Mel Returns to Doctor Who!
Star from the show’s classic era returns.
Celebrated West End star Bonnie Langford returns to reprise her performance as Melanie Bush, companion of Colin Baker’s Sixth and Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctors.
Mel is, as a companion, is an interesting case. Purportedly a brilliant computer scientist, she was written as the most extreme stereotype of a companion to The Doctor: garish, dumb and little to say but screams. Often considered the worst period of the show’s history, her run spanning the end of the Sixth and beginning of the Seventh Doctor’s times is remembered with little fondness.
And yet the fans love their Bonnie.
A good sport during a tough time in the show’s history, she has stayed positive about the experience and, most critically, returned in Big Finish’s line of Doctor Who audio dramas to prove how brilliant she could be given good scripts. (Colin Baker has done much the same transitioning his Doctor from being the lowest ranked of the lot to many fans’ favorite through audio adventures.)
Wonderfully adventures such as “The Juggernauts”, “Catch-1782” and “Doctor Who Unbound — He Jests at Scars” have proven Langford out and the fans just adore her.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing Melanie Bush back. To be part of the exceptional cast, crew and production team led by the force of nature that is Russell T. Davies is a career highlight. I’m so privileged and proud to have been a member of the Doctor Who family since the classic era and to be included in the new generation is phenomenal.” — Bonnie Langford
“Open those TARDIS doors wide, because Bonnie’s back! What an honour, delight and hoot to welcome back the character of Melanie, after too long away. And this isn’t just a cameo, Bonnie is right in the thick of the action, battling monsters and chaos and cliffhangers, right at the Doctor’s side, just like the old days.” — Showrunner Russell T. Davies
Bonnie Langford will be returning as Melanie Bush after Ncuti Gatwa picks up the TARDIS key and becomes The Fifteenth Doctor at the end of 2023.
Watch Doctor Who on Disney+ starting this November.
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for Boardwalk Times