Chris

Bonnie Langford's opening story was actually quite good (the "Terror of the Vervoids" segment of Trial of a Time Lord). The problem was, when they came to make season 24, Sly McCoy had been cast so late that no work had been done to establish what kind of a Doctor he would be. That had a knock on effect for the entire production, although to be fair the crew had even less to go on than usual because Mel was introduced in Terror as already being a companion. She never got an "introducing" story.

The upshot was that Mel, who was at first adventurous and enquiring (as well as a screamer) just became ... well, a screamer. A plot device there only to create peril* and give the Doctor something to do.

* Paradise Towers. She just happened to be wearing her swimmers, so she could get in the pool and then get chased by a malevolent robot crab (although in that case it was the equally useless Pex that rescued her).