RIP Elisabeth Sladen

The actress Elisabeth Sladen, well known to Doctor Who fans as Sarah Jane Smith, has died. Sarah Jane was my favourite companion. Sladen recently reprised the role as the title character in The Sarah Jana Adventures, which was a very enjoyable series.

Sladen was only 63 but apparently had been fighting cancer for some time, which makes her performance in SJA even more special, as it was quite a physical role. Half of the stories for series 5 of SJA were were ready completed. It is uncertain if these episodes will ever be aired.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4

The highlight of The Sarah Jane Adventures series 4 was undoubtedly the story Death of the Doctor. It featured the eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith of course, a darker side of UNIT, and former companion Jo Grant.

She left the Tardis because she was getting married, so she is naturally astounded that the Doctor allows married companions on the Tardis now. It's clear this story takes place after the events in the Doctor Who special, A Christmas Carol, since Amy and Rory are still on their honeymoon.

The other five stories are excellent as well, although there are times when they deliver the life lesson with a bludgeon. Thankfully this problem is specific to certain writers and isn't indicative of the overall production.

The younger characters, Clyde and Rani, were given much more story time in series 4 than in previous ones, which allowed for more character development. The super genius, Luke, has gone away to university which gave Clyde and Rani a chance to shine. They actually had one story, The Empty Planet, all to themselves, literally. In a couple of stories, the young assistants were the ones rescuing Sarah Jane, which was a nice turn about. I hope the trend continues in series 5.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3

I just finished watching the third season off The Sarah Jane Adventures. The highlight of the third series, was a full story featuring the outgoing Doctor, played by David Tennant. However, the other 5 stories were really good as well. Oh, and K9, the famous robot dog, now has a permanent part after the rights to use the character name were resolved. All-in-all, a very entertaining season.

The Sarah Jane Adventures

I just finished watching the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, another Doctor Who spin off. Although The Sarah Jane Adventures (SJA) is targeted at a younger audience, I enjoyed it very much. Sarah Jane is easily my favourite companion, even though she travelled with the Doctor for only a short time.

A few stories in the SJA series are connected to events in the current Doctor Who series but most stories are original and separate. My favourite from series two was The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith which showed that she is not without weaknesses.

There is a third series airing in the Autumn and David Tennant will appear as the Doctor in one story. Awesome! There no air date yet so I'll definitely have to keep an eye on that.