Doctor Who writer confirms Joy to the World character is "a one-off" despite fan theories
Fans have been calling for her return.
After the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas special, all eyes were on standout star Steph de Whalley and her character Anita, with many fans calling for her to return.
Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor adventured to the Time Hotel in the Steven Moffat-penned Christmas special Joy to the World, meeting Anita, the manager at the Sandringham Hotel, along the way. With the Doctor being stuck on Earth for a year, he and Anita formed a beautiful friendship in a stunning sequence that stole the show for many fans.
Despite theories about Anita's return circulating (even one about her potentially being another version of Mrs Flood), Moffat has insisted she was a "one-off" character.
He told RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party: "She is a one off character. She is, like all great things in Doctor Who, and this is a fact you can take from me, because I know my Doctor Who facts – all great things in Doctor Who are the result of a budget cut.
"The spaceship looks like a phone box. Why? Because of a budget cut. That's exactly what Anita was, because we couldn't afford to send Ncuti Gatwa around the world trying to find another hotel.
"So we just turned it into a little, not exactly romance, but a sort of quasi-romance with Anita. So Anita is a budget cut, but that means in Doctor Who terms, that means Anita is one of the best things that happened."
That doesn't necessarily mean Anita definitely won't return – after all, Doctor Who has a habit of bringing back supposedly "one-off" characters, including Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. But we would guess from Moffat's remarks that there aren't any imminent plans for her return.
Moffat also addressed the possibility of his own return to Doctor Who, after he wrote the season 14 episode Boom and the Christmas special.
He told RadioTimes.com: "Have I got any more ideas? Well, I mean, there's an awful lot of scripts I've written, so I don't honestly know if I've got any more ideas, and I don't know if they'll want me, and I don't know what my schedule will be.
"So I don't know. I'm not against it, but I'm not especially saying it's gonna happen. I'm not even lying anymore!"
Doctor Who: Joy to the World is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Doctor Who will return in 2025 to BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.