Look WHO'S back!

BONNIE LANGFORD on why she loves being part of the Whoniverse

- STEVEN PERKINS

DOCTOR WHO

SATURDAY, 6.30PM, BBC1 SCI-FI

Having first embarked on adventures in space and time almost 40 years ago, Bonnie Langford admits that she couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams that she’d get the chance to play Doctor Who fan favourite Mel Bush again.

‘I would never in my life have said, “Yeah, I’ll be back doing that!”’ chuckles the actor, dancer and singer, 59, as she joins TV Times for an exclusive interview. ‘The thought seems ridiculous, but it’s such a happy place to work. It’s great to be back!’

Originally exploring the universe as computer programmer turned companion Mel in the BBC1 sci-fi drama from 1986 to 1987 alongside Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy’s Sixth and Seventh incarnations of the time traveller, Bonnie reprised the role for a brief cameo in 2022 story The Power of the Doctor before returning in last year’s 60th anniversary special The Giggle with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.

Now working for fictional military organisation UNIT, Mel is back this week to help the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in The Legend of Ruby Sunday, the opening tale of what is set to be an epic two-part season finale.

Here, Bonnie tells us more…

It’s great to have Mel on our screens again, Bonnie! How have you found returning to the show?

It is very nice to come back to a character who I always felt was unfinished – and unstarted as she didn’t get a proper beginning story [Mel had been travelling with the Sixth Doctor for some time when viewers met her in tale Terror of the Vervoids]! But it’s lovely to be in a place that feels like home.

Does Doctor Who feel different compared to when you first appeared in it?