Theory:Timeline - Melanie Bush

This page lists appearances of Melanie Bush in the order in which she experienced them. This timeline is based on observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events in each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is generally assumed, much like their TV story counterparts, that each novel, comic or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in.

The layout of this timeline is based in part on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, Lance Parkin's AHistory and other sources that allow us to make observations, such as DocOhoReviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databanks, the Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and The Divergent Universe forum. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Living in Pease Pottage

 * AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors
 * Mel meets two versions of the Sixth Doctor and an older version of herself in an area of Cauterised time. She sacrifices herself to return people to their own time before being restored to life and time by the Doctor - losing her memories of the events.

Travels with the Sixth Doctor

 * PROSE: Business Unusual
 * After a period of avoiding Mel out of fear that travelling with her would lead him on the path to becoming the Valeyard, the Doctor decides to bow down to destiny and accept her as his companion when circumstances lead him to Pease Pottage and Mel helps him defeat a Nestene invasion with the Brigadier.


 * PROSE: The Deal


 * PROSE: A Wee Deoch an ...?
 * The Doctor claims to be 991-years-old.


 * PROSE: A Tourist Invasion


 * PROSE: Mortal Thoughts


 * The Doctor and Mel defeat the Rainbow. (PROSE: Old Boys)


 * PROSE: The Eyes Have It


 * PROSE: Fegovy
 * Mel has been travelling with the Doctor for a few months, and is able to make sense of future programming code on a human spaceship. She also encounters the Chelonians for the first time.


 * AUDIO: Loud and Proud
 * Mel enrols the Doctor in an anger management class in Pease Pottage, setting this during the time she was helping him to improve himself.


 * PROSE: Change Management


 * PROSE: Swamp of Horrors (1957) - Viewing Notes


 * AUDIO: Intuition


 * PROSE: Fairy Tale of New New York


 * AUDIO: Mel-evolent
 * Mel is still trying to get the Doctor to exercise, setting this before Instruments of Darkness.


 * PROSE: The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up
 * The Doctor is on a diet at Mel's insistence, setting this before Instruments of Darkness.


 * PROSE: Dr Cadabra
 * Mel and the Doctor are aiming for New Year's Eve 1999, setting this immediately before Millennial Rites.


 * PROSE: Millennial Rites
 * The Doctor and Mel haven't encountered the Vervoids yet, setting this before Terror of the Vervoids. Mel believes she has been travelling with the Doctor for a couple of years, and has been taught how to operate the TARDIS by the Doctor. The Doctor is still following Mel's exercise regime.


 * TV: Terror of the Vervoids
 * The Doctor and Mel encounter the Vervoids on the Hyperion III. According to the novelisation, they have been travelling together for three months.


 * AUDIO: The One Doctor
 * The Doctor is also depicted wearing the clothes he wore in Terror of the Vervoids, and Mel knows how to fly the TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: The Juggernauts
 * According to the CD booklet, this audio is set after The One Doctor. Mel encounters the Daleks for the first time and spends two months separated from the Doctor on Lethe.


 * PROSE: The Ultimate Foe: Epilogue
 * The Doctor and Mel take a trip to Oxyveguramosa, but the Doctor remains within the TARDIS tinkering with a computer program developed by Mel. Mel is taken by to give testimony at the Doctor's trial.


 * TV: The Ultimate Foe


 * COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen Prologue: The Sixth Doctor
 * In an alternate timeline created by Rassilon and the Cybermen, the Doctor and Melanie find the Matrix compromised by the Cybermen during The Ultimate Foe.


 * AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors
 * The Doctor brings Melanie to Pease Pottage, believing that she can reunite with "her Doctor" there, despite her protests that she had left him on Oxyveguramosa. The Doctor meets a future version of himself in the process, who recommends that he take a trip to Sheffield Hallam University.


 * PROSE: The Ultimate Foe: Epilogue
 * After Mel returns from being taken by to give testimony at the Doctor's trial, it becomes clear that the Doctor wasn't aware of her absence.


 * PROSE: The Quantum Archangel
 * Mel has been travelling with the Doctor for years and recalls the recent events of Millennial Rites which also depicted her last visit to Earth, while the Doctor recalls the events of Terror of the Vervoids. Mel has met Daleks, and the Valeyard, setting this after The Juggernauts and The Ultimate Foe.


 * AUDIO: Catch-1782
 * According to the CD booklet, this audio is set after The Juggernauts. Mel spends six months at Hallam Hall, though she is amnesiac during this period and does not recall much of what happened in recent months.


 * PROSE: Instruments of Darkness
 * First depiction of Mel meeting with Evelyn, and Evelyn's life after traveling aboard the TARDIS. Mel guesses that she has been travelling with the Doctor for about a year, but finds it difficult to keep track of time in the TARDIS, most likely due to her extended time away from the Doctor in The Juggernauts and Catch-1782. The events of Terror of the Vervoids and The Quantum Archangel are referenced, and Mel mentions the Daleks and Chelonians. The Doctor's exercise bike is now in mothballs and covered by a dustsheet, suggesting that the Doctor has given up on the exercise regime devised by Mel. Mel's hair is significantly shorter than it was when she joined the Doctor, and she plans to grow it again.


 * AUDIO: Thicker Than Water
 * According to the CD booklet, this audio is set after Catch-1782. Second depiction of Mel meeting with Evelyn, and Evelyn's life after traveling aboard the TARDIS. Mel calls the Doctor out on his attitude and egotistical demeanour.


 * PROSE: Sold Out
 * Diamond Sharp references the Doctor's role in Terror of the Vervoids.


 * PROSE: The Best Joke I Ever Told
 * Mel knows the Daleks, and feels she needs to brush up on her knowledge of future technology after finding herself unable to make sense of Dalek technology.


 * AUDIO: The Wishing Beast
 * The Doctor and Mel encounter the Wishing Beast for the first time. Mel asks the Doctor to take her somewhere fabulous, leading directly into The Vanity Box.


 * AUDIO: The Vanity Box
 * The Doctor and Mel arrive in the 1960s, and encounter the Wishing Beast for a second time.


 * AUDIO: Spaceport Fear
 * Set immediately after The Vanity Box. Although the Doctor is depicted wearing his blue coat on the CD cover, he is described in the story itself as wearing his Technicoloured coat.


 * AUDIO: The Seeds of War
 * The Doctor recommends avoiding the work of agronomist Sarah Lasky, suggesting a post-Terror of the Vervoids setting.


 * AUDIO: The Death of Peladon
 * The Doctor and Mel visit Peladon.


 * AUDIO: Mind of the Hodiac


 * AUDIO: The Doctor and His Amazing Technicolour Nightmare Coat
 * The Doctor and Mel have been travelling together for years. They visit Kolpasha, suggesting a setting a few weeks before Spiral Scratch.


 * AUDIO: The Rotting Deep
 * The Doctor and Mel meet Hebe Harrison, one of Evelyn Smythe's former students, who joins them in the TARDIS. Mel is familiar with the Daleks, setting this after The Juggernauts.


 * AUDIO: ''The Tides of the Moon
 * Hebe takes her first trip in the TARDIS, setting this immediately after The Rotting Deep.


 * AUDIO: The Dream Nexus


 * AUDIO: Maelstrom
 * A while has passed since The Rotting Deep. The Doctor, Mel and Hebe receive an SOS from Hebe's friend, Elise, directing them to a location familiar to the Doctor.


 * AUDIO: The Mindless Ones
 * The Doctor, Hebe and Mel travel to Sheffield Hallam University, where they meet up with Elise, setting this directly after Maelstrom. The Doctor meets Patricia McBride for the first time, and the team decide to stay at Sheffield Hallam for a while.


 * AUDIO: Reverse Engineering
 * Three months have passed since The Mindless Ones, during which the Doctor, Mel and Hebe have been sneaking away from the university for adventures. Patricia summons them to Sweden to investigate a genetics clinic. The Doctor offers Patricia a trip to the future in the TARDIS, leading directly into Chronomancer.


 * AUDIO: Chronomancer
 * Patricia takes her first trip in the TARDIS. Hebe is erased from history after Patricia decides to alter history in a misguided belief she can make it better.


 * AUDIO: Broadway Belongs to Me!
 * The Doctor and Mel begin their search for Hebe in 1930s New York. Mel recalls her visit to the Hyperion III in Terror of the Vervoids.


 * AUDIO: Purification
 * Mel recalls spending six months living with her ancestors during the events of Catch-1782. Mel is aware that she and the Doctor initially met out of order, suggesting a setting after The Ultimate Foe.


 * AUDIO: Time-Burst
 * Set directly after Purification. Patricia successfully creates a new timeline where she is in control, and seemingly restores Hebe to existence, albeit a version who doesn't know the Doctor and Mel.


 * Mel and the Doctor visit the planet Caliban, where "something" upset her. She thus does not leave the TARDIS for a while, (PROSE: Curtain Call), and later treats it as her most recent adventure (PROSE: Spiral Scratch).


 * PROSE: Time and the Rani
 * Shortly after Millennial Rites, and according to Head Games, the Doctor is influenced to kill himself by echoes of his next incarnation. With the HADS deactivated, the TARDIS is attacked by, and the Doctor suffers a fatal head injury in the attack.


 * PROSE: Spiral Scratch
 * In the second depiction of his regeneration, the TARDIS is attacked by the Rani while the Doctor is suffering from chronon energy starvation after his confrontation with the Lamprey, and he bangs his head, fatally injuring himself.


 * AUDIO: The Brink of Death
 * In the third depiction of his regeneration, the Doctor is exposed to focused beams of a radiation lethal to Time Lords as a consequence of the Rani's attack on the TARDIS, due to a future version of himself sending him a message on how to defeat the Valeyard's master plan with his death.

Travels with the Seventh Doctor

 * AUDIO: Unregenerate!
 * The Doctor is still recovering from the effects of his recent regeneration, as shown by the large amount of the lindos hormone in his system.


 * PROSE: Daisy Chain
 * The Doctor brings a new hat stand back into the TARDIS console room. He acts much like his immediate predecessor, suggesting he is still recovering from his regeneration.


 * COMIC: Plastic Millenium
 * Mel is wearing the same clothes she wore in Paradise Towers.


 * PROSE: 24 Crawford Street
 * Mel is wearing the same clothes she wore in Paradise Towers.


 * TV: Paradise Towers


 * PROSE: Special Weapons
 * Pex's sacrifice from Paradise Towers is still on Mel's mind.


 * PROSE: The Invertebrates of Doom


 * AUDIO: We Are The Daleks


 * AUDIO: The Warehouse
 * The Doctor's umbrella is damaged, with him suggesting it time he acquired a new one.


 * AUDIO: Terror of the Sontarans


 * AUDIO: Maker of Demons
 * The Doctor and Mel broker peace on Prosper.


 * AUDIO: Bang-Bang-a-Boom!
 * Set between Paradise Towers and Delta and the Bannermen. The Doctor is carrying his red umbrella, setting this after The Warehouse.


 * AUDIO: Flip-Flop
 * Set between Paradise Towers and Delta and the Bannermen. The Doctor is carrying his red question mark umbrella, setting this after The Warehouse. The two versions of the story detail what happens when the Doctor is coerced into changing the past, but offers no conclusion about which of the versions is the "correct" one.


 * TV: Delta and the Bannermen
 * The Doctor has replaced his whangee handled umbrella with one with a large red question mark designed handle.


 * PROSE: Driftwood


 * PROSE: Pulling Strings
 * The Doctor is carrying his red question mark umbrella, setting this after Delta and the Bannermen.


 * The Doctor and Mel meet Emil Hartung. The Doctor realises he will have to leave Mel soon, so that her morals don't compromise his agenda. (PROSE: Just War)


 * PROSE: Uranus
 * The Doctor still acts light-hearted, but Mel is starting to feel alienated by him.


 * AUDIO: The Devil's Footprints


 * AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan
 * The Doctor acts more brooding, something Mel claims to have never seen in him before.


 * AUDIO: Red
 * Despite the Big Finish website placing this between Time and the Rani and Paradise Towers, the Doctor is carrying his red question mark umbrella, setting this after Delta and the Bannermen. The Doctor acts more brooding around Mel, setting this after The Fires of Vulcan.


 * PROSE: Have You Tried Turning It Off and Then Back On Again?


 * AUDIO: Bad Day in Tinseltown


 * AUDIO: The Ribos Inheritance
 * Mel begins to question whether she wants to continue travelling with the Doctor after seeing him blackmail a black market seller.


 * TV: Dragonfire
 * On Iceworld, the Doctor and Mel bump into Sabalom Glitz again, and also meet a time-displaced 16 year old girl named Ace. Mel leaves the Doctor to travel with Glitz. The Doctor offers to let Ace travel with him in the TARDIS, and she accepts.

Life after Glitz

 * PROSE: Head Games
 * Mel left 1986 four years ago, meaning she travelled with the Doctor for one year. She leaves Glitz after travelling with him for six months, spends six months hitch-hiking, then gets stuck on Avalone for two years. She discovers that the Doctor manipulated her into leaving with Glitz and they part on bitter terms.


 * PROSE: Heritage
 * Mel is killed on the planet Heritage, due to manipulations in the timeline caused by the Council of Eight. Following their defeat and the restoration of multiple timelines to the universe, this fate is no longer set in stone.

Reunited with the Doctor and Ace

 * AUDIO: A Life of Crime
 * Mel rejoins the TARDIS crew after being abandoned by Glitz on Ricosta.


 * AUDIO: Fiesta of the Damned
 * The Doctor, Mel and Ace have just left Ricosta, setting this immediately after A Life of Crime. The TARDIS interior has its Victorian parlour design.


 * AUDIO: Maker of Demons
 * At least one week has passed since A Life of Crime.


 * AUDIO: The High Price of Parking


 * AUDIO: The Blood Furnace


 * AUDIO: The Silurian Candidate
 * The TARDIS is on its way to a party on Maruthea, when the Doctor decides to change course and head to 2085 Earth instead. The Doctor refers to their recent encounter with the Galparians, setting this shortly after Dead to the World.


 * AUDIO: Red Planets


 * AUDIO: The Dispossessed
 * Mel delivers the TARDIS to Josiah W. Dogbolter, leading directly into The Quantum Possibility Engine.


 * AUDIO: The Quantum Possibility Engine

After the Doctor

 * PROSE: Missing, Part One: Business as Usual
 * Mel returns to Pease Pottage circa 1991 after years of travelling with the Doctor.


 * PROSE: Missing, Part Two: Message in a Bottle
 * Mel sends a message in a Bottle into space, hoping the Doctor will find it.


 * WC: 24 Carat
 * After many years of travelling with the Doctor, Mel hosts her show 24 Carat aboard her spacestation headquarters. The Seventh Doctor arrives and takes her with him.


 * PROSE: Death of the Doctor
 * Mel is working with A Charitable Earth to help provide PCs to children in Africa.


 * TV: The Power of the Doctor
 * In 2022, Mel meets up with other former companions of the Doctor.