Bonita Melody Lysette Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series '' Just William''. In the 1980s, she played companion Mel Bush in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', a role she returned to in the 2020s. She has also been known for appearing in various musicals in the West End and on Broadway, including shows such as '' Peter Pan'', ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', '' The Pirates of Penzance'' and ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

''. She also appeared as a contestant on '' Dancing on Ice'' in 2006 and 2014. From 2015 to 2018, she played Carmel Kazemi on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', for which she received the 2016 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer.

Early life and career

Langford was born on 22 July 1964 in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, and grew up in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. She attended the Arts Educational School, St Catherine's School, Twickenham and the Italia Conti Academy stage school. She first came to public attention when, aged six years old, she won the talent show '' Opportunity Knocks''. This led to the role of Scarlett O'Hara's daughter in the London production of ''Scarlett'' (1972), and work in the 1974 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'' starring Angela Lansbury, in the 1976 film '' Bugsy Malone'', the 1977 film '' Wombling Free'', and to still greater fame playing Violet Elizabeth Bott in the 1977–78 television series '' Just William''. During this time, she was appearing as a regular on a children's prime-time show made by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

called '' Junior Showtime'', along with child stars Lena Zavaroni,

Neil Reid Neil Reid (born 1959) is a Scottish people, Scottish former child singing celebrity, star, winner of ITV Network, ITV's ''Opportunity Knocks (UK TV series), Opportunity Knocks,'' and the youngest person to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart ...

, Perry Cree, and Glynn Poole among others.Kit Hesketh-Harvey in ''Country Life'', 22 January 2014, page 32

Career

''Doctor Who''

Between 1986 and 1987, Langford played the role of Mel, companion to both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors in the science fiction series ''

''. She returned to the role in 1993 for '' Dimensions in Time'', a special charity ''

''/''

'' crossover episode as part of the

's ''

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

''. She has continued to reprise the role in several

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

alongside the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy Doctors and in a cameo in the episode " The Power of the Doctor". In her first appearances one of her trademarks was a penetrating scream uttered while escaping from monsters. Langford made a surprise return to ''

'' in 2023 for the 60th Anniversary story ‘’ The Giggle’’. Also in 2023, it was announced that Langford would be returning to the series in the revival’s fourteenth series, reprising her role as a guest star, alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. She appeared in the two part finale ‘’ The Legend of Ruby Sunday’’ and ‘’ Empire of Death’’. The episodes were broadcast in June 2024. She will return to the role for the 2025 season.

Dancing

Langford was a featured dancer in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's popular light entertainment series ''The Hot Shoe Show'' which she co-presented with Wayne Sleep. On 23 October 2005, she performed in '' Children Will Listen'', a 75th birthday tribute to

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

. She is also a panto regular; recent credits include Peter in '' Peter Pan'' at the Richmond Theatre in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

(2008–2009); and Fairy Snow in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

(2013–2014).

''Dancing on Ice''

In 2006, Langford was a celebrity contestant in the first series of ITV's '' Dancing on Ice'', partnering professional figure skater Matt Evers. Their routines were characterised by the dramatic lifts and tricks they performed and were amongst the most ambitious in the competitions. Viewers saw her bang her head as she was spun on the ice during rehearsals, illustrating the danger of some of the moves they were attempting. Their appearances were also notable for the differing reception they received from the panel of judges (which consistently voted them highly, awarding them the highest total scores and the only two maximum scores from individual judges) and the voting public (who twice placed them in the bottom two pairs, forcing a "skate off" to remain in the competition). They finished in third place overall. Langford and Evers appeared again on the programme in the one-off ''Champion of Champions'' show which followed series two. They were scored second overall by the judging panel but again the public vote was less favourable and they were amongst the four teams eliminated in the first round of the competition. Langford then toured with '' Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice: The Tour'' in 2007. Langford took part in the Dancing on Ice: The Tour in April and May 2008. In 2014, Langford returned to '' Dancing on Ice'' for the ninth and final series (10 Week run), which saw the return of contestants from previous series. This time she was partnered with professional ice skater Andrei Lipanov. She was eliminated in Week 5 after losing out to Sam Attwater and his fiancé Vicky Ogden. In February 2014 she was announced as one of eight celebrities that would be appearing in ''Torvill & Dean's Dancing on Ice: The Final Tour'' between March & April 2014.

Stage and television work

Langford's appearance on '' Dancing on Ice'' reinvigorated her career. She returned to the West End theatre in 2006 playing the role of Roxie Hart in ''

''. In 2006 and 2007, Langford appeared in the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

tours of '' Guys and Dolls'' playing Miss Adelaide Adams, a dance hall hostess. In July 2007, Langford was a judge on the ITV series '' Baby Ballroom: The Championship''. In 2009 and 2010, she again appeared in ''

'' as Roxie Hart. Langford played the role of Roz in the first UK tour production of the Broadway musical, ''

9 to 5 Working time or laboring time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countri ...

'', which was launched at the Opera House, Manchester on 12 October 2012. In 2018 she took over the leading role of Dorothy Brock in the West End revival of 42nd Street, until the show closed on 5 January 2019; a recording from the end of the 2018 run aired as part of PBS's Great Performances’ third annual “Broadway’s Best” lineup in November 2019. In 2021, Langford appeared on '' The Masked Dancer'', masked as Squirrel. She reached the final and was announced as the runner up on 5 June.

''EastEnders''

On 5 April 2015, it was announced that Langford had joined long-running

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' for a guest role, later promoted to a regular role as character Carmel Kazemi, the mother of established character, Kush Kazemi ( Davood Ghadami). Carmel is described as an "overly protective" and "outspoken" mother. Commenting on the casting, Langford said: "I’m so thrilled and delighted to be part of ''EastEnders''. I’m a great fan of the show and think the recent 30th Anniversary was sensational and shows just how good British television can be. To be part of this family is an absolute privilege."

Personal life

Langford is the aunt of actresses

Summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, Scarlett, Zizi, and Saskia Strallen. In 1995, she married Paul Grunert, with whom she has one daughter. They divorced in 2015.

Performances

Film

Television

Webcasts

Audio

Theatre

Pantomime

Discography

Albums

* '' CATS (Original London Cast Recording)'' (2002) * '' Gypsy: A Musical Fable'' (original cast recording) * '' Wuthering Heights'' (original cast recording of Bernard J. Taylor's musical) * '' Oliver!'' * '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' * ''The Hot Shoe Show'' (TV soundtrack) (1983) * ''Just One Kiss / 'Til He Phones'' 7" (1984) * ''Let's Face The Music And Dance / I Feel Good (I Got You) / Take Me To The River – Nowhere To Run (medley) / Piano In The Dark'' (CD single) (1996) * ''Bonnie Langford Now (Selections From Her One Woman Show Live and Direct)'' (1999) * ''Jazz at the Theatre'' (2003) * ''Leading Ladies'' (2009)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Bonnie Langford
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Bonnie 1964 births Living people Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts British Soap Award for Best Newcomer winners English child actresses English female dancers English film actresses English musical theatre actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Actors educated at the Arts Educational Schools 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Surrey