Summary
Doctor Whohas been a whirlwind this season, with the Doctor and Ruby Sunday experiencing thrilling adventures through space and time. They’ve survived a war-torn alien planet, defeating Maestro to save the Beatles, and facing off against cosplaying aliens during a ball straight out ofBridgerton, but all the time the pair have been tiptoeing around the mystery surrounding Ruby’s origins. In “The Legend Of Ruby Sunday” they will finally try to discover the truth about that faithful Christmas Eve. As they do, the Doctor and Ruby cross paths with some old friends at UNIT who are looking into the enigmatic and potentially nefarious Triad Technology.
The mystery of Ruby Sunday has consistently popped up with Christmas music in her heart, keeping her safe when Maestro attacked and snow falling whenever she was in real danger. Many suspect she is connected to these mysterious powers of the universe, potentially “the one who waits” alluded to by Maestro before they were banished. However, the mystery ofSusan Twist’s frequentDoctor Whocameosseems to play a key role in the episode as well. “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” will also feature the return of fan favorite allies of the Doctor, including Bonnie Langford as Mel Bush, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble.
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Screen Rantinterviewed Bonnie Langford abouther return toDoctor Whoin both “The Giggle” and “The Legend of Ruby Sunday.” She explained how she approached playing Mel and her evolution as well as what she was excited to show audiences about her growth since leaving the TARDIS. Langford also teased what Mel is up to in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” what it’s like to work with so many different Doctors, and how she bonded with the other companions.
“Mel Is Back” Bonnie Langford Breaks Down How Mel Has Evolved Since She First Debuted On Screen
Langford shared her excitement about returning to the role of Mel Bush in this era ofDoctor Who. She explained how the character has grown off-screen in the audio dramas and how she is excited to show Mel finding her place in the world after leaving the TARDIS. Now, she’s joining the Doctor once again, after reuniting in “The Giggle” for an all-new adventure where she’ll meet his new companion as well.
Bonnie Langford: Mel is back. She’s back, and she’s back with the Doctor, and now Ruby, to go on those travels yet again. It’s great. It’s fabulous. I did the first show 37 years ago and now I’m back, Mel is back, and it’s so exciting and really lovely to be part of the show when it’s in such a good place.
Much of Mel’s evolution has occurred off-screen, although the audio dramas have shown her growth. Langford explained how she wanted to show Mel’s growth in the audio dramas and bring that into her role with UNIT this season. She also shared her excitement about Mel’s compute programming abilities being a key aspect of her character where it wasn’t in her original run as the Doctor’s companion.
Bonnie Langford: Well, what I’ve been doing in between. I mean, I was in the show for two seasons 30 odd years ago and I thought that was it. But Doctor Who is the gift that keeps on giving, it comes back. Once you’re a part of it, You’re a part of this worldwide community who are very passionate, and very loyal, and very dedicated. So I didn’t really participate at all much. Once I’d left the show, I went on and did all my other things.
And then a few years ago, well probably about 20 years ago now, I got asked if I would be part of these audio dramas for a company called Big Finish and they’re like doing little radio plays. And the great part is, is that what we lacked in budget and ability as far as effects were concerned, obviously it’s in your imagination [with the audio dramas].
So I had been kind of connected with the show because of doing those. And with Mel, one of the things I was very keen when I did those audios, and I still do them, is that she has something to say more than, “But Doctor” and “Why Doctor” and “Who, Doctor” and blah blah, blah. So I’ve been sort connected with her as she’s grown through that. So to come back to it wasn’t as cold as it seems. It didn’t seem as distant as, Oh gosh, I don’t remember doing that even. So I was able to sort of pick up where I vocally and audio wise had been.
What was great was that Russell had just written this fabulous episode where she was able to show her humor as well as her dedication to the Doctor and where she’d sort of calmed down a lot. I’m very pleased to say she doesn’t do any more fitness and doesn’t try and make him lose any weight, which is what she did originally, which was so annoying.
She also is a computer programmer, and when I was in it 30 odd years ago, she didn’t go anywhere near a computer. Now she’s firmly attached to her computer and it’s very helpful as far as the story is concerned. So her skills are used to the full.
Mel, like all companions who leave the TARDIS, has lived a full life without the Doctor. Although she alluded to losing her family, the details remain a mystery. However, after finding her place with UNIT, Mel has been able to put her skills, experiences with the Doctor, and desire to help to good use. Langford also shared the qualities that both she and her character admire about the Doctor.
Bonnie Langford: I think the fact that she was able to connect, certainly in “The Giggle”, she was able to connect with David with the 14th by saying that something had happened to her with her family, we don’t know what, and that she’d lost everything. She’s obviously reinventing and my favorite part is that she’s able to use those skills, as I said before, but also she gives a great foundation of the past.
I think what is so different about this show compared to many other sort of fantasy and sci-fi shows is that there’s definitely a sort of an anchoring in the past, but a great look to the future because obviously he zips around all over the place, but he’s very responsible. I think the Doctor uses his abilities responsibly, and he has such an incredible sense of integrity and right and wrong, and he empathizes with everyone.
He spends his whole time trying to walk in any anyone’s shoes. He tries not to be scared of what we would call monsters. He says they’re not monsters, they’re just people we haven’t met yet. They’re just types of people or types of beings that we should just embrace. We don’t understand and we should face our fears.
It has a lot of teaching about it, about how to live in the world we live in, how to be inclusive, how to understand people, but also to face our fears and to understand our fears. Mel, I think, is really admiring of that and respectful of that. We all try and emulate what he basically sets. He sets the bar very high, but in this one with Ncuti as well, what’s so lovely is that he shows the Doctor’s vulnerabilities, which has not always been shown in the past.
Mel Has Found Her Place At UNIT Working With Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, “She’s With Like-Minded People”
Mel first returned as part of the support group for the Doctor’s former companions and friends, where Kate Lethbridge-Stewart told the members she may be looking for a few of them to join the ranks of UNIT. In “The Giggle” it was revealed that Mel had in fact joined Kate and found a way to protect Earth from threats while still helping the Doctor. Langford explained why Mel found her place with UNIT, including how it may not be a safe working environment, but is a safe space.
Bonnie Langford: Well, she’s with like-minded people. It’s funny, isn’t it? When you’ve opened your eyes to another world, you can’t then step back into those small shoes again. I think she needs to be settled. She feels safe and secure, and that gives her courage. I think it gives her courage and she’s valued and we all work best in a place where we are valued and seen and understood.
And it’s interesting, isn’t it? Because so often that’s for the young whereas working in UNIT, it’s all ages, it’s all groups. It’s very inclusive as a place to work. It’s a very safe space even though completely unsafe things happen. The world and other forces and powers are always trying to invade that safe space.
But it sort of teaches you, in a storytelling way, how to feel better about yourself. That’s one of the big pluses about this show is that it’s just a way of saying embrace who you are, embrace everybody, and don’t ignore people or turn them away just because you don’t understand where they’re coming from.
Langford also teased what fans can expect from “The Legend of Ruby Sunday.” While she hinted at the Doctor and Ruby’s investigation she shed more light on the role that UNIT and Mel will play in the penultimate episode of this season ofDoctor Who. This included Mel showing off her skills as an agent outside the command center of UNIT.
Bonnie Langford: There’s two stories going on really, or more actually. But one of them is that Ruby is looking for her past. She’s looking for the reason why she was left on a doorstep as a teeny weenie baby, and she has discovered a little bit of information and is trying to fill in those gaps.
So the Doctor is helping her as much as he can without distorting time and without getting in the way and changing something that will then affect the future. He can’t dabble, he can’t get involved with that because he could cause a lot of problems. He’s very respectful of that.
At the same time UNIT have discovered that there’s an enterprise that are slightly dodgy. They’re not sure, there’s something peculiar about it. So Mel has gone undercover and is working in that office and in that building to try to find out what actually is going on and what’s the bottom of all this, and reports back with intel all the time.
So she’s sort of being a bit of a spy and I think she rather enjoys it. So she’s in there kind of acting and then she comes back and reports back to UNIT, to Kate, and to her team who she knows will uncover the truth. Especially the Doctor, who hopefully will uncover the truth and all the damage and destruction that might bring.
It’s fun because she gets to be a bit badass because she has her Vespa that she drives through London. She’s very energized, and very enthused, and very dedicated to the cause. She’ll go above and beyond. There’s no office hours for Mel. She just works.
Bonnie Langford Talks Working With Different Doctors
“They’ve Still Got The Core Of That Character”
Mel Bush has encountered multiple Doctors from the classicDoctor Whoera with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy to the current era with David Tenant and Nucti Gatwa. Langford explained her initial thoughts about how Mel might handle working with someone who isn’t her Doctor. She also shared how every actor is able to capture who the Doctor is at their core.
Bonnie Langford: It’s strange because as an actor you’re used to people being recast. You’re used to having a different type, but this is very much, it’s sort of like, yes, a new person undertaking a role, but they’ve still got the core of that character, but dressed up in a very different guise. There was a time at first when I was thinking, I wonder how Mel feels about this because it’s not her Doctor.
She’s got to get used to this person who has different qualities that she didn’t expect that weren’t with her original first couple of Doctors, but also we’re in a different era, we’re in a different generation, and I think she embraces it. She loves the fact that at the heart, literally two hearts of this person, she knows that they are very special. She is very mindful of that, but at the same time, she loves discovering the different qualities that each person brings.
Langford has not only worked with a number of different actors that have played the Doctor, but multiple companions as well. She explained the bond between herself and Catherine Tate as well as the advice she gave to Millie Gibson about portraying the Doctor’s companion.
Bonnie Langford: It’s like with any actor, you’re all thrown together. The thing about actors is that we all bond very quickly and we know each other very quickly. You spend a lot of time sitting in an tent of working out Wordle or something, Sudoku, and chatting and finding out whichever. Catherine and I knew each other from before. I did her show once, and I adore her and adore her sense of humor, but we bonded straight away.
And the same with Millie, but in a very different way, I think I was much more maternal towards Millie. She was having to find her feet in a brand new world, and I felt that I could help her a little bit with that. There were times when she thought, Oh, I’m just saying the same old thing. And I said to her, No, but you are the exposition. You are basically the audience and you are asking the questions that we would ask sitting at home.
You are also questioning the doctor and his decision making. She’s actually contributing to that saying, hang on a minute, what about this? You haven’t considered all these options, and that helps him make more valid and informed decisions. So she has so much there to give and it’s terrific playing with them both. It’s different. We are very much a family now, and I feel very grateful for that.
About Doctor Who Season 14
The Doctor and Ruby travel through time and space on adventures to unknown lands, to the Regency era in England, to outer space worlds and the Sixties.
Doctor Whoseries 14 is available on Disney+ with new episodes every Friday and on BBC the following day.
Doctor Who
Cast
Doctor Who: Released on June 16, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
