Mel Bush Page: Brief References

Sometimes Mel doesn't actually appear, but someone mentions her in passing. I'm not entirely sure why I keep this list, but it's not like there aren't any other pieces of useless trivia elsewhere on this site...

Virgin New Adventures

Timewyrm: Revelation, by Paul Cornell
Page 4: "On the last occasion, the Doctor, in yet another new form, had simply bought his niece Melanie to Cheldon Bonniface to enjoy some brass rubbing." (Most probably the seventh Doctor)
Page 78: Genesys retconned: Ace remembers "She'd even gained a memory, one of Mel's"

Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark, by Andrew Hunt
Pages 25,34,35: Llanfer Ceiriog, Wales. The seventh Doctor and Mel visited here in 1985, seven years before he returned with Ace. They stayed with Hugh and Janet. Old Davy remembers Mel fondly as "the squeaky one".
Page 58: The Doctor recalls the events of Delta and the Bannermen
Page 185: The Doctor recalls Dragonfire.

Deceit, by Peter Darvill-Evans
Page 82: As his memory returns, the Doctor remembers, "Mel. Peri." and Susan. (Wot, no Grant or Frobisher?)

Birthright, by Nigel Robinson
Page 37: One of the co-signatories on the Doctor's account at the Coutts Bank is 'M. Bush' along with Susan, Victoria, Sarah and Benny.

Falls the Shadow, by Daniel O'Mahony
Page 107: Ace on the topic of first sights of the TARDIS interior: "She'd gone through it just like Mel and Benny and everyone else."

Sky Pirates!, by Dave "Buy me a beer you bastard" Stone
Page 34: "... and then there's She-of-the-Wide-Mouth running around like a demented sacred cat in heat and scaring the ibises," the Doctor said. "You could never turn your back on her for a minute." He shuddered. "Never again." (the Doctor may not be talking about Mel, but I'm betting Dave Stone is...)
Page 67: The Doctor goes incoherent during a crisis: 'Damn. They didn't get her,' said an uncharacteristically short-tempered and vaguely disappointed Doctor. 'I'm still stuck with that irritated blasted pitch-perfect screech...'

The Also People, by Ben Aaronovitch
Page 23: Benny muses on meeting Mel in Head Games
Page 91: The Doctor remembers playing hologrammatic battle chess with Mel and losing. (doesn't sound like Mel, somehow, but then anything's better than HG...)
One of the spaceships is called !C-Mel, an obvious reference to the Junior Edition of Time and the Rani ("!C-Mel, !C-Mel run, !C-Mel scream, !C-Mel wrestle the Doctor to the ground")

Sleepy, by Kate Orman
Page 6: "He'd bought the beach house when he was having the house at Allen Road painted... ...he'd flown to Sydney (with Mel in tow, if he remembered correctly) and driven a rented VW up the coast until they found the place, set back from the dunes in a shorn patch of thick scrub."
Page 11: "A memory flashed into his mind: making this journey with Mel, to buy milk and ice creams. She'd striped her nose and cheeks with fluorescent-coloured zinc cream, given him a lecture about sunburn."

Death and Diplomacy, By Dave "Bring your own banjo" Stone
Page 23: "'And if,' He continued sternly, addressing the pointing finger, 'you're a collection of those distasteful individuals who collect the surviving footage of Peri in the bath, or even -' he shuddered '- Mel, then I have to tell you that -'

Virgin Missing Adventures

Goth Opera, by Paul Cornell
Page 132: He'd [Glitz] been in a bit of a turmoil lately, what with Mel going home. He'd come to rely on her skills in the subtle bank jobs that they'd come to specialize in, but perhaps it was for the best that she'd gone back to Earth. Time for Glitz to get back to good honest dishonesty.
He remembered a story Mel had told him about some young Zobzer who'd got his hands on a magic lamp...

Time of your Life, by Steve Lyons
Lots and lots of references. I'm not going to list them all, even I have my limits. Suffice it to say that the Doctor is worried that meeting Mel will mean that he's well on the way to becoming the Valeyard.

Killing Ground, By Steve Lyons
Page 81: 'There was a computer programmer from Earth - Melanie, I believe her name was.'
Implication that Mel never met the Cybermen. (though Grant appears in a similar context and he is meeting them.)

BBC Previous Doctor Adventures

Mission: Impractical, By David McIntee
Page 55: He leaned aside to greet the Doctor's companion. 'And Mel, of -' He broke off. Instead of the slim and bubbly red-headed girl he remembered from the last time he met the Doctor, there was... well, a penguin.
and on the next page, Dave explains why Mel isn't there and how Glitz got out of the limbo atrophier in The Ultimate Foe, not to mention establishing that Dragonfire was set in more contemporary times. (explaining why the Doctor is confident of getting Mel home in Dragonfire. This contradicts Head Games, but so does everything else, so who cares?)

Storm Harvest, By Robert Perry & Mike Tucker
Page 190: Ace remembers Mel...

Prime Time, By Mike Tucker
Page 57: Someone looks up a file on the Doctor and finds his companion is supposed to be a slight girl with red hair...

Big Finish Adventures

The Dark Flame, By Trevor Baxendale
The Doctor, when asked how Mel is, replies: Fine I should think, yes, she went off to explore the Universe with an itinerant con artist. (to which the response is "No change there then!")

Other Books

Doctor Who:The Companions, by John Nathan-Turner
Contains a character profile and a brief bit from JNT, but no pictures.

The Universal Databank, by Jean-Marc Lofficier
This has a small entry for Melanie on page 62, listing basic personality traits and brief plot descriptions. The Programme Guide has more detailed plot information for all six stories.

Time Lord, by Ian Marsh and Peter Darvill-Evans
A fairly good personality outline appears on page 120, with a stats sheet on page 118. The sketch is of her in the Time and the Rani outfit, though the text describes the Paradise Towers costume as typical.

The Sixth Doctor Handbook, Howe, Stammers, Walker
On page 49, there's a one paragraph quote from Colin Baker on Bonnie and Mel's character. On pages 69 and 70, there's a further quote from Colin about her relationship with the Doctor. Page 124 contains a quote from Bonnie, relating how she hated her first appearance in Terror of the Vervoids. Pages 150-151 mention the critics adverse reaction to the casting of Bonnie, and a quote from John Nathan-Turner rejecting their criticisms. (Go JNT!!) "Selling the Doctor" mentions the comparison between Bonnie and Nicola Bryant and how, unlike Nicola, Bonnie could not be presented as a "sex object".

The Time Travellers' Guide, by Peter Haining
As well as a picture or two, there's details of TOTV and TUF in the Programme Log.

25 Glorious Year, by Peter Haining
In addition to lots and lots of photos of Bonnie, there's a quote from Sylvester McCoy on page 82 about how he enjoyed working with her (again!) and on page 128, a bunch of quotes from Bonnie regarding how she enjoyed playing Melanie and working with Colin and Sylvester.

Timeframe, David J. Howe
There are a couple of pictures of Bonnie, and brief story descriptions.

The Eighties, Howe, Stammers, Walker
Page 88 has a brief biography of Bonita Melody Lyette Langford. Page 92 has a piece of Bonnie's casting, and some quotes about how she felt less contrained with Who than with her previous work. JNT's original character outline is reproduced on page 94. There is also a brief mention of Bonnie's decision to leave the show on page 108 and more pictures scattered throughout.

The DisContinuity Guide, Cornell, Day, Topping
Has details of the six TV stories from page 326 to 339 and has a temporal explanation of events surrounding the trial on page 332.

The Companions, Howe Stammers
Has a couple of pictures, a dissertation on why Mel is so unpopular, and a brief biography of Bonnie.

The Book of Lists, by Justin Richards and Andrew Martin
Page 75 has a rather uncomplementary mention of the Rani's impersonation in Time and the Rani. Page 195 mentions the scream at the end of TOTV 1, and doubtless there are other references....


	Main : Doctor Who : The Melanie Bush Web Page : Stories Brief References Sometimes Mel doesn't actually appear, but someone mentions her in passing. I'm not entirely sure why I keep this list, but it's not like there aren't any other pieces of useless trivia elsewhere on this site... Virgin New Adventures Timewyrm: Revelation, by Paul Cornell Page 4: "On the last occasion, the Doctor, in yet another new form, had simply bought his niece Melanie to Cheldon Bonniface to enjoy some brass rubbing." (Most probably the seventh Doctor) Page 78: Genesys retconned: Ace remembers "She'd even gained a memory, one of Mel's" Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark, by Andrew Hunt Pages 25,34,35: Llanfer Ceiriog, Wales. The seventh Doctor and Mel visited here in 1985, seven years before he returned with Ace. They stayed with Hugh and Janet. Old Davy remembers Mel fondly as "the squeaky one". Page 58: The Doctor recalls the events of Delta and the Bannermen Page 185: The Doctor recalls Dragonfire. Deceit, by Peter Darvill-Evans Page 82: As his memory returns, the Doctor remembers, "Mel. Peri." and Susan. (Wot, no Grant or Frobisher?) Birthright, by Nigel Robinson Page 37: One of the co-signatories on the Doctor's account at the Coutts Bank is 'M. Bush' along with Susan, Victoria, Sarah and Benny. Falls the Shadow, by Daniel O'Mahony Page 107: Ace on the topic of first sights of the TARDIS interior: "She'd gone through it just like Mel and Benny and everyone else." Sky Pirates!, by Dave "Buy me a beer you bastard" Stone Page 34: "... and then there's She-of-the-Wide-Mouth running around like a demented sacred cat in heat and scaring the ibises," the Doctor said. "You could never turn your back on her for a minute." He shuddered. "Never again." (the Doctor may not be talking about Mel, but I'm betting Dave Stone is...) Page 67: The Doctor goes incoherent during a crisis: 'Damn. They didn't get her,' said an uncharacteristically short-tempered and vaguely disappointed Doctor. 'I'm still stuck with that irritated blasted pitch-perfect screech...' The Also People, by Ben Aaronovitch Page 23: Benny muses on meeting Mel in Head Games Page 91: The Doctor remembers playing hologrammatic battle chess with Mel and losing. (doesn't sound like Mel, somehow, but then anything's better than HG...) One of the spaceships is called !C-Mel, an obvious reference to the Junior Edition of Time and the Rani ("!C-Mel, !C-Mel run, !C-Mel scream, !C-Mel wrestle the Doctor to the ground") Sleepy, by Kate Orman Page 6: "He'd bought the beach house when he was having the house at Allen Road painted... ...he'd flown to Sydney (with Mel in tow, if he remembered correctly) and driven a rented VW up the coast until they found the place, set back from the dunes in a shorn patch of thick scrub." Page 11: "A memory flashed into his mind: making this journey with Mel, to buy milk and ice creams. She'd striped her nose and cheeks with fluorescent-coloured zinc cream, given him a lecture about sunburn." Death and Diplomacy, By Dave "Bring your own banjo" Stone Page 23: "'And if,' He continued sternly, addressing the pointing finger, 'you're a collection of those distasteful individuals who collect the surviving footage of Peri in the bath, or even -' he shuddered '- Mel, then I have to tell you that -' Virgin Missing Adventures Goth Opera, by Paul Cornell Page 132: He'd [Glitz] been in a bit of a turmoil lately, what with Mel going home. He'd come to rely on her skills in the subtle bank jobs that they'd come to specialize in, but perhaps it was for the best that she'd gone back to Earth. Time for Glitz to get back to good honest dishonesty. He remembered a story Mel had told him about some young Zobzer who'd got his hands on a magic lamp... Time of your Life, by Steve Lyons Lots and lots of references. I'm not going to list them all, even I have my limits. Suffice it to say that the Doctor is worried that meeting Mel will mean that he's well on the way to becoming the Valeyard. Killing Ground, By Steve Lyons Page 81: 'There was a computer programmer from Earth - Melanie, I believe her name was.' Implication that Mel never met the Cybermen. (though Grant appears in a similar context and he is meeting them.) BBC Previous Doctor Adventures Mission: Impractical, By David McIntee Page 55: He leaned aside to greet the Doctor's companion. 'And Mel, of -' He broke off. Instead of the slim and bubbly red-headed girl he remembered from the last time he met the Doctor, there was... well, a penguin. and on the next page, Dave explains why Mel isn't there and how Glitz got out of the limbo atrophier in The Ultimate Foe, not to mention establishing that Dragonfire was set in more contemporary times. (explaining why the Doctor is confident of getting Mel home in Dragonfire. This contradicts Head Games, but so does everything else, so who cares?) Storm Harvest, By Robert Perry & Mike Tucker Page 190: Ace remembers Mel... Prime Time, By Mike Tucker Page 57: Someone looks up a file on the Doctor and finds his companion is supposed to be a slight girl with red hair... Big Finish Adventures The Dark Flame, By Trevor Baxendale The Doctor, when asked how Mel is, replies: Fine I should think, yes, she went off to explore the Universe with an itinerant con artist. (to which the response is "No change there then!") Other Books Doctor Who:The Companions, by John Nathan-Turner Contains a character profile and a brief bit from JNT, but no pictures. The Universal Databank, by Jean-Marc Lofficier This has a small entry for Melanie on page 62, listing basic personality traits and brief plot descriptions. The Programme Guide has more detailed plot information for all six stories. Time Lord, by Ian Marsh and Peter Darvill-Evans A fairly good personality outline appears on page 120, with a stats sheet on page 118. The sketch is of her in the Time and the Rani outfit, though the text describes the Paradise Towers costume as typical. The Sixth Doctor Handbook, Howe, Stammers, Walker On page 49, there's a one paragraph quote from Colin Baker on Bonnie and Mel's character. On pages 69 and 70, there's a further quote from Colin about her relationship with the Doctor. Page 124 contains a quote from Bonnie, relating how she hated her first appearance in Terror of the Vervoids. Pages 150-151 mention the critics adverse reaction to the casting of Bonnie, and a quote from John Nathan-Turner rejecting their criticisms. (Go JNT!!) "Selling the Doctor" mentions the comparison between Bonnie and Nicola Bryant and how, unlike Nicola, Bonnie could not be presented as a "sex object". The Time Travellers' Guide, by Peter Haining As well as a picture or two, there's details of TOTV and TUF in the Programme Log. 25 Glorious Year, by Peter Haining In addition to lots and lots of photos of Bonnie, there's a quote from Sylvester McCoy on page 82 about how he enjoyed working with her (again!) and on page 128, a bunch of quotes from Bonnie regarding how she enjoyed playing Melanie and working with Colin and Sylvester. Timeframe, David J. Howe There are a couple of pictures of Bonnie, and brief story descriptions. The Eighties, Howe, Stammers, Walker Page 88 has a brief biography of Bonita Melody Lyette Langford. Page 92 has a piece of Bonnie's casting, and some quotes about how she felt less contrained with Who than with her previous work. JNT's original character outline is reproduced on page 94. There is also a brief mention of Bonnie's decision to leave the show on page 108 and more pictures scattered throughout. The DisContinuity Guide, Cornell, Day, Topping Has details of the six TV stories from page 326 to 339 and has a temporal explanation of events surrounding the trial on page 332. The Companions, Howe Stammers Has a couple of pictures, a dissertation on why Mel is so unpopular, and a brief biography of Bonnie. The Book of Lists, by Justin Richards and Andrew Martin Page 75 has a rather uncomplementary mention of the Rani's impersonation in Time and the Rani. Page 195 mentions the scream at the end of TOTV 1, and doubtless there are other references....
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