About a year ago, I was watching a lot of old Doctor Who stories, and many of them featured Sarah Jane. While Romana is probably my favourite, she's very close--there's something so eminently likeable about her, both as a character and the actress herself.

The interaction between Sarah Jane and the Doctor certainly differed considerably when he was portrayed by Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker, but was no less interesting in either case. I was very surprised and amused to discover that in her very first appearance, she was not only convinced the Doctor was up to no good, she actually conspired with medieval soldiers to capture him! 'School Reunion' in the new series was the first Doctor Who I ever saw, and what got me interested in it in the first place--it was a choice of viewing on the plane between London and Philadelphia--and she played a large part in that interest. Going back to the old episodes, I'm not at all convinced that she was actually in love with him as the new series seems to imply, but it doesn't bother me too much.

I haven't seen as much of the Sarah Jane Adventures as I'd like, but I'm going to have to rectify that. Forget rock stars or other 'important' people snuffing it, Elisabeth Sladen's death is some of the saddest news I've heard in a long time, and it just won't be the same knowing she's not around anymore.