Sarah Jane Smith: a potted history - 3 October 2007

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Sarah Jane Smith: a potted history - 3 October 2007

Patrick Mulkern traces Sarah Jane's path from Doctor's companion to fully fledged alien investigator.

"Have you met Miss Smith? She's my best friend."
(The Doctor, The Seeds of Doom 1976)

Months before she appeared on screen, Sarah Jane Smith was introduced to Doctor Who's legions of fans in the 1973 Radio Times Special, a magazine marking the programme's tenth anniversary. An evocative photo showed her in a medieval castle being menaced by a silver warrior. Actress Elisabeth Sladen revealed: "She can stand on her own feet. She'll always have a bash at things, believing she's right."

Barry Letts, the producer who cast Sladen, recalls of the auditions: "All the other actresses showed themselves either being scared or being brave. Lis was the only one who showed me both at the same time." She was introduced to third Doctor Jon Pertwee who - once her back was turned - literally gave her the thumbs up.

For those mourning the departure of Katy Manning (vivacious companion Jo Grant, the Rose Tyler of her day), any doubts about the newcomer were quickly allayed. In a nod towards feminism, Sarah was more resourceful than many of her predecessors and, as an investigative journalist, was quite capable of operating independently of the Doctor. Her nose for a story would kick off several of their Earthbound adventures.

Their association got off to a rocky start in The Time Warrior: Sarah was rankled by the Doctor's patronising manner and, for a while, believed him to be behind a mystery concerning vanishing scientists. Soon they were inseparable, fending off a Sontaran, Daleks, Ice Warriors and dodgy dinosaurs invading London.

But after a flesh-crawling encounter with giant spiders on Metebelis 3, she watched as the Time Lord's life ebbed away ("A tear, Sarah Jane? Don't cry. While there's life, there's...") - and Pertwee promptly transmogrified into Tom Baker.

The mid-70s period with Baker and Sladen is widely regarded as the apex of the classic series. An appealing rapport developed between the two leads and viewers lapped it up. Dependable Sarah survived torture by Davros, strangulation by a mummy and being taken on the rampage by a giant robot (à la King Kong's Fay Wray).

In The Brain of Morbius, perhaps her finest hour, Sladen gave a masterclass in convincing "blind acting": temporarily sightless, she stumbled around a gruesome Frankenstein-style laboratory.

After three years' service, Sladen knew it was time to move on. In The Hand of Fear (1976), the Doctor was summoned to Gallifrey and couldn't take Sarah with him. She was unceremoniously deposited back in suburbia, her travels at an end.

Sladen resisted several overtures to return to the series until, in 1981, producer John Nathan-Turner offered her a role in a spin-off pilot, K-9 and Company (unforgivably, the robot dog was given top billing). It was a joy to see Sladen recreating her character but, despite pulling in a respectable 8.2 million viewers, a full series wasn't commissioned.

This wasn't the end for Sarah. In a temporal twist, she teamed up again with Pertwee's Doctor, when Baker declined a role in The Five Doctors (1983). In the early 90s, she was cast in two Who serials made for BBC Radio, again co-starring Pertwee. Then in 2002, Sarah's solo adventures began in a series of CD dramas, produced by Big Finish and directed by fans Gary Russell and John Ainsworth.

With the rebirth of Doctor Who in 2005, it was surely only a matter of time before the Doctor was reunited with his "best friend". There can't have been a dry eye in the house when, in the School Reunion episode, Sarah crossed paths with tenth Doctor David Tennant.

Russell T Davies gave their relationship a new edge by explicitly stating she'd been heartbroken after being dumped in the 1970s. However, when invited to rejoin the Tardis, she refused: "I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own".

Sladen instantly won a new army of fans. My young friend Carl Rose (11) was bowled over when I took him to meet her on the Blue Peter set last year. She told us she was thrilled to be back in Doctor Who and signed his Radio Times (her first cover).

When he asked that timeworn question "What's your favourite story?" she replied, "Ooh, maybe Planet of Evil [1975]. It had an alien jungle that felt wonderfully believable, and Tom and I had really bonded by then".

Now, some 34 years after her BBC1 debut, Sarah has garnered her very own series. Lifelong fan Gareth Roberts, a chief writer on The Sarah Jane Adventures, says: "It's frankly bizarre to be writing for Lis as she was my childhood heroine! We loved her in my house: she was always our favourite. What's especially fun is expanding the character beyond the rather functional nature of a Doctor Who assistant in the 70s - we've given her a new purpose and given Lis more to get her teeth into. There's some very dramatic, emotional stuff coming up."

As Sladen told RT last year: "I walked away from this character but she never walked away from me."

**

Now take a look at our full guide to The Sarah Jane Adventures.

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