The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Mel

This is a relatively recent phase, in terms of release order, and hasn’t entirely resolved yet. It’s also somewhat difficult to place in the chronology. Ace matured during the time when she played “senior companion” to Hex, but in these stories she seems to have regressed somewhat, although there are hints that these stories come after Hex. For her part, Mel has definitely had some changes during her time away from the Doctor; running off with a con man like Sabalom Glitz will do that to you, I guess. It’s a way to allow Bonnie Langford to play a slightly less bubbly version of Mel, while still having original stories. Because these are recent-ish releases, chronological order matches up exactly with release order, and no stories have been released in between as of yet. This era also remains unresolved as of this writing.