Doctor Who has a new companion in the shape of Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu.
Varada Sethu has become a new member of the prestigious Doctor Who companions club, playing the Time Lord’s new TARDIS traveller Belinda Chandra. Of course, with this being Doctor Who, the character comes with a somewhat mysterious backstory, and a rather complicated present.
For a start, Belinda Chandra lives in a house share, which has the potential for all kinds of drama, as anyone who has ever lived in a House of Multiple Occupancy will know. Will Belinda Chandra do battle with the Washing Up Police, or the Loud Noise Brigade? Leave your plot predictions below. We certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the upper storey of the house contained a TARDIS-like machine in search of a pilot (or has that already been done…?)
One thing that regular viewers will immediately have spotted is the fact that Belinda Chandra has the mysterious Mrs Flood as a neighbour. Mrs Flood, of course, also lived on the same street as the Doctor’s former companion Ruby Sunday, and as yet we have not been given an explanation as to why she’s suddenly moved next to Belinda. Certainly, there is more to this character than we know; she predicted at the end of the last series that the Doctor’s story would end “in absolute terror.” Is she plotting something? Or does she simply have advance knowledge? And is Belinda the link to it all?
This is certainly a possibility, as Belinda Chandra’s fingerprints can be seen in the previous series. Varada Sethu appeared in the Steven Moffat episode ‘Boom,’ playing the character of Mundy Flynn. And whilst this isn’t unprecedented in the Whoniverse (Freema Agyeman and Karen Gillan both had guest roles before becoming companions) the similarity is acknowledged in ‘The Robot Revolution’; Flynn is actually one of Belinda Chandra’s descendants. But is it a coincidence that the Time Lord has randomly encountered two members of the same family? This is Doctor Who, so probably not.
Indeed, in ‘The Robot Revolution’ the Doctor finds himself and Belinda caught up in rather a complicated situation. Many years ago, Belinda had a star named after her by a boyfriend, Alan, who called it Missbelindachandra. And he gave her a gift certificate brandishing the new name.
Flash forward to the present day, where the robot inhabitants of this star system have come to Earth to kidnap the real Belinda Chandra, believing that they need her on their home world to rule as their queen. And, bizarrely, they have a copy of the same star-naming certificate. And this isn’t just a copy – this is the exact same document, which is puzzling.
Even more puzzling is why the true ruler of the planet – the A.I. Generator – is so keen on marrying Belinda. This quickly becomes clear when it’s revealed that the so-called robot king is not an A.I. but an Al – short for Alan. The robots, it transpired, captured Belinda’s former lover as well, and in the time he’s been on the planet he’s become a megalomanic cyber leader, hell bent on dictatorship. Things get ugly rather fast.
In short, ‘The Robot Revolution’ is quite the baptism of fire for the Time Lord’s unwitting new companion. Belinda Chandra is quite different from many of the Doctor’s former friends, as she’s in the TARDIS against her will. She doesn’t really want to be there; she was forcibly taken to Missbelindachandra, and she simply wants to go home. This is easier said than done, though, as when the Doctor tries to return Belinda to her own time (the 24th May 2025) he finds he is unable. The TARDIS refuses to land, as there is something blocking their path. Belinda, it seems, is going to have to travel with the Doctor whether she likes it or not.
This is altogether more ominous for the viewer, who soon discovers that the reason the TARDIS can’t materialise is because planet Earth (seemingly) has been obliterated. The camera pulls back to reveal a swirling cloud of destruction including a decimated taxi, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower. What, exactly, has happened, and how does this connect to Belinda?
Hopefully, these questions will be answered before Doctor Who season 41 / 15 / 2 / Fnarg comes to an end, and there is a whole series’ worth of episodes still to go.
But as we learn in ‘The Robot Revolution,’ Belinda is a very different type of Doctor Who companion. She is certainly the first of the modern era to find herself travelling in the TARDIS against her will, and it will be fascinating to see how this impacts her relationship with the Doctor in the episodes that follow, particularly as we know that (in the not-too-distant future) her path will cross with the former companion Ruby Sunday. Will Belinda Chandra find a kindred spirit, or a rival?
At the same time, there are similarities between Belinda Chandra and some of the Time Lord’s former friends. Indeed, Martha Jones was a nurse (or a medical student, if we’re being picky) as was Rory Williams. And then there was the Eighth Doctor’s companion Molly O’Sullivan – a Voluntary Aid Detachment in the First World War, who was sent to France to care for wounded soldiers. Should these people ever find themselves at Graham O’Brien’s support group, they would doubtless have plenty to talk about.
In the meantime, there is still lots to learn about Belinda Chandra in the coming weeks. What are your first impressions and theories about this character? Let us know in the comments below.
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