RIP Elisabeth Sladen, 63

Elisabeth Sladen, best known for her portrayal of the Third, Fourth and Tenth Doctors' companion Sarah Jane Smith (also the star of The Sarah Jane Adventures), has passed away today.  Apparently she had been battling cancer for a while now, but had been keeping it quiet.  Very sad news indeed.

1948-2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13137674

Proof of time travel here is Liz a few months back almost four decades ago.

Guess I missed the post by a couple minutes.

I didn't even know she had cancer.  She'd kept it well hidden from the general public, it seems.

I think I'll watch some of her Third/Fourth Doctor stories that I haven't seen yet.

From the ages of four to six Liz was one of those special relatives that came to take me on a very strange evening out in that box bigger on the inside than on the outside (television).

And while Doctor may have stopped looking and acting like Tom Baker (I had already experienced this sort of thing when he stopped looking like that bloke off the SPLINK adverts and Whodunnit?) , Liz and Sarah Jane stayed the same.

She'd turn up every now and then, inexplicably dangle off a not too high cliff or twist her ankle (Susan Foreman syndrome) and then suddenly turn up again a couple of decades later, looking exactly the same.

BBC production values didn't paint a gloss over her and create the sort of barrier that can normally exist between an actress and a loyal fan base.

Look at the rather potty opening titles for K9 And Company and you might as well be looking at a family super 8 or camcorder memento of a damp holiday.

Watching Liz suffer an event as well intendedly petty as Dimensions In Time (shudder) feels exactly like getting to see Youtube footage of a well loved Aunty bathing in baked beans or dressed like a cat for charity.

There is a level of familiarity with her voice and face and general mannerisms (almost certainly false but undeniably there) which feels as true as almost any relationship in my life (family, friends etc) so it is indeed an odd sensation to read of the death of someone who never knew me but felt to me as integral a part of my life many of the people who know or knew me back.

It's difficult for to explain this to you HDTV CGI age youngsters but when you have hours and hours of footage (sound and vision) of someone you first 'met' when not being old enough for long trousers still meant something, not having any more from her really does sum up just how rubbish mortality is.

As Lieutenant Kinderman put it "Plainly speaking, it's a lousy idea. It's not popular, Father. It's not a winner." 

very sad news R.I.P. ,  Sarah Jane     : (

adywan said:

All the Doctor Who avatars that have appeared here lately, now seem strangely fitting

Jay and Moth3r really should be the Black and White Guardian though ;-)

I understand that the BBC are planning something for Saturday and half a series of Sarah Jane Adventures were filmed before Liz dematerialised out of our realm of experience.

Hopefully something can be done there.

Her final Who related project deserves to be a bit of an event.

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.

I hope Nicholas Courtney gets remembered too.

It has been a sad year for Doctor Who fans.

Like a lot of Doc Who fans, I was very saddened to hear of Elisabeth Sladen's untimely passing the other day.  She became something of an unattainable 'unrequited love', when I watched the show at a young age, and I'd no idea she was in poor health.

It's fitting that her 'old travelling companion' will be back on our screens this Easter weekend, so here's a couple of preview trailers for his imminent return -

But first, a little something from the previous series... - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvWYw0CnuSI

Series 6 previews -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIsQ25Krq8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMcNf7_gIwQ

and he's appearing in America shortly too -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVAgyBOe84w

Babelcolour has done a nice couple of tribute videos.

For Liz.

And For Nick.