Steven Moffat has revealed that Anita Benn, who spent a year with the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in Joy to the World, barely featured in the first draft of the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Anita works at the Sandringham Hotel, where the Doctor is stranded for a year, waiting to get back to the Time Hotel (and his TARDIS), and Moffat, who wrote the episode, says the original idea for the story showed a very different version of events, with Anita largely expunged. He says:

“Originally that was very different, and Anita barely featured in it. In fact, the only thing that was significantly changed from the first draft was what the Doctor actually does for the year. I originally had him travel around the whole world.”

Anita was played by Stephanie de Whalley, and won many people around as soon as she and the Doctor started interacting away from Joy (Nicola Coughlan). Showrunner, Russell T Davies, further explains:

“One of the greatest surprises of this episode is Anita, played by Steph, who, honestly, just had 10 lines in the first draft. And then we all liked her so much, and Steven liked her so much, he kept adding lines. And now she’s become a major character in it.”

And we’re glad it worked out that way, as, in a sense, Anita becomes a companion to the Doctor, seeing as he spends so much time with her!

You can watch Joy to the World on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ around the world.