Mel
probably doesn’t top too many people’s best companion lists, and she’s not one
of my favorites, either, but really, I don’t think she’s bad at all. More than anything, I think she’s a little
like Victoria in that the sheer decibel level of her screams can give off the
impression that that’s all she does.
When you really look at her, though, that’s not all there is to see – or
rather, hear (a few spoilers for “The Trial of a Time Lord.”)
One of
the most curious things about Mel is the fact that we never actually see the
Doctor meet her. After the Valeyard uses
Matrix recordings of the Doctor’s past as evidence against him in “The Trial of
a Time Lord,” the Doctor uses his future for his defense, and it’s in these
latter recordings that we see Mel already established as his next companion
after Peri. Mel is then plucked out of
that future and brought in to testify, and when the Master shows up and the
trial goes to hell, Mel jumps in to help the Doctor and, it would seem, just
continues on with him after that. Now,
it holds nothing to the timey-wimeyness of the new series, but for classic Who, that’s pretty recursive.
At times,
Mel can feel a bit “generic companion,” which can make it hard to get a read on
her. Her main hooks that people tend to
mention (other than the ear-splitting screams) are her fitness kick and her
incredible memory. Our first image of
Mel involves watching her, bright and peppy, harangue the Doctor on an exercise
bike while pushing carrot juice on him, and there are a few times on their
adventures when she seeks out some physical activity as recreation. Meanwhile, her gift of total recall, although
it doesn’t get a ton of play, is brought up now and again and, in one instance,
clues the Doctor in to something major.
Personality-wise,
she’s very high-energy (probably another reason she’s so often associated with
her interest in physical fitness – she never stops moving,) cheerful and just a
touch precocious. She makes for an
interesting contrast with Six, who can be awfully full of himself and not the
most considerate. While Peri tended to
clash more with Six, Mel doesn’t really seem all that bothered by his moods. She approaches most things optimistically and
usually irks Six more than the other way around. Seven, in his first season, is still sort of
coalescing into the Doctor he eventually settles into more with Ace, but his
1.0 personality seems to mesh nicely with Mel’s. She’s curious, clever, and brave (the ole
companion trifecta,) and she’s always gung-ho to dive in and investigate.
Where I
think Mel’s characterization stumbles a bit is in the occasional sense of her
being a “points for effort” companion.
She generally has good instincts and the initiative to follow up on
them, but the results she yields are usually small. Not that she doesn’t contribute – she
frequently plays a part in the ultimate solution, and she has a fine head for
Excellent Questions. Rather, she doesn’t
just get a lot of big “save the day” moments, or even “save the situation”
moments. She gets more assists than
scores of her own, and that, I think, can make it easier to discount her value
as a companion.
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