The identity of Doctor WhoThe enigmatic Mrs. Flood seemed shrouded in mystery, but “the 2024 Christmas episode may have revealed who Ruby Sunday’s neighbor really was.” “Joy to the World”, the most recent of the Doctor Who Christmas Specials introduced the Doctor to Anita Benn, a new friend with whom he spent an entire year while waiting to return to the Time Hotel. While the festive special wasn't exactly one of the biggest Doctor Who stories of all time, added even more to an incredibly crucial mystery in the show.
Even though there was no direct confirmation in the episode that linked Anita and Mrs. Flood to each other, a new Doctor Who the theory suggested that the two could be the same person. There were several Doctor Who details tied to Mrs. Flood's identity in season 15, though nothing was concrete enough for the audience to come to a solid conclusion. However, “Joy to the World” may have finally provided Doctor Who viewers with an answer.
Doctor Who teases what happens to Anita after the 2024 Christmas special
This wasn't the first time the doctor arranged a new job for an old friend
After the Doctor saved Joy, a mysterious Time Hotel employee arrived at the Sandringham Hotel and offered Anita a job. She knew immediately that the Doctor was behind this because of the “Auld Lang Syne” card and Anita's fate afterwards. Doctor WhoThe Christmas episode of was sealed. This wasn't a particularly unusual moment, as the Doctor had previously secured a job for someone he cared for, such as when UNIT offered Martha Jones a position following the events of The Year That Never Was in season 3.
It was assumed that Anita accepted the job, and a storefront was also seen with the name “Mr.,” a nod to his last name. As the Time Hotel never truly existed at one period or another, this implied that Anita had a successful career there, and since things were so complicated, she possibly worked there before she or even a future son opened the store. However, like everyone else, Anita would eventually retire, and considering the physical appearances of actresses Steph de Whalley and Anita Dobson, it could easily be argued that Anita looked like a young Mrs. Whalley.
Theory: Mrs Flood is Anita in Doctor Who's future
There were several details that suggested that Anita eventually became Mrs. Flood. While “Joy to the World” didn't show what happened to Anita after she took the job, good or bad, there were a few other nods and references that supported the argument that the two women were the same person. The public already knew that she would not join the cast of Doctor Who season 15, as the production has already announced the arrival of Varada Sethu. However, What if Anita was no longer Anita?
Anita's career at the time the hotel must end
If Anita were to retire one day, she would be trapped in a world completely different from the one she was born into. Even though she was used to the strange atmosphere of the Time Hotel, it would make sense that Anita would want to get back to some familiarity. Anita would not have been able to leave through door 2024 of the Sandringham Hotel, how she would have found her past self.
So instead, Anita left through another door before this point, but with no family or friends who recognized her, she set out in search of the only person who could help - The Doctor. The Doctor spent a year talking to Anita, so it wouldn't be unusual for him to mention Ruby at some point, and that's when his search began. As the Doctor had not yet experienced the events of “Joy to the World” at this point, Anita remained quiet, but that was why she already knew the TARDIS and knew the name of the Time Lord.
Nods to Mrs. Flood, actress Anita Dobson
The most obvious connection between the two characters was the name Anita, as was Mrs. Flood's actress, Anita Dobson. However, there were other references to Dobson in the character of Anita. Dobson is married to Queen's Brian May, but the iconic guitarist also made a career as an astrophysicist. In 2023, May was part of a NASA project connected to an asteroid called Bennu, which was eerily similar to Anita's last name, Benn.
Who creates the tiny TARDISes?
Throughout the year at the Sandringham Hotel, the Doctor collected several TARDIS figurines. When he left, he left Anita with her own TARDIS as well. It can be assumed that Anita accepted these packages at the counter when they arrived, and perhaps she wrote down the return address, which helped her in her search for Ruby Sunday.
But who made these TARDIS models? It was strange that someone was selling little TARDIS figures on the internet, where the Doctor claimed he bought them, and perhaps Anita/Mrs. Flood was also the mysterious creator and seller. As Anita knew that in 2024 the Doctor was buying them, she also realized that someone needed to sell them.
Mrs. Flood being Anita doesn't necessarily mean she's a friend
Time and resentment may have changed Anita's perspective on the Time Lord
Despite the fantastic friendship that formed between the Doctor and Anita in “Joy to the World”, it may not have remained that way. Anita may have resented the Doctor for sorting out the Time Hotel job at the end of Doctor WhoChristmas Episode 2024, especially if she couldn't leave until she retired or spent years struggling to find a way to get back to her own time.
Although the public knew that there were many time gates to pass through, this did not mean that there was one for every year of human history, and Anita may have needed to leave decades before her time. She may also have been angry that he just didn't come to say goodbye to her properly and instead sent an employee from the Time Hotel, so she felt like her time with the doctor wasn't that important to him.
Mrs. Flood definitely had some exceptionally bitter moments in Doctor Who season 14, and if she was hurt by the Doctor abandoning her when she was Anita, her behavior would make sense. If in all these years, and with a time machine, the Doctor didn't visit her once, Anita would probably be furious.