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

Memories Of Elisabeth Sladen by @The_Knights87

A tear, Sarah Jane?

Has it really been a year since the whoniverse lost one of its most beloved actresses who also played one of the most beloved characters Sarah Jane Smith? I do believe so, unfortunately. I can still remember where I was when I heard the very sad and gut wrenching news. April 19, 2011 was a Tuesday last year and I was vacationing (or on holiday for you Brits) at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. I had just gotten back to the camp ground after a day filled with fun and to be honest quite a bit of walking. I headed into the mobile home and decided to unwind by checking my emails and maybe peruse the Doctor Who websites to see what news there was on the new season of Doctor Who. I did not expect the news that I did happen upon. That Elisabeth Sladen had passed away after a battle with cancer. I was devastated and crushed beyond all belief that Sarah Jane was no more. I couldn’t believe the evidence before my eyes and went to other sites for more confirmation.

 

Well needless to say reality fell in and after a phone call I started to remember all the good memories of Elisabeth Sladen and her time on Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sarah Jane was the first companion that I saw when I started watching Doctor Who and every companion that I saw thereafter was probably unfairly judged by how they stood up to Sarah Jane’s standards as a companion.

Sarah Jane is my favorite companion and her time in the TARDIS heralded some of the best stories in the shows history. So to me any companion that comes along has to measure up to Sarah Jane. Maybe because I consider Sarah Jane as the quintessential companion who hardly screamed and was actually looked upon by the Doctor as an equal. Or maybe the real reason is that Elisabeth Sladen was just so perfectly cast as Sarah Jane and her performance was always spot on no matter who was in the role of the Doctor.

Sarah Jane was a perfect compliment to the main star. I mean, is it no wonder that Sarah Jane Smith always came back. From The Five Doctors to School Reunion, Sarah Jane had made quite an impact and has withstood the test of time to garner two spinoffs. The Sarah Jane Adventures which brought Elisabeth Sladen a new and younger fan base. Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane was just such a memorable character that the Producers of Doctor Who were so much a fan of hers. I am so glad that Russell T. Davies decided to bring her back and then gave Lis her own show.

I had the very good fortune to meet Elisabeth Sladen. It was in 2005 right before the show returned to our screens with Christopher Eccleston and a whole year before she met the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. It was such a joy to finally get to meet her. Elisabeth Sladen was there at a convention signing autographs and doing a question and answer for her many American fans. If she was in a bad mood or annoyed with the convention organiser she didn't let on. (In fact she was actually, as were so many, this promoters guests through the years.) She went on with a smile and a kind word forthe fans that waited for a while in line to meet her and get her signature on their items. It was truly a great moment that will be one of the major highlights of my Doctor Who convention experiences.

So here is to Elisabeth Sladen our dear Sarah Jane Smith. To some she was a fixture of our childhood memories of Doctor Who. Elisabeth Sladen was a great actress and played a wonderful character that was unfairly took away from us and the world of Doctor Who way too early. In those memorable words by David Tennant’s Doctor in School Reunion she was “My Sarah Jane.”

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.

Not Quite a Sarah Jane Adventure

 #DWBar – Not Quite a Sarah Jane Adventure.

A Purely Fictional Account of the Viewing of K9 And Company.

“You would think it would be easier to say something in a hundred and forty characters without going over,” Sarah rolled her eyes at the screen in front of her. “Mr. Smith, you have that silly thing ready to play don’t you.”

“I do.” Mr. Smith answered. “However I don’t understand why the dog had his own series.”

“Hey, it was about me too.” Sarah sniffed then rolled her eyes. “Oh god, I’d as soon listen to my sonic squeal as that music.” She chuckled then. “Yes, quite convinced you’re actually an evil alien bent on world domination through appreciation of horrible music, Mr @ianrdw.”

“Mum!” Luke came through the door before Sarah Jane had a chance to hide what she was up to.

“Luke.” Sarah jumped up guiltily and stood in front of the screen of her laptop. “What are you doing home?”

“Finished up early.” He leaned up and kissed her on the cheek then peered over her shoulder. “Who’s @HighlandDude, Mum? And why are you tweeting?” He looked bemused.

“Oh fine, you caught me. It’s an alias, Luke. For me.” Sarah’s shoulders slumped. “It’s something Mr. Smith and I found. Idle hands and all.” She grinned. “It’s another dimension, I think. Mr. Smith managed to tap me in and we’re watching … uhm … old TV shows and commenting on them.”

“Couldn’t you do that here?” Luke looked a little concerned.

“Not quite.” Sarah sighed. “Oh we’re about to start. Queue it up, Mr. Smith. You might as well sit down and watch with me.” She perched in front of her laptop and got ready to comment about something else.

“Uhm, mum… That’s you.” Luke’s eyes had widened.

“Not quite, thankfully.” Sarah looked sad for a moment. “No, that’s just an actress who played me. Actually she’s not just anyone. Her name was Elisabeth Sladen, but we’ll talk about that later.”

“Mistress?” K9 had settled beside Luke on the floor.

“Yes, K9?” Sarah couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice.

“That is me, Mistress. I remember this incident however…” K9 started to correct.

“We’ll quibble about the details later, K9.” Sarah Jane sighed. “Just watch. I have tweeting to do.”

Article by @HighlandDude