Mel Owen

Melanie "Mel" Owen (also Healy and Beale) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tamzin Outhwaite. Mel was introduced by executive producer Matthew Robinson and made her first appearance on 19 October 1998. Outhwaite made her departure on 12 April 2002. Outhwaite's return to the series was announced in October 2017 and she returned on 9 January 2018. The actress chose to leave the soap again in July 2019 and her final episode aired on 14 November 2019 when Mel was killed-off. Outhwaite proved popular in the role, winning multiple awards and critical acclaim for her portrayal of Mel as the character became prominent in the show.

During her original tenure in the soap, Mel was featured in high-profile storylines, such as a wedding to local businessman Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) to mark the Millennium Eve celebrations on New Year's Eve 1999; a problematic and dangerous marriage to criminal Steve Owen (Martin Kemp); a one-night stand with Steve's nemesis Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden); and a close friendship with Phil's estranged girlfriend Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin). Writers also placed Mel at the centre of a storyline marking the show's increase to four weekly episodes in 2001, when she is kidnapped by her ex-lover Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass) after Steve and Phil conspired to frame him for the latter's shooting (see Who Shot Phil?).

Throughout her time on the show, especially since her 2018 return, when Mel became more of a villain, she has become somewhat more "wicked" and has a harder edge, when compared to her early appearances. In her second stint on the show, Mel was included in storylines such as working for crime boss Ciara Maguire (Denise McCormack); colluding with Phil against Ciara's ex-husband Aidan Maguire (Patrick Bergin); a relationship with Phil's rival Jack Branning (Scott Maslen); an engagement and marriage with former policeman Ray Kelly (Sean Mahon); covering up Ray's murder after he was shot dead by her son Hunter Owen (Charlie Winter) for attempting to kill her; and trying to stop Hunter from going to prison and later harboring him when he escapes, which culminates with Hunter being shot dead by the police after he held her hostage and nearly shot Phil and Lisa's daughter Louise Mitchell (Tilly Keeper) after shooting her brother Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden). Following Hunter's death, Mel developed a feud with Phil's wife Sharon (Letitia Dean) and blackmailed her after learning of her affair with Louise's boyfriend Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters). This concludes with Mel being involved in a high-speed car chase with Sharon upon attempting to expose her affair with Keanu to Phil, only to end up subjected to a vehicle collision that results in Sharon rescuing Mel, before Mel is then killed after walking into the path of an incoming lorry.

In 1998, EastEnders acquired a new executive producer, Matthew Robinson. Robinson was dubbed "the axeman" in the British press, after a large proportion of the EastEnders cast either quit, or were culled, shortly after Robinson's introduction. It was reported that Robinson hoped the changes would attract more viewers and "spice up [the soap's fictional setting of] Walford".

To counteract the large number of departures, Robinson introduced several new characters, among them Melanie Healy played by Tamzin Outhwaite. In an interview with website Walfordweb, Matthew Robinson has stated that Melanie was "dreamt up to supplement the 'totty' contingent – running thin at the time". Robinson stated that Tamzin Outhwaite was "a shoo-in – and not just because of her beautiful blonde hair. Within a minute of her walking into auditions, hundreds already having trooped in and out of the door, I knew we had our star." Outhwaite has stated that she was given the role without having to do a screen-test. Mel was brought into the serial as a member of the already established Healy family, joining her brother Reverend Alex Healy (Richard Driscoll) and father Jeff Healy (Leslie Schofield) in October 1998. Initially Mel's relationship with Alex and Jeff was not disclosed to viewers, and it was several weeks after her introduction that Mel actually came face-to-face with her brother on-screen; it was revealed that she had been estranged from them for some time.

Author Kate Lock has described Mel as free-spirited, exuberant, a beauty, wild-at-heart, and "a restless soul with a troubled past". In his assessment of the character, author Rupert Smith surmised Mel as "a nice girl with surprisingly bad taste in men."

Mel has been dubbed as a chameleon, and Outhwaite has suggested that she liked to bring variation to Mel's characterisation: "When I arrived I liked the idea Mel was feisty and strong. I didn't want her turning into a wimpy character like so many women in soaps. You know, they're either bitches or they're slags or they're victims. I wanted to give Mel a bit of everything. Every woman has all those elements to their character. It's just working out where they come and go, and I don't think that's lack of continuity; I think that's a three-dimensional character."

Outhwaite has suggested that the wardrobe department struggled to come up with a static identity for Melanie at first; however, this she felt turned out to be a good thing: "What I really liked about it was, when we started looking for costumes [for Mel], the wardrobe department couldn't quite fit where I was going. I'd wear Army pants and trainers some days and then jeans some other days and then I'd be all suited and booted at other times. I said, 'That's what girls do! That's how I am. Some days I'm in scruffs and some days I'm really dressed up. It would be really nice to have a character who's not so predictable.'" Rosalind Powell, head of the EastEnders' wardrobe design team in 2000, said that Mel had "colourful and stylish" wardrobe from retailers such as Kookai and Oasis. Powell added, "Although she's a barmaid, she can still afford to wear nice clothes, she just doesn't have a very big wardrobe."