A current rumour, which originated at The Mirror, a source that has been proven right more than wrong in the recent past, says that Bonnie Langford is set to return to Doctor Who as Melanie Bush.

Mel was the companion to the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, debuting in Terror of the Vervoids, a part of The Trial of a Time Lord, and leaving in Dragonfire. Now, it’s rumoured that she’ll come back for a cameo appearance — but not in The Power of the Doctor as you might expect but during Ncuti Gatwa’s time as the Doctor!

The Power of the Doctor, Jodie Whittaker’s last story as the Thirteenth Doctor, will see the returns of Sophie Aldred as Ace and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, plus it’s said to include “cameo appearances” of various other familiar faces. So you might think that’s the ideal opportunity for Bonnie’s comeback. Instead, it’s speculated that Russell T Davies will bring her character back into Doctor Who.

Mel’s adventures, of course, have continued off screen for Big Finish Productions.

And that might be where this rumour comes from too. Davies’ first Doctor Who script, albeit unmade at the time, featured the Sixth Doctor and Mel; he mentioned this during a lockdown rewatch and Big Finish jumped on the opportunity to make Mind of the Hodiac, adapted by Scott Handcock.

We have seen Mel back too, for a promotion video for Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 24. It was all kinds of fun.

Naturally, the BBC has refused to comment.

So is Mel’s return likely? Maybe not. But Bonnie’s a wonderful person and especially popular right now after her appearance on The Masked Dancer. The Mirror has a history of getting stuff right too. So we don’t know. It would be kinda cool though…