The absolute nadir of the show's ongoing issues with awful companions occurred after Peris alleged demise, the next companion proving to be actually worse in every conceivable way. Bonnie Langford, a former child star of seventies British television and dancer, joined the show in 1986 as Mel during the Trial Of A Timelord serial. A computer programmer from the tail end of the 20th century, Mel was everything that audiences had come to loathe about Doctor Who companions, that had begun with Peri. Squeaky-voiced, with a blinding, cutesy smile, Mel constantly attempts to shoehorn her vegetarian, gym bunny lifestyle upon the Doctor: like a bad pro wrestling gimmick, that was all there was to her personality so it cropped up time and time again. Without even Peris alleged saving grace of adding glamour to the programme, this human chipmunk was sickly sweet and almost always did exactly as she was told, a trait that never works for a good companion. Langford was not a natural actress, feeling the need to over-emphasise her performance as if she was working on the pantomime stage. Admittedly, a pantomime was sometimes what Doctor Who resembled most by this point, but the addition of Mel as the Doctors regular foil didnt help matters. Mel would finally leave the show in the episode Dragonfire, going off to have further adventures with a space pirate. The episode would, thankfully, introduce audiences to Sophie Aldred as new companion Dorothy Gale McShane aka Ace. The troubled teen with a fondness for homemade plastic explosive and hitting Daleks with baseball bats would prove to be one of the best companions any Doctor ever had.
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