Mel Bush

Melanie Bush
Doctor Who character
Bonnie Langford as Mel, in a promotional still from Terror of the Vervoids
First appearance	The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids
Last appearance	Dragonfire (regular) "Dimensions in Time" (charity special)
Portrayed by	Bonnie Langford
Information
Affiliated	Sixth Doctor Seventh Doctor
Species	Human
Home planet	Earth
Home era	20th century

Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A computer programmer from the 20th Century who is a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1986 to 1987. Her family name was never revealed on-screen, but production notes and promotional literature refer to her as Melanie Bush. She was portrayed by Bonnie Langford. Mel appeared in six stories (20 episodes) and is the penultimate companion of the classic series.

Mel first appears in the serial Terror of the Vervoids, part of the 14-part story The Trial of a Time Lord. At this point, she and the Sixth Doctor have been travelling together for some time. The events of Vervoids are shown as part of a Matrix projection of future events being shown by the Sixth Doctor to the court, so from his point of view, he is seeing an adventure he will have with Mel even before he meets her in his own timeline. At the end of Trial, the Sixth Doctor leaves with this future Mel, presumably to drop her off somewhere, meet her past self for the first time (from her point of view), and then carry on from there. (This scenario is portrayed by The Trial of a Time Lord screenwriters Pip and Jane Baker in their novelisation The Ultimate Foe.)

Mel is at present the only one of the Doctor's companions never to have her actual first adventure with the Doctor chronicled on screen. Series producer John Nathan-Turner indicated his intent to chronicle this adventure in Season 24, which would have followed Trial of a Time Lord. However, the subsequent departure of lead actor Colin Baker prior to production of the new season made this impossible. Aside from the continuity issues arising from The Three Doctors and "The Five Doctors" that are never addressed nor apparently acknowledged, Mel is the first companion who had already met the Doctor before he met her and vice versa, and the only such companion in the classic era, setting a precedent for numerous companions and other characters in the revived era, most notably River Song.