That voice. Those clothes. The incessant chirpiness the toothy, slightly anxious grin. There were companions written to be more irritating than Melanie Bush (hey, Adric), companions who would prove to be arrogant, selfish, or even very-nearly-evil (hi, Turlough!) but no one pushed the audiences patience quite like Mel. And it was all so avoidable. Simply dont cast former child star Bonnie Langford in the role of a chipper, over-enthusiastic health and fitness nut. Its like pouring sugar onto cake or dragging nails down a blackboard. We first meet Mel in flashforwards: transmissions from the 6th Doctors near future that he broadcasts to the court in the Trial Of A Timelord serial. At the end of the serial, he and this future Mel head off, the implication being that he intends to drop her back where he picked her up from and then go and meet her past self for the first time. That means that the irascible, practically misanthropic 6th Doctor was presented with her presence on the TARDIS as a fait accompli: he went to go get her because he already knew he would, not because he wanted to. One cant imagine Colin Bakers Doctor ever agreeing to have this human chipmunk as a companion otherwise.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
