Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 8, "The Reality War."Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday and Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra were the two main companions during Ncuti Gatwa's era of Belinda was Fifteen's "true" companion, the other two women also had incredibly key roles to play. That said, it can be easy to forget about one of them.

After debuting at the Fifteen's conversation with Conrad at the end of Doctor Who season 15, episode 4, "Lucky Day," proves Gatwa's Doctor did travel alone for a while. On pretty much every other occasion, Fifteen found at least a temporary companion to help him. Two of the most prominent examples of this came in 2024's "Joy to the World," but only one companion in the episode properly fits into the official category.

Anita's Doctor Who Return Cemented Her As Ncuti Gatwa's Third Companion

The Doctor couldn't have saved the Earth without Anita's help

Steph de Whalley first appeared in "Joy to the World" as Anita Benn, the manager of the Sandringham Hotel. The Fifteenth Doctor found himself stranded there for a whole year, allowing him to live something approaching an ordinary life. During his exile, he and Anita developed a close friendship, although during their time together, they didn't embark on any traditional Doctor/companion adventures. Instead, they talked, played games, and ate together. So, it was tricky to see Anita as a proper companion, despite being a great character.

Doctor Who season 15, episode 8, "The Reality War," wastes no time in re-introducing Anita to the story, rescuing the Doctor in her capacity as his friend and the new manager of the Time Hotel in the 41st century. Heavily pregnant, she isn't capable of being on the front lines during UNIT's clash with the two Ranis - played by Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson - but she is pivotal to the heroes' victory. The use of the Time Hotel's access to real time helps dispel the impact of the Wish at UNIT HQ.

Anita had developed romantic feelings for the Doctor during their year spent on Earth.

So, the Doctor's reunion with Anita and her role in holding the door open throughout the battle are vital. Plus, it's pretty much confirmed in "The Reality War" that Anita had developed romantic feelings for the Doctor during their year spent on Earth, even though he didn't feel the same way. This is a pretty common trope in Doctor Who's modern era, with Freema Agyeman's Martha Jones serving as an especially prominent example.

Why Anita Already Deserved To Be Considered A Doctor Who Companion

Anita spent more time with the Doctor than Ruby & Belinda did, probably even combined

There are arguably quite a few factors that would make Anita not seem like a proper Doctor Who companion. While she fits the category of being from present-day Earth, she doesn't do much in her debut episode to make her eligible to belong in the same group as characters like Ruby and Belinda. That said, it's probably true that Fifteen spent way more time with Anita than either of his two main companions. Fifteen and Ruby's adventures felt incredibly short-lived, despite Ruby appearing in far more episodes than Anita.

Evelyn Miller's Sasha 55 also deserves a shout-out as a long-standing Fifteenth Doctor companion. It's revealed in "The Robot Revolution" that she spent six months on Missbelindachandra One with Fifteen before she died.

Although the Shreek adventure in "Lucky Day" teased the occurrence of more unseen adventures for Ruby during her time with the Doctor, I still doubt she spent anywhere near a year traveling through space and time. For Belinda, I'm pretty sure every adventure she had with Fifteen was shown, so she must only have been aboard the TARDIS for a few days. Now that Anita has the advantage of so much time with the Doctor and has saved the world in Doctor Who's season 15 finale, it's tougher to argue about her status as a companion.