“A tear, Sarah Jane?”

I join with the rest of the Doctor Who community in having to, with great sadness, report the death of Actress Elisabeth Sladen at the age of 63. Elisabeth Sladen is best known to Whovians worldwide, of course, as Sarah Jane Smith.

Here is the official BBC news release

Elisabeth Sladen

19th Apr 2011

It is with much sadness that we can announce Elisabeth Sladen, the much-loved actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and CBBC’s The Sarah Jane Adventures, passed away this morning. She was 63.

Lis first appeared as Sarah Jane in Doctor Who in 1973 alongside the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee and stayed for three and half seasons working alongside Jon and the Fourth Doctor Tom Baker. She returned to the role on numerous occasions over the years and, in 2007, was given her own spin-off series on CBBC – The Sarah Jane Adventures – where she would appear alongside new Doctors David Tennant and Matt Smith.

The Sarah Jane Adventures brought Lis a whole new generation of fans who grew up to love her alien-busting adventures. The series was hugely popular with fans young and old and won this year’s RTS Award for best children’s drama.

Controller of CBBC Damian Kavanagh said tonight: “I’m deeply saddened and shocked by the news of Lis’ untimely death. Lis brought joy, excitement and a sense of wonder to her many fans in her role as Sarah Jane Smith. She was adored by our young audience and I know all of them will miss her as much as I will.”

The creator of The Sarah Jane Adventures Russell T Davies said: “I absolutely loved Lis. She was funny and cheeky and clever and just simply wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith; the world was lucky to have Lis.”

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s Lead Writer and Executive Producer said: “‘Never meet your heroes’ wise people say. They weren’t thinking of Lis Sladen.

“Sarah Jane Smith was everybody’s hero when I was younger, and as brave and funny and brilliant as people only ever are in stories. But many years later, when I met the real Sarah Jane – Lis Sladen herself – she was exactly as any child ever have wanted her to be. Kind and gentle and clever; and a ferociously talented actress, of course, but in that perfectly English unassuming way.

“There are a blessed few who can carry a whole television show on their talent and charisma – but I can’t think of one other who’s done it quite so politely. I once showed my son Joshua an old episode of Doctor Who, in which Lis appeared. “But that’s Sarah Jane,” he said, confused “In old Doctor Who. From years ago. How come she always look exactly the same?” It’s not a comfort today, of course, but children will still be saying that fifty years from now.”

Keith Jones, Director, BBC Cymru Wales, said: “The Sarah Jane Adventures has been one of the most successful children’s programmes on television in recent years – and without Elisabeth Sladen it would not have happened. A brilliant presence on screen and on set, she brought the excitement and energy of the Doctor Who family of programmes, of which we are very proud at BBC Wales, to a whole new generation. She will be missed by all at BBC Wales who worked with her.”

Roger Carey, who represented Lis for many years, said. “She was not just a client, but a dear friend. She was so positive about life and her natural energy was intoxicating. She couldn’t believe her luck when her career was resurrected in her own series.”

Lis had been suffering from cancer. She leaves behind a husband, actor Brian Miller, and her daughter, Sadie.

Sladen joined Doctor Who as Sarah Jane Smith in 1973, alongside Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor. She replaced Katy Manning’s Jo Grant as the Doctor’s companion. Her first story was The Time Warrior. And, after just her first story, it seemed Sarah Jane made an instant impression. As noted in the analysis of the episode on the official website:

‘Given the brief that she was into women’s lib, Holmes made the most of the humour in the situation. In a medieval cloakroom, [Sarah] complains about a serving woman’s attitudes. “You’re living in the middle ages!” she yells, before realising what a stupid comment this is. Holmes gently poked fun at the libbers’ concepts, whilst endorsing them at the same time. Sarah is given plenty to do, and demonstrates her bravery and versatility throughout the tale. “There’s always something you can do,” she tells Sir Edward, “it is just a matter of working out what.”

‘Elisabeth Sladen was absolutely wonderful in her first serial. She made Sarah aggressive (“Get lost!”), wistful (“I could just murder a cup of tea…”) and cute as well. She had an infectious smile and an air of conviction about what she did… She was courageous and charming, clever and annoying – all at once.’

Sarah continued to travel with the Third Doctor right up to his regeneration in Planet of the Spiders. She is with the Third Doctor at the end of his life, in one of the more touching moments of the Classic Series.

After the regeneration, Sarah Jane continues to travel with Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, meeting some of his greatest enemies, including the Daleks, and their creator Davros, in what many cite as the “Golden Age” of Doctor Who. The end of the road for Sarah Jane comes in The Hand of Fear. At the end of this adventure, the Fourth Doctor receives a telepathic summons to Gallifrey. Humans are not allowed, so he must part company with Sarah Jane in a touching farewell moment.

Although she would appear in The Five Doctors, and she would record several audio adventures, Sladen would not return to the world of Who until the series revival in 2005. Russel T. Davies, the new showrunner for the revived series, had been a huge Sarah Jane fan. While having lunch with Sladen in 2005, Davies pitched the idea of Sarah Jane returning for an episode of the revived show’s Second Series. Sladen agreed and found herself acting in School Reunion, alongside Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. The episode served to bridge the gap between when we last saw Sarah Jane and now, with creative in-jokes and reminiscing scenes. Sarah Jane, we find out, has continued her career as a journalist, and is now investigating strange happenings at DeffryVale High School. The Doctor and Rose, after being called in by Mickey, are already undercover. He is posing as the new Physics Teacher, John Smith. She is posing as a lunch lady. Sarah Jane infiltrates the school by claiming to be doing a profile on the new Headmaster, Mr. Finch. When she first meets Mr. Smith during faculty introductions, she does not realize it is the Doctor. But, after she finds the TARDIS in the basement, she finally meets the Doctor again. Together, the Doctor, Sarah Jane, Rose, Mickey and K-9 manage to foil the plot of the villainous Krillitanes. After the battle is over, Sarah Jane refuses the offer of a return to the TARDIS, opting instead for a proper goodbye from the Doctor. The Doctor leaves her with a newly rebuilt K-9 as a parting gift. The farewell between Sarah Jane and the Doctor remains one of the most touching moments of the Tenth Doctor’s era.

Sarah Jane’s appearance in Doctor Who served to legitimately tie the new series to the Classic series. And, her appearance proved so popular that it paved the way for a spin off show on CBBC, The Sarah Jane Adventures. This series fleshed out the life Sarah Jane has created for herself as an investigative journalist and gave her a supporting cast, including neighbors and an “adopted son.” Throughout the series first two seasons, she faced new enemies, in addition to enemies who have previously appeared in Doctor Who.

Sarah Jane returned to Doctor Who, as part of the “Children of Time”, in the epic two-part finale finale for Series Four. This epsiode further served to tie the old and new series together, as Sarah Jane and Davros recognize each other.

The two episodes that make up the finale, The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End would mark the end of David Tennant’s last regular series as the Doctor. Tennant would make five more specials before leaving the role. This episode would also see the first interaction between the Doctor and Sarah Jane’s son, Luke Smith. At the end of this episode, all of the Doctor’s companions leave, leaving him alone again in the TARDIS.

After Journey’s End, but before his regeneration in The End of Time, Part Two, The Tenth Doctor would visit Sarah Jane on her home turf, appearing in two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The two-part story, titled The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, sees the Doctor return to stop a revenge plot by the Trickster to get Sarah Jane to marry a man named Peter Dalton and give up her life defending the Earth. The Doctor arrives just as the marriage ceremony is almost finished and the Trickster separates the Doctor, Luke, Clyde, Rani and K-9 from Sarah Jane by trapping them in separate looped seconds. In the end, the Doctor forces Sarah to make the difficult choice of forcing Peter to give up the new life Trickster has given him to break his agreement and defeat him. Peter, who should have died, vanishes and the wedding is canceled. Afterward, in Sarah Jane’s attic, the Doctor appears in the TARDIS and the kids get a look inside. After the kids are shown out, there is yet another poignant goodbye.

Ironically, these scenes were shot after filming had concluded on The End of Time, Part Two, so these were David Tennant’s final performances as the Doctor. In fact, David’s final filmed line as the Doctor is “You two, with me, spit spot.”

Sarah Jane and the Tenth Doctor meet, very briefly, for the last time, in The End of Time, Part Two. Just prior to his regeneration, the Tenth Doctor visits all of his companions one last time. He saves Luke from being run over while crossing the street. As he walks off Luke recognizes him and runs to get his mother. As the Doctor and Sarah Jane lock eyes, she realizes the time has come. Elisabeth Sladen’s expression in this brief scene negates the need for words. It is a truly emotional moment.

After this, of course, the Tenth Doctor regenerates into the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. Russel T Davies would turn control of the series over to Steven Moffat, and the show would be reborn again. But, again it would be the Sarah Jane Adventures that would bridge the gap between the new and old, bringing the eras of the Classic series, the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor together in an episode featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and the return of Katy Manning as Jo Grant in a  two-part episode written by Russel T Davies entitled “The Death of the Doctor.”

The episode is full of in-jokes and nods to the Classic series and Katy and Elisabeth seem to have a wonderful time bringing together these two former companions for the first time. Matt Smith jumped at the chance to do the episode and Russell was thrilled to write for him. Towards the end of the episode, there is another touching scene between Jo, Sarah Jane and the Doctor in the TARDIS. Little did anyone know at the time that it would be Sarah Jane who was bidding the Doctor farewell for the last time.

And so, we come to the present. Three episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures‘ fifth series have been filmed. It is unknown whether they will ever be broadcast or released. In a twist of cruel irony, the final story of Series four was titled Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith. In addition, the producers of Doctor Who have announced a tribute to Elisabeth is planned as the show return for it’s Sixth Series on Saturday.

Sarah Jane was made into several action figures by Character Options, in both the Doctor Who line and the Sarah Jane Adventures line.

[nggallery id=253]

Elisabeth Sladen left a lasting legacy on four generations of Doctor Who fans. She traveled with five Doctors and touched the hearts of millions of fans worldwide. She will be greatly missed.