Sarah Jane Smith

Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An investigative journalist who was a companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1973 to 1976. more...

Sarah first appeared in the Third Doctor serial The Time Warrior, where she had managed to infiltrate a top secret research facility by posing as her aunt, Lavinia Smith, a famous virologist. She sneaked into the TARDIS while the Doctor was preparing to follow the trail of a kidnapped scientist through time, and became embroiled in the subsequent adventure.

Sarah then found herself working with the Third Doctor and UNIT on a number of occasions. She was present when he regenerated into the Fourth Doctor at the end of Planet of the Spiders, and continued to accompany him on his journeys through time and space.

During her time with the Doctor, she encountered Daleks, Cybermen, antimatter creatures at the end of time, android mummies in 1911 England, ancient evils in 15th century Italy and other dangers, until the Doctor received a summons to his home planet Gallifrey and could not take her along.

Sarah had a flat in South Croydon, where the Doctor tried to drop her off at the end of The Hand of Fear (but, typically, did not get the coordinates quite right).

As a companion, she was confident, inquisitive and possessed a sharp mind as well as a sharp tongue. She was also a feminist — in her first appearance she was infuriated when the Doctor asked her to make coffee, and she often verbally sparred with fellow companion Harry Sullivan, who had an old-fashioned, chauvinistic and unintentionally patronising attitude towards her. Her feminism did not get in the way of forming close friendships with Harry and the Doctor, however. These feminist views became less prominent as the series went on, but Sarah never gave the impression that she was ever less than capable. She shared a good rapport with the Fourth Doctor, and is consistently one of, if not the most popular of the companions among fans.

Reprising the role

Elisabeth Sladen has returned to the role of Sarah eight times:

1. In a 1981 pilot for a proposed spin-off television series titled K-9 and Company where Sarah was given K-9 Mark III by the Doctor as a gift after her return to Earth. She was also said to have worked for the Reuters news agency. However, the planned series never materialised.
2. Sladen played Sarah again in the 1983 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors, appearing alongside Jon Pertwee once more (K-9 also made a brief appearance).
3. Sladen's last on-screen appearance to date as Sarah was in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.
4. In 1993 Sladen voiced the character of Sarah in BBC Radio audio play The Paradise of Death (Radio 5) together with Pertwee as the Doctor and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
5. Another BBC Radio drama, The Ghosts of N-Space, was made in 1994 (although not broadcast until 1996, on Radio 2), again featuring Sladen with Jon Pertwee's Doctor and Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier.
6. In 1995 Sladen appeared as Sarah in the Reeltime Pictures' video production Downtime, together with Courtney as the Brigadier and Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield.
7. Big Finish Productions has also produced a series of Sarah Jane Smith audio adventures set in the present day, of which five have been released and a second series has been announced.
8. In the third episode of the 2006 series of Doctor Who, School Reunion, Sladen will reprise the role of Sarah on television. K-9 will also appear.

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