There’s speculation that the mysterious Mrs Flood, played by Anita Dobson in Doctor Who, could be one of the Guardians, being previously seen in the Fourth and Fifth Doctors’ eras.

The rumour is based on merchandise advertising the “Guardian of Chaos,” something of a rebranding of the Black Guardian, although the character is still all in black on the t-shirt, coaster, jumper, and in badge available to pre-order now through the Forbidden Planet and Walmart online stores. These go on sale in January 2025. We could absolutely see that Russell T Davies would seek to disassociate the colour black with an evil Guardian, hence the character being changed into one of “Chaos”, a term used in conjunction with him for quite some time.

As we don’t know who Mrs Flood is yet, it’s possible she could turn out to be one of the Guardians, especially given that she, like Valentine Dyall’s, comes across as omniscient and floats about looking a bit awkward. Mrs Flood breaks the fourth wall, which the Guardians has arguably done in the past too.

Similarly, Davies likes bringing back old enemies — Sutekh the Destroyer having returned in The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death — and has a fascination with god-like beings like the Toymaker (who came back for The Giggle).

The Black Guardian was first seen in The Armageddon Factor, then returning to plague Vislor Turlough in Mawdryn Undead, Terminus, and Enlightenment. The White Guardian first appeared in The Ribos Operation, then again in Enlightenment.

Then again, maybe the BBC is merely mining the past for new merchandising opportunities and the Black Guardian won’t be in Doctor Who Series 15. We’ll find out next year…