This is one of the other major topics this season, so let’s engage in some wild speculation so we can be proven to be idiots by episode 8.
Here’s what we know, as I see it:
- Mrs. Flood is a neighbour of Ruby’s in 2023.
- She saw the TARDIS in its police box form, and didn’t seem to recognize it as a TARDIS.
- She didn’t recognize the Doctor.
- When she saw the TARDIS dematerialize, she recognized it for what it was.
This suggests to me that she is familiar with the Time Lords, but not the Doctor or his TARDIS in its usual form.
So what gives?
I think there’s some weird predestination stuff around Ruby’s birth and adoption, that the Pantheon was involved with, and Maestro hints at that. Perhaps they wanted, or at least knew ahead of time, that she would eventually be the Doctor’s companion.