 Michelle Phillips was asked to reprise her character as scheming  Anne Matheson to fill the void of the shows main villain following  the departure of Donna Mills in 1989. But audiences felt she was too  weak a character and someone they couldnt sympathy for compared to  the more popular Abby Ewing so the writers created Claudia Whitaker  played by Kathleen Noone who was seen as a more Abby like character.