An Emotional Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen, My Sarah Jane

So I'm sitting at my Mac thinking how on earth to start this blog. Anyone that knows me will know that words don't normally come slowly to me (keep the rude comments to a minimum please.) But this time I'm stuck, how to start, how to start? Ok, lets go back to last year, April 19th, 2011, to be precise. I was watching BBC News ,and not really paying much attention to be honest, then the headline was announced: "Elisabeth Sladen had passed away." Now that caught my attention as it did thousands no millions of Doctor Who fans around the globe. I reacted first with disbelief, she was only 63, then the tears came.

So why did the passing of Elisabeth Sladen effect me on such a massive scale? What did she mean to me? Well, to answer those questions I have to go back even further to my childhood and when I first fell in love with "The Madman in the Box" or The Doctor as I've always known him.

Saturday tea time, when Doctor Who was on, was always the same in my house. Dad and I would gather on the sofa to watch the latest gripping episode and then enthuse about it afterwards. Now I have to admit I am a little too young to remember Sarah Jane's adventures on their original television airing (I joined around Full Circle - Tom Baker time, and Lis had already left by then.) But I did have the Target books and a rather excellent Audio dramatisation of Genesis of the Daleks. The Target books were so well written that Sarah, and by default, Elisabeth's performance just bounced off the page. So I kinda fell in love with Sarah Jane through my reading and listening rather than watching.

As time went on I'd watch the repeats that were shown on BBC2 and later UK Gold but by then I knew she was something special. Here is a girl who is feisty, not afraid of giving her opinion or arguing with The Doctor but it was so so much more than that. Both the Third and Fourth Doctor loved her and clearly had a strong affection for Sarah. This was no acting, EVERYONE loved Elisabeth Sladen and what's not to love?

I seriously can't think of a moment where she ever annoyed me and even when she got stuck in the air ducts during Ark in Space it wasn't annoying, it was sweet. She had no flaws and loved human kind, a fact that was so central to The Sarah Jane Adventures. When she was brought back for School Reunion I cried several times. Lis played Sarah as a heart warming and emotional lady who had more than a few issues with the way she was left by The Doctor. Even now writing this and thinking of those final scenes with David Tennant "My Sarah Jane" - sob.

I strongly suggest any fans that haven't already seen any or all of her Classic stories, that they should do so. There isn't a bad one amongst them. I love all of them but I will share my favourite Sarah Jane moment.

Genesis of the Daleks - With the Doctor about to commit genocide and kill the Daleks for ever, he suddenly has an agonising moment of doubt. Enter Sarah Jane, "We're talking about the Daleks, the most evil creatures ever invented, you must destroy them! You must complete your mission for the Time Lords!"

"My Sarah Jane" Yes, but also "My Elisabeth Sladen" and don't I miss you.

Rest in Peace, Elisabeth Sladen 1st February 1946 to 19th April 2011

The Time Meddlers need your Sarah Jane Smith memories!

Hello, Doctor Who Bar fans! I'm Ian Redman, creator and co-host of The Time Meddlers (TTM), a Doctor Who podcast. Although I haven't had the time to contribute to any of the Bar's sessions in quite a few months - running TTM is like a full-time job! - I'm still helping David and co. with the behind-the-scenes maintenance of the Bar. But now, myself and the rest of the team at TTM Towers need your help.

Over the past two weeks, as the fifth and final series of The Sarah Jane Adventures (recorded before the tragic death of Elisabeth Sladen, who had been fighting against cancer) has been airing on Mondays and Tuesdays on the CBBC Channel, we've been recording reviews of the stories just after Part Two has finished airing on the Tuesday - these reviews have then been released two days later, on the Thursday, at around 5pm BST.

It's always been my plan to move the podcast to Saturdays once SJA has finished, but I've now decided to make this change to the schedule a week early; episode 7 will now be released on Saturday 22 October (again, at around 5pm BST). The reason for this change is so that we have that little bit longer to prepare and produce the show. "Why do they need longer?", I can hear you asking. Well, episode 7 will be a very special show.

For a start, it will be one hour long - at least. The first half will be a review of the third and final story of this series: Gareth Roberts' The Man Who Never Was, which airs this week. The second half, however, is the special part - and the part that we need your help with. Myself, David McClements and David Morgan (this is the first ever episode of TTM to be hosted by three people) will be looking back at Elisabeth's work on Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures (and, indeed, K9 and Company!), and we want your memories.

If you have a favourite Sarah Jane Smith moment in any of those three shows, or you'd like to share how you felt when you first heard the tragic news of Elisabeth's death, or you want to review any show in the Doctor Who universe that starred Elisabeth (you could even review Dimensions in Time, if you like!), then please get in touch (by 4pm BST on Wednesday 19 October).

You can email thetimemeddlers@live.co.uk with either text or an MP3/WAV audio file, tweet us @TheTimeMeddlers (preferably with the hashtag #TTMViews, if it can fit into your tweet; this isn't absolutely compulsory, but it would help us to round up all your messages) or post on our Facebook page.

We want this to be your celebration of Elisabeth Sladen and Sarah Jane Smith, so please do get in touch.

We hope you enjoy episode 7 of The Time Meddlers when it's released.

thetimemeddlers.blogspot.com

www.doctorwhopodcastalliance.org

A Sarah Jane Tribute.

The Hand of Fear

"When the TARDIS lands on Earth in a quarry, the Doctor and Sarah are caught in a mining explosion. Sarah is found clutching what appears to be a fossilised hand, buried in a 150-million-year-old stratum. Analysis shows the hand to be silicon-based and inert, but when Sarah begins to act as if possessed, the Doctor suspects that it may still be alive..."

On Monday and Tuesday night (9th - 10th May at 7.40pm) BBC4 will be showing The Hand of Fear as a tribute to Elisabeth Sladen.

The Doctor Who Bar will be running two sessions across both nights in sync with the episodes. So, join us tomorrow from 7.10pm as we watch Lis's last appearance alongside the 4th Doctor.


Follow us: @DoctorWhoBar
Email us: doctorwhobar@gmail.com

Elisabeth Sladen Tribute on CBBC

There will be a special tribute to the  actress Elisabeth Sladen tonight on CBBC at 6.45pm immediately after Doctor Who finishes on BBC1.

Elisabeth starred as Sarah Jane Smith opposite two Doctors, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.  She later reprised her starring role in Doctor Who in both The Five Doctors, and in School Reunion acting opposite the Tenth Doctor David Tennant.

She later got to meet the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith when he guest starred in her series The Sarah Jane Adventures, in an adventure called Death of the Doctor, which guest starred her predecessor in Doctor Who, Katy Manning as Jo Grant.

Lis will be sorely missed, not just by the children who currently watch The Sarah Jane Adventures but the adults who were kids when she first appeared as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who.