1. Melanie "Mel" Bush
The clear winner for the most embarrassing companion in classic Doctor Who has to go to Bonnie Langford's computer programmer from Pease Pottage, Mel. From 1986 to 1987, Bonita Melody Lysette Langford saw out the Sixth Doctor and saw in the Seventh, proving in every single episode along the way that she was horribly miscast. Langford had excellent credentials and experience in light entertainment but not much ability when it came to finely nuanced acting. But, hey, Doctor Who is just for kids, right? So a former child star from Just William, Bugsy Malone and Wombling Free is exactly what the Doctor ordered. Except, no. During the months when the axe was hovering over the series (and after a "hiatus" had already been imposed, proving that cancellation was a very real possibility), there were plenty of fans who were convinced that casting Langford was precisely the sort of thing that would kill off Doctor Who for good. Fortunately, the programme survived Langford for 2 more years and, as it happened, the final companion of the Classic Series turned out to be Sophie Aldred's tomboy-ish Ace. No one disputes that Langford is a talented and caring person (she's shown great consideration to fans by returning to the role for numerous audio stories), but the backlash against her at the time came from a place of wanting an actress capable of great range and feeling, an actress who could help save the series. Whilst Langford was and is many things, she wasn't that. Perhaps no one was. Not that Doctor Who fans like to vent about their least favourite characters or anything, but should the mood take you, let us know your personal candidates for the least successful companions in the comments section below!
Mike Morgan
Contributor
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
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