Born: 22nd July 1964 (as Bonita Melody Lysette Langford)
Episodes Broadcast: 1986-1987, 1993, 2022

The first regular Doctor Who castmember to be younger than the programme itself was Bonnie Langford, whose birth in Hampton Court, Surrey came 242 days after the premiere of 100,000 BC. While still a toddler, Langford began appearing in annual revues which showcased the dance club run by her mother. It was one of these events which led to the six-year-old Langford being recruited for -- and ultimately winning -- the talent show Opportunity Knocks. Langford was soon attending the performing-arts-focussed Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, and she developed into a skilled singer, dancer and actress. She joined the cast of Junior Showtime, and appeared on Broadway alongside Angela Lansbury in Gypsy. Langford made her movie debut in 1976's Bugsy Malone, as part of an all-juvenile cast which also included Jodie Foster.

Langford was back on the silver screen in 1978's Wombling Free, an adaptation of the children's programme The Wombles. But, by that time, she had found fame on television as the spoiled Violet Elizabeth Bott in Just William. When the show ended in 1978, Langford rededicated herself to her studies at the Italia Conti Stage School. Keen to avoid typecasting, she focussed on the stage; in 1981, Langford was the original Rumpleteazer in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. A year later, she starred in a production of The Pirates Of Penzance with Sylvester McCoy. When she returned to television, it was usually as a presenter, including the children's series The Saturday Starship; she was also a 1986 subject of This Is Your Life.

Langford was keen to try her hand at more dramatic material when she was approached about the role of Melanie Bush

However, Langford was now keen to try her hand at more dramatic material. As such, when she was approached by Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner about the role of companion Melanie Bush, Langford saw her opportunity. She debuted in Episode Nine of 1986's season-long The Trial Of A Time Lord; bizarrely, the format of the narrative meant that her introductory appearance saw Melanie already journeying alongside Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor. When Baker was subsequently fired from Doctor Who, it meant that audiences would never actually witness Mel meet the Doctor for the first time. Instead, Langford's only full season on Doctor Who in 1987 saw her reunited with McCoy, who had been cast as the Seventh Doctor. Langford's casting had been controversial, dividing opinion not only amongst fans, but also behind the scenes. Nonetheless, strong consideration was given to retaining Melanie into 1988. Ultimately, however, Langford made her exit in the 1987 finale, Dragonfire, having determined that there was little more that she could do with her character.

The next two decades saw Langford work predominantly in the theatre, as she struggled to find television roles which would challenge viewers' preconceptions about her. Tonight At 8.30 in 1991 and Goodnight Sweetheart in 1999 were rare exceptions; Langford also reprised Melanie for Dimensions In Time, a 1993 charity special which celebrated Doctor Who's thirtieth anniversary. In 1995, she married actor Paul Grunert. Their daughter Biana was born in 2000, the same year that Langford joined Big Finish Productions' range of Doctor Who audio dramas, with The Fires Of Vulcan becoming the first of several plays which would encourage fans to reassess Melanie Bush.

In 2006, Langford's appearance in the first season of the reality competition Dancing On Ice helped reinvigorate her career. She made appearances in Agatha Christie's Marple and Hotel Babylon, but also scored major roles in a number of high-profile musicals, including Chicago in the West End and on Broadway, a tour of Spamalot, and another West End appearance in 42nd Street. She and Grunert decided to end their marriage on amicable terms in 2015 but, soon afterwards, Langford won a new legion of fans when a guest role on the soap opera EastEnders led to her becoming a regular castmember. She remained on the show until 2018. In 2021, Langford could be seen as Melanie in the specially-produced trailer for the Season Twenty-Four Blu-ray collection. The following year, she made a cameo appearance in The Power Of The Doctor, which celebrated the BBC's centenary and saw the regeneration of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. Langford then had a more prominent role in 2023's The Giggle, which saw the debut of Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor. She appear opposite him again during 2024.