Character Profile - Mel Bush

Fact File

Name	Mel Bush
Species	Human
Place of Origin	Earth, 20th Century
Associated Doctors	Sixth Doctor Seventh Doctor
Relationships
First Appearance	Terror of the Vervoids
Portrayed By	Bonnie Langford

Appearances

(NC) denotes a Non-Companion appearance

Terror of the Vervoids
The Ultimate Foe
Time and the Rani
Paradise Towers
Delta and the Bannermen
Dragonfire

Mel Bush

Overview

It is unknown when Mel first met the Doctor, as the first time we meet Mel, she has already been travelling with the Doctor for some time. As part of his defence in his trial, the Doctor chooses an adventure from his future aboard the Hyperion III spaceship. Him and Mel are embroiled within a mystery, as the Doctor tries in vain to use the bloodbath as a way of defending himself.

Mel in the Matrix

However, we do know when the Doctor first meets Mel. He meets her when the Master brings her to the courtroom to give evidence in his defence. From there, she travelled with the Doctor and the Master into the Matrix, where the Doctor battles with the Master while attempting to unmask the cunning Valeyard. From there, the Doctor returns her to where she came from, so he can meet her at the correct time.

The next the time we see Mel, the Doctor regenerates and crashes the TARDIS on the planet Lakertya. Here, he is kidnapped by the Rani, who then impersonates Mel in order to gain his trust. However, Mel works with the Doctor and the locals to put a stop to the Rani's evil plans, and send back the other scientists she kidnapped to their respective time.

Mel and the Doctor
investigate Paradise Towers

Mel wants to visit a swimming pool, so the Doctor takes her to the pool at Paradise Towers. However, when they arrive, they discover that not all is as it should be. Mel is separated from the Doctor and attacked by cannibals, cleaner robots and a pool cleaning robot. However, she rejoins the Doctor and helps the residents overthrow the powerful Kroagnon, restoring peace to the towers.

On an intergalactic coach trip to Disneyland, Mel crash-lands in a holiday camp in Wales in 1959. She becomes friends with an alien woman and her baby who are under threat from the Bannermen. Mel and the Doctor have to deal with the Bannermen, saving an entire race, while getting the coach fixed.

However, Mel left the Doctor after an adventure on Svartos. Here, Mel and the Doctor met Ace and were reunited with Sabalom Glitz. Together, they worked to overthrow the icy Kane before departing their separate ways. Mel decided to travel with Glitz instead of the Doctor, and the Doctor took on Ace as his new travelling companion.

Personality

Mel forcing the Doctor to exercise

Mel is a very active individual. She partakes regularly in exercise and is often seen to be trying to get the Doctor into shape, much to his dismay. This can be seen as soon as we meet Mel, in her first scenes of Terror of the Vervoids.

Mel is also a very cheery person, who is usually pretty optimistic. This often led to her being disappointed as she usually saw the best in people, which was typically wrong. However, her high level of education and understanding means that her optimism can sometimes be dashed with realism and scepticism.

Mel is also a very clever person. It is stated in Terror of the Vervoids that she has an eidetic memory, as well has being a genius with computer science. This earned her respect from the Doctor.

Mel screaming in the Rani's trap

However, Mel is probably best known amongst fans for her unbearably high-pitched screams in the face of danger. These ear splitting shrieks can be found in most of her stories, most notably in Time and the Rani when caught inside one of the Rani's traps.

On the other hand, Mel can sometimes be found to be brave (though usually after screaming). For example, she breaks free from the pool cleaning robot in Paradise Towers and steals Pex's gun to shoot the robot.

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