling, reports .

The Rani is an amoral biochemist who experiments on humans and other species, and considers everything secondary to her research. The renegade Time Lord has had her plans foiled by the Doctor several times.

The villain was last portrayed by Kate O'Mara in the 1985 episode, The Mark of the Rani, before returning in the 1987 instalment, Time and the Rani. She last appeared in the 1993 Children in Need special, Dimensions in Time.

Now, the Doctor is set to reunite with his foe in the upcoming two-part finale, which begins this weekend (May 24).

However, fans were left frustrated by the Rani's reveal, with many sharing their discontent on X (formerly ).

One viewer commented: "I'm excited the Rani is back, but I'm disappointed that Mrs Flood turned out to be her. I was hoping for a not so obvious much larger shocking reveal of Mrs Flood. Everyone pretty much knew from day 1 who Mrs Flood was."

Another fan remarked: "The reveal was weirdly underwhelming but also I'm SO INTRIGUED because why does one Rani suddenly become subservient to the other?? Something going on here... If that really is it for Mrs Flood then that's lame but I feel like there's more to this."

A third shared: "Why does there have to be a multi Rani story? What, just for the sake of doing it? Having two incarnations when it's the first Rani story in decades and Archie's debut is so misjudged."

Meanwhile, several fans shared their excitement, with one writing: "The Rani is my favourite Doctor Who villain, having her back is a dream come true."

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer