Melanie Bush made a long-awaited return to DoctorWho in 2023 – but what was she doing in the decades before her renaissance as “Mad Auntie Mel”? Here, Bonnie Langford and Jacqueline Rayner discuss the elements they drew upon for this month’s BBC Books novel Death in the Stars.

On Iceworld, Mel ponders her future.

After the Fire

Mel said her goodbye to the Seventh Doctor in Dragonfire (1987) – when the computer genius from Pease Pottage headed off into space with galactic wideboy Sabalom Glitz on the Nosferatu II…

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) say their goodbyes in Dragonfire (1987).

Jac: Death in the Stars, with its gorgeous gold-embossed cover, will hit book shops soon, but today we need to time-travel back to look at the story of its creation. Actually, let’s go back even further. The roots of this tale can be found in Mel’s rather sudden departure all those years ago in Dragonfire. How did you feel about that at the time? Did it seem a natural development for the character?

Bonnie: Her final scene came out of the blue. There was no run-up, no moments showing Mel feeling doubtful or going “I’m not happy anymore.” She just went off with Sabalom Glitz, which did seem somewhat out of character. I took it as her getting a lift back to Earth, then on realising he wasn’t really heading there she had to make the best of it – as usual!