Melanie "Mel" Owen 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.

EastEnders is a British television soap opera created by 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 programme follows the stories of local residents and their families as they go about their daily lives. Within eight months of the show's original launch, it had reached the number one spot in BARB's television ratings, and has consistently remained among the top-rated series in Britain. Four EastEnders episodes are listed in the all-time top 10 most-watched programmes in the UK, including the number one spot, when over 30 million watched the 1986 Christmas Day episode. EastEnders has been important in the history of British television drama, tackling many subjects that are considered to be controversial or taboo in British culture, and portraying a social life previously unseen on UK mainstream television.