{"id":53283,"date":"2024-06-14T20:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T18:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2055511"},"modified":"2024-06-14T21:34:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T19:34:18","slug":"what-happened-to-mel-bush-in-doctor-who-bonnie-langford-exit-and-return-explained","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/what-happened-to-mel-bush-in-doctor-who-bonnie-langford-exit-and-return-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to Mel Bush in Doctor Who? Bonnie Langford exit and return explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mel is back in The Legend of Ruby Sunday. But what’s happened to her thus far? <\/p>

By James Hibbs\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 14 June 2024 at 18:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Since Russell T Davies has returned as Doctor Who<\/a> showrunner, UNIT<\/a> has played an expanded role across the series.<\/p>\n

Not only did the organisation make an appearance in 2023\u2019s The Star Beast<\/a> and The Giggle<\/a>, now in a new skyscraper base, it also returned briefly in season 14 episode 4 73 Yards<\/a>, with Kate Lethbridge Stewart<\/a> meeting with Ruby Sunday.<\/p>\n

While Kate has been associated with the organisation on the show since 2012 story The Power of Three, a whole new group of supporting characters were introduced in the show\u2019s 60th anniversary episodes, including Ruth Madeley\u2019s Shirley Anne Bingham<\/a>, Alexander Devrient\u2019s Colonel Ibrahim and The Vlinx.<\/p>\n

Also seen working with them in The Giggle was Mel Bush, the Doctor\u2019s former companion played by Bonnie Langford, who is now set to return in season 14\u2019s penultimate episode, The Legend of Ruby Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But just who is Mel, what happened to her in the show\u2019s classic era and how was she reintroduced? Read on for everything you need to know about Mel Bush\u2019s role in Doctor Who thus far.<\/p>\n

When did Mel first appear in Doctor Who and what happened to her?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Bonnie\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Bonnie Langford as Mel in Doctor Who in 1987.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Melanie \u2018Mel\u2019 Bush first appeared in Doctor Who in 1986 Sixth Doctor story Terror of the Vervoids<\/strong>, which was part of the wider The Trial of a Time Lord storyline.<\/p>\n

Mel is the only major companion from the TV series whose first adventure with the Doctor was not seen on screen. When viewers first met her, she had already been travelling with the Doctor for some time.<\/p>\n

She was introduced as a computer programmer with an eidetic memory from the 20th century in Pease Pottage, West Sussex. She was focused on living healthily, following a vegetarian diet and encouraging the Doctor to exercise and drink carrot juice.<\/p>\n

She appeared in six stories between 1986 and 1987, including the Sixth Doctor\u2019s regeneration story Time and the Rani. She travelled with the Seventh Doctor until the story Dragonfire, where she met once again with Sabalom Glitz, a rogue from the\u00a0planet\u00a0Salostopus who she\u2019d previously met near the end of\u00a0the Doctor\u2019s trial\u00a0by the\u00a0Time Lords.<\/p>\n

While the Doctor met new companion Ace, Mel decided to stay with Glitz on Iceworld, which he claimed as his spacecraft and called Nosferatu II. She stayed so she could help him run his business, and also to ensure that he didn\u2019t return to his criminal ways.<\/p>\n

She said goodbye to the Doctor, while making clear to him that Ace didn\u2019t want to return home, and instead wanted to stay travelling with him.<\/p>\n

She later returned in 1993 charity story Dimensions in Time, which acted as a crossover with BBC soap EastEnders<\/a> \u2013 although how this fits in with her timeline, or if it is even canon, is somewhat unclear.<\/p>\n

When did Mel return and what happened to her in between appearances?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Bonnie\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Bonnie Langford as Mel in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Mel returned to Doctor Who in 2022, the first time she was seen on screen in the programme since 1993\u2019s charity special Dimensions in Time<\/strong>. She appeared in The Power of the Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor<\/a>\u2018s final episode.<\/p>\n

In that episode, she was seen at a companion support group set up by Bradley Walsh\u2019s Graham O\u2019Brien. She asked John Bishop\u2019s Dan Lewis how many Doctors there have been now, but we didn\u2019t learn anything about her life since we last saw her.<\/p>\n

She then returned again one year later, in 60th anniversary episode The Giggle, when she met the Fourteenth Doctor<\/a> in the UNIT Tower.<\/p>\n

Now working for UNIT, she explained to him that since they last saw one another she travelled the stars with Sabalom Glitz, before returning back to Earth and joining the organisation.<\/p>\n

She told the Doctor: \u201cI travelled the stars. Good old Sabalom Glitz, he lived \u2019til he was 101. Died falling over a whisky bottle \u2013 it was the perfect way to go. He had this great big Viking funeral and I thought, \u2018Time to go home.\u2019 So I got a lift off a zingo and came back to Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I had to face up to the one thing I\u2019d been running away from \u2013 I\u2019ve got nothing. My family are all gone. Remember? But then Kate offered me a job and here I am!\u201d<\/p>

What happened to Mel when we last saw her in The Giggle?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Catherine\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, David Tennant as The Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Mel in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios\/Bad Wolf\/Alistair Heap<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

In The Giggle, Mel used Triad technology to help the Doctor and Donna Noble as they investigated the Giggle and its effect on humanity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

She was one of the only humans who seemed unaffected by it, and didn\u2019t need a Zeedex device to resist its influence, with the Doctor theorising this is because of long-term travel in the TARDIS.<\/p>\n

She was present when the Toymaker<\/a> attacked UNIT headquarters, and also when he killed the Fourteenth Doctor. She held his hand and assisted him in his bi-generation, before witnessing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors as they teamed up to defeat the Toymaker.<\/p>\n

She was last seen visiting the retired Fourteenth Doctor as he had a meal with Donna and her family. He called her \u201cMad Auntie Mel\u201d, and she revealed that he had previously taken her on a trip to the Gilded Age.<\/p>\n

Doctor Who continues on Saturday 15th June on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.<\/strong>\u00a0Previous seasons are available to stream on\u00a0BBC iPlayer<\/a>\u00a0with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox \u2013 you can sign up for a\u00a07-day free trial here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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