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{{Real world}}
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'''Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford''' (born [[22 July]] [[1964]]) appeared as the Doctor's companion [[Melanie Bush|Mel]], debuting in ''[[Terror of the Vervoids]]'', one of the stories in ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'', and departing at the conclusion of ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]''. She has since reprised the role in several audio dramas for [[Big Finish Productions]]. She first achieved fame as a child actor, starring in the [[television]] series ''Just William'' and the film ''Bugsy Malone''.
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Person
|image          = Bonnie Langford.jpg
|aka            = Bonita Melody Lysette Langford
|birth date    = [[22 July (people)|22 July]] [[1964 (people)|1964]]
|role          = [[Melanie Bush]]
|job title      = [[Actor]]
|story          = [[#Credits|See Credits Section]]
|time          = 1986-87, 1993, 2000-03, 2005-07, 2012-13, 2015-19, 2021-present
|non dwu        = ''Bugsy Malone'', ''Just William'', ''Chicago'', ''Hotel Babylon'', ''Guys and Dolls'', ''[[EastEnders]]'', ''Pointless Celebrities'', ''9 to 5'', ''Anything Goes''
|imdb          = 0486374
|official site  = www.bonnielangford.co.uk
|twitter        = bonnie_langford
}}{{You may|Bonnie Langford (in-universe)|n1=her DWU counterpart}}
'''Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford''' (born [[22 July (people)|22 July]] [[1964 (people)|1964]]<ref>[[REF]]: ''[[Who-ology: The Official Miscellany]]''</ref>) appeared as the Doctor's companion [[Melanie Bush|Melanie 'Mel' Bush]] debuting in ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]'', one of the stories in ''[[Season 23 (Doctor Who 1963)|The Trial of a Time Lord]]'', and departing at the conclusion of ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]''. She has since reprised the role in several audio dramas for [[Big Finish Productions]].


Langford was born at [[Wikipedia:Hampton Court|Hampton Court]], [[Surrey]]. She married fellow actor Paul Grunert in [[1995]] and has one daughter (born [[2000]]).
Bonnie Langford was the first [[companion]] actor to have been born after ''[[Doctor Who]]'' began in 1963.


Her stage work includes ''Annie'', ''Peter Pan: The Musical'', ''Cats'' and ''The Pirates of Penzance''. Langford was a regular guest ([[2003]]-[[2005]]) on [[Sandi Toksvig]]'s weekday lunchtime show on LBC radio and occasionally deputised when Sandi was ill or on holiday. Langford had just completed a run in ''Peter Pan'' at the time she was announced as [[the Doctor]]'s newest companion. A publicity photo was passed round of Langford in costume as Peter and [[Colin Baker]] in costume as the Doctor, "flying" together on wires.
== Career ==
She first achieved fame as a child actor, starring in the [[television]] series ''Just William'' and the film ''Bugsy Malone''.


She has received a fair amount of abuse over her career, as she has been widely perceived as an overly perky youth. Some ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fans have voiced similar complaints about the character of Mel. [[Noël Coward]] reportedly made the comment, after seeing a play with the young Bonnie Langford in it in which a horse also defecated on the stage, "If they had shoved the child's head up the horse's arse, they would have solved two problems at once."
Her stage work includes ''Annie'', ''Peter Pan: The Musical'', ''Cats'' and ''The Pirates of Penzance''. Langford was a regular guest (2003-2005) on [[Sandi Toksvig]]'s weekday lunchtime show on LBC radio and occasionally deputised when Sandi was ill or on holiday. Langford had just completed a run in ''Peter Pan'' at the time she was announced as [[the Doctor]]'s newest companion. A publicity photo was passed round of Langford in costume as Peter and [[Colin Baker]] in costume as the Doctor, "flying" together on wires.


On [[23 October]] [[2005]], Bonnie performed in ''Children Will Listen'', a 75th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in [[London]]. She then appeared in the pantomime ''[[Cinderella]]'' at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in [[Guildford]].
She has received a fair amount of criticism over her career, as she has been widely perceived as an overly perky youth. Some ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fans have voiced similar complaints about the character of Mel. [[Noël Coward]] reportedly made the comment, after seeing a play with the young Bonnie Langford in it in which a horse also defecated on the stage, "If they had shoved the child's head up the horse's arse, they would have solved two problems at once." Langford herself told interviewer Michael Parkinson on his television chat show that Coward had said the best way to improve the play was to "cut the second half and the child's throat!"


In [[January]] [[2006]], Bonnie was a celebrity contestant on ITV's ''Dancing On Ice'', along with fellow ex-''Doctor Who'' [[companion]] and musical theatre stalwart [[John Barrowman]].
On 23 October 2005, Langford performed in ''Children Will Listen'', a 75th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in [[London]]. She then appeared in the pantomime ''[[Cinderella]]'' at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in [[Guildford]].
 
In January 2006, Langford was a celebrity contestant on ITV's ''Dancing On Ice'', along with fellow ex-''Doctor Who'' [[companion]] and musical theatre stalwart [[John Barrowman]].


Langford has the distinction of being the first companion actor to have been born after the start of the original series, and the only such actor to appear in the original series.
Langford has the distinction of being the first companion actor to have been born after the start of the original series, and the only such actor to appear in the original series.


[[Sixth Doctor]] actor [[Colin Baker]] praised Bonnie Langford in an extra for the [[Season 23|The Trial of a Time Lord]] DVD Box Set. He states that in his long career, he has never worked with anyone more professional than her.
[[Sixth Doctor]] actor [[Colin Baker]] praised Bonnie Langford in an extra for the [[Season 23 (Doctor Who 1963)|The Trial of a Time Lord]] DVD Box Set. He states that in his long career, he has never worked with anyone more professional than her.
 
She also contributed to the charity reference book ''[[Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who]]''.
 
She joined the West End cast of [http://savoy.londontheatres.co.uk/dirty-rotten-scoundrels/#news Dirty Rotten Scoundrels] at the Savoy Theatre on September 16th 2014. She plays the part of Muriel Eubanks.
 
In 2015, she joined the cast of ''[[EastEnders]]'' in the role of Carmel Kazemi, over two decades after performing as Mel on the ''EastEnders'' set in ''[[Dimensions in Time (TV story)|Dimensions in Time]]''. She left the role in 2018. Langord’s onscreen family in the show included [[Davood Ghadami]] and [[Shaheen Jafargholi]] as her two sons.
 
== Personal life ==
Langford was born at {{w|Hampton Court}}, [[Surrey]]. She married fellow actor Paul Grunert in 1995 and has one daughter (born 2000). The couple divorced in 2015.
 
== Credits ==
=== Television ===
==== Doctor Who ====
* ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]''
* ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]''
* ''[[Time and the Rani (TV story)|Time and the Rani]]''
* ''[[Paradise Towers (TV story)|Paradise Towers]]''
* ''[[Delta and the Bannermen (TV story)|Delta and the Bannermen]]''
* ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]''
* ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]]''
* ''[[The Giggle (TV story)|The Giggle]]''
* ''[[The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)|The Legend of Ruby Sunday]]''/''[[Empire of Death (TV story)|Empire of Death]]''
 
=== Webcasts ===
==== The Collection ====
* ''[[The Trial (webcast)|The Trial]]''
* ''[[24 Carat (webcast)|24 Carat]]''
 
=== Audio ===
==== Doctor Who Main Range ====
* ''[[The Fires of Vulcan (audio story)|The Fires of Vulcan]]''
* ''[[The One Doctor (audio story)|The One Doctor]]''
* ''[[Bang-Bang-a-Boom! (audio story)|Bang-Bang-a-Boom!]]''
* ''[[Flip-Flop (audio story)|Flip-Flop]]''
* ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]] ''(as [[Cassandra (Zagreus)|Cassandra]] & [[Goldilocks]])
* ''[[The Juggernauts (audio story)|The Juggernauts]]''
* ''[[Catch-1782 (audio story)|Catch-1782]]''
* ''[[Unregenerate! (audio story)|Unregenerate!]]''
* ''[[Thicker Than Water (audio story)|Thicker Than Water]]''
* ''[[Red (audio story)|Red]]''
* ''[[The Wishing Beast (audio story)|The Wishing Beast]]'' / ''[[The Vanity Box (audio story)|The Vanity Box]]''
* ''[[The Wrong Doctors (audio story)|The Wrong Doctors]]''
* ''[[Spaceport Fear (audio story)|Spaceport Fear]]''
* ''[[The Seeds of War (audio story)|The Seeds of War]]''
* ''[[We Are The Daleks (audio story)|We Are The Daleks]]''
* ''[[The Warehouse (audio story)|The Warehouse]]''
* ''[[Terror of the Sontarans (audio story)|Terror of the Sontarans]]''
* ''[[A Life of Crime (audio story)|A Life of Crime]]''
* ''[[Fiesta of the Damned (audio story)|Fiesta of the Damned]]''
* ''[[Maker of Demons (audio story)|Maker of Demons]]''
* ''[[The High Price of Parking (audio story)|The High Price of Parking]]''
* ''[[The Blood Furnace (audio story)|The Blood Furnace]]''
* ''[[The Silurian Candidate (audio story)|The Silurian Candidate]]''
* ''[[Red Planets (audio story)|Red Planets]]''
* ''[[The Dispossessed (audio story)|The Dispossessed]]''
* ''[[The Quantum Possibility Engine (audio story)|The Quantum Possibility Engine]]''
 
==== The Lost Stories ====
* ''[[Mind of the Hodiac (audio story)|Mind of the Hodiac]]''
 
==== The Sixth Doctor Adventures ====
* ''[[The Brink of Death (audio story)|The Brink of Death]]''
* ''[[Water Worlds (audio anthology)|Water Worlds]]''
** ''[[The Rotting Deep (audio story)|The Rotting Deep]]''
** ''[[The Tides of the Moon (audio story)|The Tides of the Moon]]''
** ''[[Maelstrom (audio story)|Maelstrom]]''
* ''[[Purity Undreamed (audio anthology)|Purity Undreamed]]''
** ''[[The Mindless Ones (audio story)|The Mindless Ones]]''
** ''[[Reverse Engineering (audio story)|Reverse Engineering]]''
** ''[[Chronomancer (audio story)|Chronomancer]]''
* ''[[Purity Unleashed (audio anthology)|Purity Unleashed]]''
** ''[[Broadway Belongs to Me! (audio story)|Broadway Belongs to Me!]]''
** ''[[Purification (audio story)|Purification]]''
** ''[[Time-Burst (audio story)|Time-Burst]]''
* ''[[Purity Unbound (audio anthology)|Purity Unbound]]''
** ''[[Girl in a Bubble (audio story)|Girl in a Bubble]]''
** ''[[The Corruptions (audio story)|The Corruptions]]''
** ''[[The Wrong Side of History (audio story)|The Wrong Side of History]]''
 
* ''[[The Quin Dilemma (audio anthology)|The Quin Dilemma]]''
** ''[[The Exaltation (audio story)|The Exaltation]]''
** ''[[The Firstborn (audio story)|The Firstborn]]''
* ''[[The Trials of a Time Lord (audio story)|The Trials of a Time Lord]]''
 
==== The Seventh Doctor Adventures ====
* ''[[Silver and Ice (audio anthology)|Silver and Ice]]''
** ''[[Bad Day in Tinseltown (audio story)|Bad Day in Tinseltown]]''
** ''[[The Ribos Inheritance (audio story)|The Ribos Operation]]''
* ''[[The Last Day (audio story)|The Last Day]]''
 
==== Short Trips ====
* ''[[Mel-evolent (audio story)|Mel-evolent]]''
* ''[[The Devil's Footprints (audio story)|The Devil's Footprints]]''
 
==== Doctor Who Unbound ====
* ''[[He Jests at Scars... (audio story)|He Jests at Scars...]]''
 
==== Peladon ====
* ''[[The Death of Peladon (audio story)|The Death of Peladon]]''
 
Other Roles
=== Audio ===
==== The Sixth Doctor Adventures ====
* ''[[Maelstrom (audio story)|Maelstrom]]'' - [[Alef]]
* ''[[The Corruptions (audio story)|The Corruptions]]'' - [[Corruption (species)|Corruption]]


== Filmography ==
=== Audiobook Readings ===
* ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'' ([[1993]]) (TV)
==== Target Novelisations ====
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' ([[1986]]-[[1987]])
* ''[[Paradise Towers (novelisation)|Paradise Towers]]''
* ''The Hot Shoe Show'' ([[1983]]) TV Series
* ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (novelisation)|Terror of the Vervoids]]''
* ''Wombling Free'' ([[1977]])
* ''[[Delta and the Bannermen (novelisation)|Delta and the Bannermen]]''
:aka Wombling Free: The Movie ([[UK]]: video title)
* ''[[Dragonfire (novelisation)|Dragonfire]]''
* ''Bugsy Malone'' ([[1976]]) (as '''Bonita Langford''')
* ''[[Time and the Rani (novelisation)|Time and the Rani]]''
* ''Just William'' (1976) TV Series
* ''[[Wild Blue Yonder (novelisation)|Wild Blue Yonder]]''
 
==== K9 Audio Annual ====
* ''[[Powerstone (short story)|Powerstone]]''
* ''[[Hound of Hell (short story)|Hound of Hell]]''
 
=== Documentary appearances ===
* ''[[Holiday Camp (documentary)|Holiday Camp]]''


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.bonnielangford.co.uk Bonnie Langford's Official web site]
{{imdb name|id=0486374}}
{{imdb name|id=0486374|name=Bonnie Langford}}
{{official website|www.bonnielangford.co.uk}}
{{twitter|bonnie_langford}}


== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{NameSort}}
{{NameSort}}


[[Category:Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound voice actors]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Doctor Who regular cast]]
[[Category:Doctor Who regular cast]]
[[Category:Big Finish Doctor Who voice actors]]
[[Category:Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound voice actors]]
[[Category:Pre-2005 Doctor Who cast reprising their roles at Big Finish]]
[[Category:BBC Audio audiobook readers]]
[[Category:BBC Audio audiobook readers]]
[[Category:People interviewed on Doctor Who Live]]
[[Category:Main Range voice actors]]
[[Category:Short Trips voice actors]]
[[Category:Special Releases voice actors]]
[[Category:Big Finish regular cast]]
[[Category:Actors who portrayed companions of the Doctor]]
[[Category:National Television Award nominees]]
[[Category:The Sixth Doctor Adventures voice actors]]
[[Category:Behind the Sofa contributors]]
[[Category:Doctor Who webcast actors]]
[[Category:The Lost Stories voice actors]]
[[Category:The Seventh Doctor Adventures voice actors]]
[[Category:1963 Doctor Who cast reprising their roles in 2005 Doctor Who]]
[[Category:Peladon voice actors]]
[[Category:People interviewed on Doctor Who: Unleashed]]
[[Category:Classic Doctors, New Monsters voice actors]]

Latest revision as of 11:55, 3 October 2024

Bonnie Langford
Spoilers
RealWorld.png

You may be looking for her DWU counterpart.

Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford (born 22 July 1964[1]) appeared as the Doctor's companion Melanie 'Mel' Bush debuting in Terror of the Vervoids, one of the stories in The Trial of a Time Lord, and departing at the conclusion of Dragonfire. She has since reprised the role in several audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.

Bonnie Langford was the first companion actor to have been born after Doctor Who began in 1963.

Career[[edit] | [edit source]]

She first achieved fame as a child actor, starring in the television series Just William and the film Bugsy Malone.

Her stage work includes Annie, Peter Pan: The Musical, Cats and The Pirates of Penzance. Langford was a regular guest (2003-2005) on Sandi Toksvig's weekday lunchtime show on LBC radio and occasionally deputised when Sandi was ill or on holiday. Langford had just completed a run in Peter Pan at the time she was announced as the Doctor's newest companion. A publicity photo was passed round of Langford in costume as Peter and Colin Baker in costume as the Doctor, "flying" together on wires.

She has received a fair amount of criticism over her career, as she has been widely perceived as an overly perky youth. Some Doctor Who fans have voiced similar complaints about the character of Mel. Noël Coward reportedly made the comment, after seeing a play with the young Bonnie Langford in it in which a horse also defecated on the stage, "If they had shoved the child's head up the horse's arse, they would have solved two problems at once." Langford herself told interviewer Michael Parkinson on his television chat show that Coward had said the best way to improve the play was to "cut the second half and the child's throat!"

On 23 October 2005, Langford performed in Children Will Listen, a 75th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. She then appeared in the pantomime Cinderella at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.

In January 2006, Langford was a celebrity contestant on ITV's Dancing On Ice, along with fellow ex-Doctor Who companion and musical theatre stalwart John Barrowman.

Langford has the distinction of being the first companion actor to have been born after the start of the original series, and the only such actor to appear in the original series.

Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker praised Bonnie Langford in an extra for the The Trial of a Time Lord DVD Box Set. He states that in his long career, he has never worked with anyone more professional than her.

She also contributed to the charity reference book Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who.

She joined the West End cast of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy Theatre on September 16th 2014. She plays the part of Muriel Eubanks.

In 2015, she joined the cast of EastEnders in the role of Carmel Kazemi, over two decades after performing as Mel on the EastEnders set in Dimensions in Time. She left the role in 2018. Langord’s onscreen family in the show included Davood Ghadami and Shaheen Jafargholi as her two sons.

Personal life[[edit] | [edit source]]

Langford was born at Hampton Court, Surrey. She married fellow actor Paul Grunert in 1995 and has one daughter (born 2000). The couple divorced in 2015.

Credits[[edit] | [edit source]]

Television[[edit] | [edit source]]

Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]

Webcasts[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Collection[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audio[[edit] | [edit source]]

Doctor Who Main Range[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Lost Stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Sixth Doctor Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Seventh Doctor Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

Short Trips[[edit] | [edit source]]

Doctor Who Unbound[[edit] | [edit source]]

Peladon[[edit] | [edit source]]

Other Roles

Audio[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Sixth Doctor Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audiobook Readings[[edit] | [edit source]]

Target Novelisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

K9 Audio Annual[[edit] | [edit source]]

Documentary appearances[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ REF: Who-ology: The Official Miscellany
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