Is Bonnie Langford returning to Doctor Who as Mel?
It’s been a year of sensational returns for Doctor Who, led by Russell T Davies, the architect of the 2005 reboot of the science fiction series coming back to take over as showrunner – but beyond that, with anniversary specials galore in the coming year, it feels like there’s a lot of comebacks on the cards.
We already know that David Tennant and Catherine Tate will be returning to theBBCc show for the 2023 60th anniversary celebrations and that Sophie Aldred’s Ace and Janet Fielding’s Tegan will be appearing in The Power of the Doctor, the last Jodie Whittaker episode, which will coincide with the 100th birthday of he BBC.
But now the Mirror are reporting that another classic Doctor Who companion is set to return to the show in the shape of Bonnie Langford’s Mel.
The 58-year-old Langford played Mel Bush in the series between 1986 and 1987 opposite the Sixth Doctor Colin Baker and the Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy. She reprised her role briefly in 1993 as part of Dimensions in Time, a special Children in Need crossover episode with EastEnders. Interestingly, Langford went on to star in EastEnders for three years from 2015.
Langford has also played the role of Mel several times in Big Finish audio stories of Doctor Who over the last decade.
According to the Mirror, Langford “has been lined up for a cameo in the episodes being planned for 2024 by new showrunner Russell T Davies, alongside incoming Doctor Ncuti Gatwa.”
The BBC has offered no comment on the story.
It is still not clear when we will first see incoming Doctor, Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa on screen as the new Doctor and how much he may take part in the 2023 specials to celebrate the 60th anniversary. It is understood that filming on the first full season of Doctor Who with Ncuti Gatwa at the helm of the TARDIS will begin shooting next month.
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