Mel Bush Deserved Better | Doctor Who

0:00 When Mel was announced to return to the show for the 60th anniversary and beyond, classic series fans like myself were so excited. Mel as a companion wasn't developed as deeply as some other classic series companions to the point where she never had an episode where she met the Doctor for the first time. So, the idea of a school reunionesque return for Mel Bush like companion Sarah Jane Smith had was just what the doctor ordered. Today, I really want to explore who Mel Bush is, what did we learn about her in the classic series, the new series, and why I personally believe her returns to the new series has actually made her story more confusing.

0:46 As a disclaimer, this is just my opinion. I love Mel Bush. I love Bonnie Langford, and I enjoy seeing her on my screen every single time. Okay, let's get into it. So, who is Mel Bush? Mel Bush is a companion of the sixth and seventh doctors. Her first appearance was in Terror of the Vervoids, the third segment of the Trial of a Time Lord arc. During the story, the Doctor is placed on trial by the Time Lords for his interference with time. The Doctor is trying to prove that he is a force for good, and his opponent, the Valiard, is trying to argue for his death. In this episode, the Doctor is using a future example of his dogooding to prove his innocence. So, when we first see Mel,

1:33 she has been established as traveling with the Doctor for quite some time. On the surface, this seems fine. You can see the dynamic up front, but I think Mel not having a standard introductory story in actuality is the reason why Mel feels more generic compared to other companions. Why? I'll tell you why. Throughout the classic series, I think it's not unfair to say that companions get most of their character work done in their introduction episodes. When we first meet Liz Shaw in Spared from Space, we discover she's Unit's scientific adviser. She's quickwitted, she's intelligent, and she can almost equal the doctor's intellect. Yet after her first story, she becomes the doctor's assistant and he takes her role

2:18 as scientific adviser and she doesn't even receive a proper departure story. Or another example, when we meet Nissa in Keeper of Tracken, we're introduced into this fully formed world of Tracken. And when we later find out that her home planet has been destroyed, it really doesn't affect her character at all. She continues to play the role she was established. So, when Mel doesn't receive an introduction story, she is missing one of the most important parts of forming a character in the classic series. Who you are in your first story is who you are until the very end. This isn't saying there isn't any character development in the classic series. For Tegan, you see her accidentally finding her way into the TARDIS in Logos, and she just wants to leave the whole time. And when she finally gets to return home

3:06 in time flight, she realizes she doesn't want to leave. anymore and she wants to come back. And when she does come back, she eventually leaves on her own terms when she decides that it wasn't fun anymore. And also, I think it's important to mention that just because a character stops developing, it doesn't mean that they're not interesting or they're weak. Romana one is established. She's an equal to the doctor and then remains pretty much unchanged until her regeneration. The most developed companion is the seventh doctor's companion, Ace, who we learn more and more about as each story progresses. The show really begins to pivot to tell the story through her eyes and exploring her relationship with her mother to the point where you really feel like you know who Ace is. And in the new series,

3:53 most companions continue to develop their characters as the series continues. But what I'm trying to say is in the classic series, I think they really start to stagnate after their first story. Or even worse, in the case of a character like Susan, she devolved into something less interesting. Susan, the doctor's granddaughter, is established as this otherworldly person, mysterious and somewhat kooky, someone who loves walking in the fog at night and knowing things she couldn't possibly know for a human teenager. But as the series went forward, she was written to act younger and younger and more human. But for Mel, it's tough because she is missing this origin story. She becomes a generic companion before even getting a chance to not be generic.

4:39 There is also the argument that production issues got in the way of giving Mel a proper introduction story. The Trial of a Time Lord was the first series produced after a hiatus. The show was taken off the air but returned with a point to prove. Unfortunately, public opinion and more importantly the BBC's opinion on the show was starting to Wayne. Eventually, this culminated in Colin Baker being fired from the show. This left the character of Mel in an odd place. Since Colin Baker wasn't the doctor anymore, they couldn't create a story where he meets her for the first time. So, the show had no choice but to continue where we left off with the Doctor leaving the trial with Mel as his companion, even though technically he hadn't even met her yet. So, if it

5:25 wasn't narratively confusing enough, it's gotten further complicated by production issues. Who knows, even if they did do another season with Column, there's no guarantee that they would have made an introduction story for Mel. I think we can even argue that production issues might have even gotten in the way of Mill's development in the new series. Also, as of the making of this video, the future of the program seems a bit grim with no confirmation from Disney for future seasons. But before we go into her new series appearances, let's talk about what we actually know about Mel. Mel is a bit of a fitness freak, a big defender of carrot juice. She's a computer programmer from Peace Pottage. She loves a mystery and getting involved

6:12 in the action. She has a cand do attitude and remains positive in any situation. She also has a very loud and impressive scream. She's clearly a loyal friend of the doctor and has a strong sense of what is right and wrong and is happy to stand up for what she believes in. She travels with the Sixth Doctor at the end of his television era, and it seems to be a much healthier relationship between her and the Doctor compared to the Doctor and Perry. She seems to take the Doctor's regeneration in her stride in Time in the Rani. The Doctor is confused who the real Mel is due to the Rani dressing up as her. It's a long story. Mel, on the other hand, is confused as to whether this is her doctor. The moment where they both realize who each other are is possibly

6:58 one of their finest moments together on the show. You can tell that Bonnie and Sylvester are just giving it their all and it feels genuine. But without that bedrock of character from Mel, it doesn't hit as hard as it could. It's harder to relate to Mel. She's clearly someone who would be a laugh to hang out with, but without that depth, she feels inauthentic. Especially when we reach her final story, Dragonfire, when she's up against Ace. Ace has so much character, even in her first appearance, that only blossoms as the show goes on. Her relationship with Ace makes her feel more real, too. Ace grounds Mel, and their dynamic is such a fun thing to watch. And when Mel does go to leave, I really felt sad. I thought that having

7:45 Ace, Mel, and the Doctor together would make for a really fun, TARDIS team. But instantly the tone of the show shifts once Mel is gone. She really does feel like a product of a bygone age. She tells the doctor she's going off with Sabalon glitz and going to keep him out of trouble. She said she's going to send the doctor a postcard. She'll put it in a bottle and throw it into space saying it'll reach him in time. It's a really sweet send off for Mel. And having her keep Glitz in line by stopping his dodgy deals is so in character for her. But her time on the show left a lot of questions unanswered. How did she meet the doctor? What was her life like back in Peace Pottage before she returned to the new series?

8:30 The expanded universe had answers for these questions. One of the first explanations for Mel and the Doctor's meeting comes in a book titled Business Unusual by Gary Russell. In this adventure, the Doctor is still actively trying to avoid meeting Mel. He knows if he meets her then the trial and the valiard will become true. But the web of time doesn't work that way and he meets her in Brighton. They fall into a plot by the Ortons, encounter the brigadier, and set off on their travels together. My issue with this story is that it's a sequel to a third Doctor book, The Scales of Injustice, meaning that you have to do homework if you want to understand all the characters before even reading this book. But that isn't

9:16 the only addition to their meeting in the expanded universe. The premise of the big Finnish audio, the wrong doctors promises to show the first meeting of the sixth doctor and Mel, but ultimately it tells a story that complicates the timelines even more so, leading to them not properly meeting in this story. It's all rather confusing. I remember being incredibly disappointed by the wrong doctors. Not because it's a bad story, but because it didn't do what the premise said it would. I feel a sense of frustration with Mel's introduction. Why must her already complicated timeline be even more confusing? So, I was hoping that her returns to the new series would possibly give a more satisfying backstory to Mel and potentially fleshed

10:04 out her character. Well, I guess I can't avoid talking about it any longer. Let's talk about Mel's return to the new series. When Mel was announced to return alongside Ross Davies returning as showrunner, my first thought was something akin to the series 2 episode reunion, which saw the return of Sarah Jane Smith. In this story, we meet Sarah Jane again years after she left the doctor. She's become a woman who's slightly bitter about being left behind. and even someone who's a little bit jealous of Rose at first. She feels like the same character but complicated. Most importantly, the episode was about her. She was the focus of the storytelling. I think The Power of the Doctor did a

10:50 great job at bringing back Ace and Tegan in an already overloaded plot. They still got moments to shine and had a lot to do, but probably not as much as Sarah Jane did in School Reunion. But I feel like they did a good job at filling in those important gaps, especially with Ace, who didn't get an on-screen departure. But in Power of the Doctor, we get a brief moment where she discusses their falling out, alluding to their final moments together without reading like a plot synopsis. It was enough. And I'm a big believer in that. You can make an audience care about a character in a small window of time if that is the focus of the storytelling. Once it's not the focus, it can sometimes feel more just like a cameo and fan service. Mel's mini cameo at the

11:38 end of The Power of the Doctor always feels so funny to me because it generally just feels like Bonnie Langford is just sitting there. She doesn't feel like Mel at all, which is fine. The scene isn't about her and it works. So when the giggle comes around and Mel returns in a larger capacity, I was quite happy with her appearance. It gave us some small hints at what she was up to since leaving the doctor, how she was traveling with Sabalon Glitz for a while before he died and then she catched a Zingo back to Earth and now she's working at unit. There's even hints at her time before meeting the doctor where she says, you know, my family are all gone. Remember at the time for me this was exciting. I felt like we were establishing parts of Mel's character before we get a more of a

12:26 focus on her in a future episode. It's even in the script where Mel says, "We'll catch up later," but they never really do. Of course, they see each other and have a friendship, but they don't really talk. We never get more than my family are missing. And she just says that on repeat throughout her appearances. She says, "I lost my family to the most terrible things, but the doctor helped me in The Legend of Ruby Sunday." And in Wishworld, she once again mentions that she's single with no family, even though she refers to herself as a housewife in the next episode. Throughout her whole return, I can't help but thinking that's spawning Langford and not Mel. The closest I actually felt to my god it's Mel was in the reality war when she encounters the

13:12 rani again where she says she's ruthless worse than ruthless she's indifferent to any pain morality or humanity the whole universe is just an experiment to her which feels like a line straight from Pip and Jane Baker but really when you look at the scripts her character in the new series is just as deep as it was in the classic series possibly less deep in Wishworld. She used a total of three lines. But let's be kind. It's clear Russell C. Davies had set up a lot of things to be answered in series 3 and 4, such as the return of Susan. So maybe Mel's story was still to be told. Maybe it's another issue of production getting in the way of Mel's story line. Maybe she's a bad omen. But seriously, it just

14:00 feels like why bring back Mel if you haven't got anything to do with her? She appears in three whole seasons, The Giggle and the season 1 and two finales. And really, we've learned nothing new about her more than what we already learned in her first scene in The Giggle. So, what was the point of her coming back? Although I adore Mel, she isn't exactly a fan favorite people were dying to see return and make cameos. So, it feels odd to put her in the role of just a cameo. She's vying for time against Kate Stewart, Rose Noble, Donna Noble, Belinda, Ruby the Toy Maker, Sutek, Omega, the Rani. There are just so many characters in that one room. There isn't enough time. I don't mind

14:46 these big teamups every now and then against a huge villain because they can be a riot. I love Journeys End for that reason. But the reason why Journeys End works for me is that these characters that make cameos have been established in their own individual stories beforehand. There is weight to these characters, so you care about them. The time was made for the audience to get to know these people. That is the major issue with franchises that I have at the moment. They're running before they walk. It's a misstep. You haven't got time to let the audience meet these characters and fall in love with them. and care about them. They're meeting a big bad and nobody cares. There is no stakes. You have to make people care. And I think a huge issue with someone

15:31 like Russell Tu Davies returning to the program is that it's impossible not to make comparisons to his previous eras. Pitting school reunion against all of Mel's appearances is such an unfair battle because Sarah Jane will win out every time. And that's excluding her run on the Sarah Jane Adventures. I just feel like there wasn't a strong vision for her return. But maybe there was. Maybe there's a story sitting on a hard drive out there where Mel encounters those terrible things that took her family again. And we find out more about the first time she encountered these terrible things. A story that really enriches her character and gives her more depth. Who knows? But we can only analyze what we have been given rather

16:16 than what could have been. You know, if Russell Davis had wheels, he would be a bike. Do you know what I mean? So, how do we fix this? How do we solve a problem like Mel Bush? In my personal opinion, I think the explanations in the expanded universe are just not for me. I feel like they're overly complicated. And really, if they did do an episode back in the classic series where the doctor met Mel, I doubt it would have been this convoluted. It would have been a stock stand story for Doctor Who. I don't think it would have been some tiny wimy complicated thing. The show just didn't do that type of thing back then. And that was totally fine. So maybe for me, maybe these tiny wimy explanations for Mel just feels inauthentic for the

17:03 time period. I don't know. But, you know, let's say, for example, if the new series, they did do an episode where they did explore Mel deeper. I would probably be open to it. What if it was the Weeping Angels that took Mel's family and she encounters them again with the 16th Doctor and brings back those memories that Disney budget doing flashbacks where the doctor and Mel have been daged or something crazy like that. I don't know. Or maybe you can't fix this. Maybe this is all Mel will forever be. someone who remains a mystery. How did she meet the doctor? What happened to her family? Maybe some people enjoy the unknowing nature of Miss Bush. But for me, I feel a bit disappointed. Although I enjoy seeing Mel on my screen

17:50 yet again, as all Mel heads do, I just feel a little bit let down by the whole thing. But what do you think? Are you happy with how Mel's storyline played out in the new series and the classic series? Or what would have you liked to have seen happen? Let me know in the comment section below. Anyway, I have to go now. I'm catching a liftoff as Ingo. Don't forget to click below to subscribe to the official Josh Nees YouTube channel. [Music]