Doctor Who: The Redemption of Mel Bush

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright BBC

If you think that fandom is divided these days over Doctor Who, then you should have been there in the 80s. Compared to then what is happening now is a tea party.

Back then fans did not like where the show was heading, they hated Colin Baker’s outfit and there were fanzine campaigns, some quite personal against people involved in making the show both behind and in front of the camera. Even the BBC controller Michael Grade hated the show and wanted it gone. The claims that the show was becoming kid unfriendly and too violent was as we know now bullshit so the first cancellation was quickly changed to a hiatus to revamp the show. But as we now know the producer John Nathan Turner was forced to stay at the helm of Doctor Who. He was the one forced to sack Colin Baker from the role of the Doctor making him the scapegoat for failing ratings. The Trial of a Timelord was going to fail no matter what. This sea of hate was ridiculous and confined to one section of fandom.

When Bonnie Langford was brought in as new companion Melanie Bush, the fans went mental. Her introduction had never been done before and her reputation as a former child star was all certain people could see.

She was unfairly dissed by fandom at the time as another example of John Nathan Turner’s predilection for star names in the show. Rumours say JNT wanted a red-haired companion and Bonnie fitted the role. However a lot of JNT’s ideas are used today. Bottom line was the BBC didn’t want the show any more. Ironic given it is one of their biggest money makers. It just shows if the wrong man is at the top of an organisation that doesn’t like you then you’re screwed.

Bonnie was not given a chance at all by certain very vocal fans, which at the time I thought was pathetic and I still do. Indeed she and Sylvester McCoy went on Open Air to be told by some spotty teenage Doctor Who fans the show sucked.

Actions like this only harm the show and helped executives to end it once and for all (almost). When fandom and certain individuals think their opinion matters in the making of the show it’s time to tell them where to go and that unfortunately was what Bonnie wandered into. I remember the late Barbara Windsor being hurt at the late Leslie Grantham’s comments at her casting as Peggy Mitchell which was not good as it knocked the reality of the show. As Babs said, she’s an actress that needs to earn a crust and Bonnie was the same. By the way, a webcam ended Leslie’s time on EastEnders and Babs went on to leave a successful reign in EastEnders in a blaze of glory and sensational storyline. Not bad for someone that affected the “reality” of the show.

One of the spotty teenagers on Open Air was future showrunner Chris Chibnall. Jump forward to today and how things have changed. Chibnall is universally hated for his piss poor era and Bonnie is back gaining a new generation of fans as the 21st century Mel.

Bonnie was a veteran of stage and screen with an exemplary CV at a young age and a victim of one of her roles – which I’m not going to mention as everyone knows it – and it’s not fair to be labelled just for that one role. Fandom can be so blinkered and narrow-minded when it comes to actors because that’s what they are – actors! Thank God that sort of fandom has been pushed to the background by a new generation of open-minded fans. They are still there, licking their wounds, but since Stephen Moffat has stated he would cast anyone if they suited the role, virtually vindicating JNT’s policy of putting well known people in his era. Remember Nicholas Parsons as the vicar in the classic story Curse of Fenric? He was known as a game show host but had a substantial movie resume and he absolutely shone in the Fenric arc. Watch it for yourself. Nuff said!

Bonnie had an unusual entrance for a companion. She was first seen in a future adventure where it was established she had been travelling with the sixth Doctor for a while. Her background was that she was a computer genius from Pease Pottage who first met the Doctor when the Master tried to commit some scheme and she saved the day with her skills earning her the chance aboard the Tardis. Mel was a health nut trying to help the Doctor get fit which echoed real life as Colin was losing weight to raise money for a cot death charity.

She was pulled out of time by the Master along with Sabalom Glitz to help with the Doctor’s defence to stop the Valeyard. She ended up back on the Tardis but sloppy writing did not make it clear if she continued from that point in time or had returned to her proper place in time so she could meet the Doctor again and let time flow as it should. Thankfully the BBC novels and Missing Adventures series sorted that plot point out for the sake of continuity. She was also one of the few that oversaw a regeneration when the sixth became the seventh.

Mel was a screamer, the first to have her pitch added to the cliffhanger to tie in with the theme music but she had, pardon the expression, balls. She and the Doctor had a great time together; her fitness element dropped quickly as they battled the Rani, Kroagnon in Paradise Towers – where she was almost eaten by cannibal pensioners – and killed by robot crabs and battled the Bannermen in a 1950s Butlins camp before deciding to leave in Dragonfire to travel with Sabalom Glitz. This strange last-minute departure made no sense character-wise but was necessary to make way for Ace. It had to do with behind the scenes negotiations and Bonnie decided to go.

This was resolved in the novel Head Games where it was revealed that the Doctor, having realised that Ace was part of Fenric’s trap, telepathically made Mel leave to protect her which she wasn’t happy about especially as she later died, shot to death in a future book.

However, like everyone else, she has been redeemed in both books and especially in the Big Finish audio stories where she is portrayed as the companion she should have been, even being tricked into working for Davros and together Mel and the sixth Doctor shine. Now fans love her.

Then in the Jodie Whittaker finale story Power of the Doctor Mel turned up with a host of other companions. It was the eve of the sixtieth anniversary and we knew that Mel would be returning to battle alongside Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor. Mel is now working for UNIT, recruited by Kate Stewart. When she meets the 14th Doctor it is beautifully underplayed. She hands him a file before he notices it is her. We get to hear that once Sabolom Glitz died after slipping on a whiskey bottle she decided to return to Earth. With her family dead, Kate brought her into the UNIT family alongside Ace and Tegan. She faces the Toymaker and becomes the one that brings the 15th Doctor into the world.

Mel is now an active agent working undercover to discover the secret of Susan Triad. It is Mel that makes the 15th Doctor run from Sutekh and saves them both from the dust of death. Along with Ruby and the Doctor, Mel enters the memory Tardis where she hugs the sixth Doctor’s coat. It is a nice moment reminding us where she started. But as Sutekh begins to possess her, it is a shock moment to see the lovable Mel an acolyte of Sutekh with her skull face. Mel is such a three dimensional character now but it shows that with the right writing Mel shines. She was always plucky nd brave and as part of UNIT, even more so now.

She is a fully fledged member of the Noble family, mad Aunty Mel. How lovely that it is Mel is the companion that bridges the generations and is able to be part of the 14th Doctor’s life even travelling with him again in the Tardis. You cannot underestimate just how vital that is given she is part of the group that is there to help the Doctor heal from all his trauma by being his family. She used to look after his physical health and now she is helping his mental health. That is lost for many fans who never really saw her tenure the first time round with the 6th Doctor.

Overall, Mel was a victim of politics, bad writing and full-of-themselves fandom but real fans gave her a chance and have come to adore her as her character was expanded and deepened in the plays. But now she is back, better than ever and proving that Mel is one of the most pivotal companions in all Doctor Who history. It’s wonderful to see her back nd kicking ass again.

Welcome back, Bonnie, this house always loved you and now everyone does. It’s about time.