Joanna Piros (in-universe)

Joanna was a news anchor who reported for the San Francisco television channel KKBE in the 1990s. (PROSE: The Novel of the Film) (TV: Doctor Who) On New Year's Eve 1999 the Eighth Doctor witnessed her give a report for KKBE with fellow news anchor Mi-Jung Kanaka on the strange weather phenomena, including floods in Russia and snow in Hawaii, (TV: Doctor Who) dubbed "The Millennium Effect". (PROSE: The Novel of the Film) They also reported that a beryllium atomic clock was going to be unveiled at the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research. Unbeknownst to Joanna, the freak weather patterns were the result of the Eye of Harmony having been opened by inside the Doctor's TARDIS. (TV: Doctor Who)

Behind the scenes
Joanna was portrayed in the 1996 television movie Doctor Who by Joanna Piros, a real journalist and news anchor who has acted has a news anchor in many other television and film roles. Although Piros was listed only as "News Anchor" in the film's credits, the character was revealed to share her first name in Gary Russell's novelisation of the film.