What happened to Mel Bush in Doctor Who? Bonnie Langford exit and return explained
Mel is back in The Legend of Ruby Sunday. But what's happened to her thus far?
Since Russell T Davies has returned as Doctor Who showrunner, UNIT has played an expanded role across the series.
Not only did the organisation make an appearance in 2023's The Star Beast and The Giggle, now in a new skyscraper base, it also returned briefly in season 14 episode 4 73 Yards, with Kate Lethbridge Stewart meeting with Ruby Sunday.
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's 60th anniversary episodes, including Ruth Madeley's Shirley Anne Bingham, Alexander Devrient's Colonel Ibrahim and The Vlinx.
Also seen working with them in The Giggle was Mel Bush, the Doctor's former companion played by Bonnie Langford, who is now set to return in season 14's penultimate episode, The Legend of Ruby Sunday.
But just who is Mel, what happened to her in the show's classic era and how was she reintroduced? Read on for everything you need to know about Mel Bush's role in Doctor Who thus far.
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When did Mel first appear in Doctor Who and what happened to her?
Melanie 'Mel' Bush first appeared in Doctor Who in 1986 Sixth Doctor story Terror of the Vervoids, which was part of the wider The Trial of a Time Lord storyline.
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.
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.
She appeared in six stories between 1986 and 1987, including the Sixth Doctor's 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 planet Salostopus who she'd previously met near the end of the Doctor's trial by the Time Lords.
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't return to his criminal ways.
She said goodbye to the Doctor, while making clear to him that Ace didn't want to return home, and instead wanted to stay travelling with him.
She later returned in 1993 charity story Dimensions in Time, which acted as a crossover with BBC soap EastEnders - although how this fits in with her timeline, or if it is even canon, is somewhat unclear.
When did Mel return and what happened to her in between appearances?
Mel returned to Doctor Who in 2022, the first time she was seen on screen in the programme since 1993's charity special Dimensions in Time. She appeared in The Power of the Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor's final episode.
In that episode, she was seen at a companion support group set up by Bradley Walsh's Graham O'Brien. She asked John Bishop's Dan Lewis how many Doctors there have been now, but we didn't learn anything about her life since we last saw her.
She then returned again one year later, in 60th anniversary episode The Giggle, when she met the Fourteenth Doctor in the UNIT Tower.
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.
She told the Doctor: "I travelled the stars. Good old Sabalom Glitz, he lived 'til he was 101. Died falling over a whisky bottle - it was the perfect way to go. He had this great big Viking funeral and I thought, 'Time to go home.' So I got a lift off a zingo and came back to Earth.
"And then I had to face up to the one thing I'd been running away from – I've got nothing. My family are all gone. Remember? But then Kate offered me a job and here I am!"
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What happened to Mel when we last saw her in The Giggle?
In The Giggle, Mel used Triad technology to help the Doctor and Donna Noble as they investigated the Giggle and its effect on humanity.
She was one of the only humans who seemed unaffected by it, and didn't need a Zeedex device to resist its influence, with the Doctor theorising this is because of long-term travel in the TARDIS.
She was present when the Toymaker 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.
She was last seen visiting the retired Fourteenth Doctor as he had a meal with Donna and her family. He called her "Mad Auntie Mel", and she revealed that he had previously taken her on a trip to the Gilded Age.
Doctor Who continues on Saturday 15th June on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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