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Anita and Tom are a couple that most people either love or hate. People either find their relationship unbelievable and contrived, because they met, fell in love, and moved away within the space of a few short months, or they believe that they fell quickly for one another, and that true love doesn’t rely on traditional time scales.
Anita was introduced with the sole purpose of being a possible love interest for Tom. This is evident even from the spoiler for her first episode, in which it described her in terms of looks, and Tom’s reaction to her appearance. However, from the start of Anita’s first episode (A Tear In My Eye), it became obvious that their relationship was not going to be simple.
Anita was introduced as the psychiatrist who would be helping Tom through his alcoholism, and, naively, Tom assumed that she would be a “stuffy, middle-aged man”. He was shocked when he entered her office and found her to be a young, pretty woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
From the moment that he met her, it was apparent that he wanted to change who he was because he was embarrassed to be seen vulnerable by her. This is evident in how he evaded her questions and blatantly lied about some important facts of his life. However, from very early on, it was also obvious that Anita was able to understand Tom a lot better than anyone, and that she could tell when he was lying. This is seen in how she reacted to some of his lies – “Great. And now what about the truth, please?”
From Anita’s first appearance, it was obvious that Tom was attracted to her. However, it was in Anita’s second episode, As The Day Is Long, where we saw just how much he liked her. This is the episode that gave Anita the name “Dr Red Shoes”, due to the fact that Tom spent most of the episode staring at her shoes and legs. However, when Anita asked him what he was looking at, unable to admit that he liked her, he simply commented on her rug.
In the following episode, we saw Tom try and pluck up the courage to ask Anita out, only to have the chance taken from him when her phone rang and she ended their session. By this time, he was beginning to be more honest, because he had soon realised that he was unable to lie to Anita, but he found it very hard to give up what had become almost as much of a habit as his alcoholism. This frustrated Anita, and after she finally snapped and told him that she was more than willing to help him, as long as he helped himself, but that she really did want to help him, Tom began to hope that she perhaps also felt something for him.
Up until this point, we had simply seen Tom’s feelings for Anita, but by this time, Anita was beginning to develop into a character in her own right. When she was begging Tom to let her help him, we were able to see that this very professional woman was perhaps losing control slightly, and wanted more than just a professional relationship. This is seen in how, when Tom moved in to kiss her, for a few moments, Anita let herself be carried away, until she realised the implications that this could have on her career and her own morals. When she pushed him away, she was not doing it because she didn’t want to be with him, it was because she felt that this was dangerous ground.
From this moment, there was a definite shift in their relationship. Whereas before they had had a fairly stereotypical patient/doctor relationship, after this happened, Anita believed that she could no longer continue as Tom’s psychiatrist, and, for a few episodes, it seemed as though we had seen the last of Anita Forbes, and that Anita and Tom’s relationship was over before it had even begun.
However, when the two of them crossed paths again in Going It Alone, the tension between them was obvious, and by Endgame, it was evident that Anita was jealous of Tom’s date with Diane. So jealous, in fact, that she went as far as to hint that Diane was seeing Alex. At this point, I feel the need to state that I believe that Tom only ever asked Diane out to get at Anita, seen in how obviously he does ask her out in front of Anita.
The following episode, Can’t Always Get What You Want, is where we began to see just how much Anita and Tom wanted to be with one another. The title of this episode is a clear indication to their feelings. They wanted each other, but because of two factors – Anita’s pride, and Tom’s invitation to Paris from Diane – they couldn’t be together. Anita turned down an offer of a date with Tom early on in the episode because she was annoyed with how he had treated Alex, but by the time she has swallowed her pride and is prepared to ask him out, he already has plans for the weekend with Diane. When he turns her down, Anita is obviously shaken, which shows how much she was prepared to put on the line for him, and also shows how sure she was of his feelings. However, she believes that he is simply paying her back for the fact that she declined his offer of dinner. “You like playing games, don’t you?”
The theme of playing games is carried on for the rest of Anita’s time on screen. Two episodes later, Crossing The Line, we see how determined she is to be with Tom, and how far she is prepared to go to get him. However, she refuses to let him have her easily. When asked out for a meal, she politely replies that she doesn’t think they’d have much to talk about. When Tom suggests topics – his father and Alex Adams – Anita draws him into conversation, and then declines the date, explaining that they’d have nothing to talk about now.
However, later on in this episode, it becomes apparent that she wants to go out with him, seen in how she does not actively decline any more. She simply lets him assume what he wants to. She flirts with him, teasing him even when he asks her to stop.
Tom: Would you stop with the game-playing?
Anita: I thought you liked it.
Tom: Just – not today.
Anita: Tell me… how does it feel, not being in control?
Tom: Scary.
Anita: Good!
Here, we also get an insight into Tom’s feelings. He asks Anita to stop flirting with him, after being told that she is moving to America. Being told that she is moving clearly affects him, because by this time, he is falling for her, even though he can barely admit it to himself, let alone to her.
However, later on in the same episode, Tom, to a certain extent, admits to Anita how he feels for her. “Please… you’ve done something to me… just say yes.” Anita also allows herself to admit to how she feels, when she tells him that she’d rather not go out for a meal, but that she’d rather go back to his place.
From this point onwards, we see very little of their relationship on screen. The next time that they are in an episode is two weeks later, in Parent Trap, by which time it is apparent that they have been spending a lot of time together – “You’ve left so much stuff at my place that I could start a car boot sale” – but that they are still not committed to one another, and that Tom, at least, does not want the rest of the hospital to find out about their relationship, seen in how he calls her “Doctor Forbes” when they are around other people.
By this time, it is nearing the time of Anita needing to leave for America, and neither of them wants her to go. However, Anita, although she doesn’t want to leave – “I had been having second thoughts, you know. About the states. But then, I don’t know what I thought I’d be staying for.” – refuses to stay unless Tom asks her to. Tom, however, only wants what is best for Anita, showing how much he loves her, because he would put her happiness above his own. Anita does not understand this, and after telling him that she loves him, she tearfully tells him that “I never wanted you to put your feelings aside. Not as your doctor, and most certainly not now.” The fact that she refers to herself as his doctor shows, at this point, that she considers herself to be superior to him, and that she is reminding him how much he owes her. If Tom and Anita’s relationship had ended here, then the entire relationship could have been tainted by that one line.
However, the following episode, which takes place on the following day, involves a complete role reversal. In this episode, Anita is not the one in control. She is not naïve, and doesn’t believe that their relationship will be an easy path, but she begs Tom to take a risk, because she thinks that it is worth it.
Anita’s plea for Tom to mend her heart shows what a powerful hold he had had on her – even after he has hurt her so much, she still trusts him. It also shows that she did truly love him, because he has broken her heart, and then mended it again when he went with her to America.
And, whatever people might say about love, to abandon his job, his friends, and every aspect of his life, for her, he must have loved her. We don’t know what went wrong, but surely nothing can overrule a love that strong?
Anita was introduced with the sole purpose of being a possible love interest for Tom. This is evident even from the spoiler for her first episode, in which it described her in terms of looks, and Tom’s reaction to her appearance. However, from the start of Anita’s first episode (A Tear In My Eye), it became obvious that their relationship was not going to be simple.
Anita was introduced as the psychiatrist who would be helping Tom through his alcoholism, and, naively, Tom assumed that she would be a “stuffy, middle-aged man”. He was shocked when he entered her office and found her to be a young, pretty woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
From the moment that he met her, it was apparent that he wanted to change who he was because he was embarrassed to be seen vulnerable by her. This is evident in how he evaded her questions and blatantly lied about some important facts of his life. However, from very early on, it was also obvious that Anita was able to understand Tom a lot better than anyone, and that she could tell when he was lying. This is seen in how she reacted to some of his lies – “Great. And now what about the truth, please?”
From Anita’s first appearance, it was obvious that Tom was attracted to her. However, it was in Anita’s second episode, As The Day Is Long, where we saw just how much he liked her. This is the episode that gave Anita the name “Dr Red Shoes”, due to the fact that Tom spent most of the episode staring at her shoes and legs. However, when Anita asked him what he was looking at, unable to admit that he liked her, he simply commented on her rug.
In the following episode, we saw Tom try and pluck up the courage to ask Anita out, only to have the chance taken from him when her phone rang and she ended their session. By this time, he was beginning to be more honest, because he had soon realised that he was unable to lie to Anita, but he found it very hard to give up what had become almost as much of a habit as his alcoholism. This frustrated Anita, and after she finally snapped and told him that she was more than willing to help him, as long as he helped himself, but that she really did want to help him, Tom began to hope that she perhaps also felt something for him.
Up until this point, we had simply seen Tom’s feelings for Anita, but by this time, Anita was beginning to develop into a character in her own right. When she was begging Tom to let her help him, we were able to see that this very professional woman was perhaps losing control slightly, and wanted more than just a professional relationship. This is seen in how, when Tom moved in to kiss her, for a few moments, Anita let herself be carried away, until she realised the implications that this could have on her career and her own morals. When she pushed him away, she was not doing it because she didn’t want to be with him, it was because she felt that this was dangerous ground.
From this moment, there was a definite shift in their relationship. Whereas before they had had a fairly stereotypical patient/doctor relationship, after this happened, Anita believed that she could no longer continue as Tom’s psychiatrist, and, for a few episodes, it seemed as though we had seen the last of Anita Forbes, and that Anita and Tom’s relationship was over before it had even begun.
However, when the two of them crossed paths again in Going It Alone, the tension between them was obvious, and by Endgame, it was evident that Anita was jealous of Tom’s date with Diane. So jealous, in fact, that she went as far as to hint that Diane was seeing Alex. At this point, I feel the need to state that I believe that Tom only ever asked Diane out to get at Anita, seen in how obviously he does ask her out in front of Anita.
The following episode, Can’t Always Get What You Want, is where we began to see just how much Anita and Tom wanted to be with one another. The title of this episode is a clear indication to their feelings. They wanted each other, but because of two factors – Anita’s pride, and Tom’s invitation to Paris from Diane – they couldn’t be together. Anita turned down an offer of a date with Tom early on in the episode because she was annoyed with how he had treated Alex, but by the time she has swallowed her pride and is prepared to ask him out, he already has plans for the weekend with Diane. When he turns her down, Anita is obviously shaken, which shows how much she was prepared to put on the line for him, and also shows how sure she was of his feelings. However, she believes that he is simply paying her back for the fact that she declined his offer of dinner. “You like playing games, don’t you?”
The theme of playing games is carried on for the rest of Anita’s time on screen. Two episodes later, Crossing The Line, we see how determined she is to be with Tom, and how far she is prepared to go to get him. However, she refuses to let him have her easily. When asked out for a meal, she politely replies that she doesn’t think they’d have much to talk about. When Tom suggests topics – his father and Alex Adams – Anita draws him into conversation, and then declines the date, explaining that they’d have nothing to talk about now.
However, later on in this episode, it becomes apparent that she wants to go out with him, seen in how she does not actively decline any more. She simply lets him assume what he wants to. She flirts with him, teasing him even when he asks her to stop.
Tom: Would you stop with the game-playing?
Anita: I thought you liked it.
Tom: Just – not today.
Anita: Tell me… how does it feel, not being in control?
Tom: Scary.
Anita: Good!
Here, we also get an insight into Tom’s feelings. He asks Anita to stop flirting with him, after being told that she is moving to America. Being told that she is moving clearly affects him, because by this time, he is falling for her, even though he can barely admit it to himself, let alone to her.
However, later on in the same episode, Tom, to a certain extent, admits to Anita how he feels for her. “Please… you’ve done something to me… just say yes.” Anita also allows herself to admit to how she feels, when she tells him that she’d rather not go out for a meal, but that she’d rather go back to his place.
From this point onwards, we see very little of their relationship on screen. The next time that they are in an episode is two weeks later, in Parent Trap, by which time it is apparent that they have been spending a lot of time together – “You’ve left so much stuff at my place that I could start a car boot sale” – but that they are still not committed to one another, and that Tom, at least, does not want the rest of the hospital to find out about their relationship, seen in how he calls her “Doctor Forbes” when they are around other people.
By this time, it is nearing the time of Anita needing to leave for America, and neither of them wants her to go. However, Anita, although she doesn’t want to leave – “I had been having second thoughts, you know. About the states. But then, I don’t know what I thought I’d be staying for.” – refuses to stay unless Tom asks her to. Tom, however, only wants what is best for Anita, showing how much he loves her, because he would put her happiness above his own. Anita does not understand this, and after telling him that she loves him, she tearfully tells him that “I never wanted you to put your feelings aside. Not as your doctor, and most certainly not now.” The fact that she refers to herself as his doctor shows, at this point, that she considers herself to be superior to him, and that she is reminding him how much he owes her. If Tom and Anita’s relationship had ended here, then the entire relationship could have been tainted by that one line.
However, the following episode, which takes place on the following day, involves a complete role reversal. In this episode, Anita is not the one in control. She is not naïve, and doesn’t believe that their relationship will be an easy path, but she begs Tom to take a risk, because she thinks that it is worth it.
Anita’s plea for Tom to mend her heart shows what a powerful hold he had had on her – even after he has hurt her so much, she still trusts him. It also shows that she did truly love him, because he has broken her heart, and then mended it again when he went with her to America.
And, whatever people might say about love, to abandon his job, his friends, and every aspect of his life, for her, he must have loved her. We don’t know what went wrong, but surely nothing can overrule a love that strong?