TIMEY-WIMEY. ANY DOCTOR WHO interview is going to be caught in the vortex somewhat.
It’s July 2023 and SFX is on a vast soundstage at Wolf Studios in Cardiff, where filming of the season one finale is underway. “Is this not shattering all your illusions?” Bonnie Langford asks, reclining in a chair with a jacket over her. We’re having the time of our lives, we tell the national treasure sat before us. “No, it’s great isn’t it?” she beams.
At this point it hasn’t even been announced that Langford will be appearing in the 60th anniversary special “The Giggle” before returning for season one, but people do love it when a classic companion returns, we offer.
“I’m glad you said that and not vintage,” she chuckles. “A very good vintage, though…”
Mel, companion to the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, has never really left Langford as she’s appeared in various audio, DVD and Blu-ray releases, and regularly attends conventions since departing the series in 1987.
This return is set to right a lot of wrongs for the character – “She only ever said, ‘But Doctor!’ and ran down the wrong corridor,” Langford jokes. In linear terms, it’s only been a few months since she made a brief cameo at the end of Jodie Whittaker’s swansong, “The Power Of The Doctor”.
“It means so much to so many different people,” she reflects. “The fact that when I did ‘The Power Of The Doctor’, people were so moved by it. Tiny little scene, just a few of us sat around on chairs – which I thought was a lovely idea, that there’s a support group for these people who’ve been through how this happened. Has it not happened? Does anybody else go through it? I’m sure they do. But where have they all gone? Or do we forget everything? I thought it was just a lovely concept. So I suppose I’m taking it one step further…”
Sadly we can’t tell you anything about the scenes we’ve watched her
