RIP, Elisabeth Sladen

[annathepiper]

Oh man, this one hurts.

Those of you who follow Twitter and Facebook as closely as I do already know this, but for those of you who don’t: the news just broke that Elisabeth Sladen, the actress who played Sarah Jane Smith in the classic Doctor Who series, the new series, and The Sarah Jane Adventures has passed away. And my heart breaks for her to hear that it was, yet again, due to cancer.

As many of you know I came officially into the Doctor Who fandom courtesy of the new show. But I can say with authority that Sarah Jane is one of the first Companions from the classic series that I very, very much liked, and I particularly liked her with Tom Baker in her run of episodes with him. Genesis of the Daleks, shown me by spazzkat in my marathon introduction to classic-series Dalek episodes, stands out for me as a shining example of a classic series episode.

Her appearance with David Tennant in the episode “School Reunion” remains one of my favorites of the new show as well, in no small part due to the scene where she finally is reunited with the Tenth Doctor. But her scenes with Rose as well are gold.

The official Doctor Who site has a confirmation and statements from several Doctor Who luminaries here. And I’m seeing confirmations all over Twitter, notably from Paul Cornell and from the gentlemen of the Doctor Who Podcast. It is a sad, sad day for Doctor Who fandom.

RIP, Sarah Jane. You will be sorely missed.

Talk to me about your favorite Sarah Jane moments, people? Let’s remember her together.

(And for those of you reading this on LJ or DW, I don’t have an exactly mood-appropriate Doctor Who icon, so I’ll have to make do with a Dalek with tea. ‘Cause yeah, I think tea would be good.)

Mirrored from annathepiper.org.

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

Her work on that show was what the Whoniverse is about for me. It's always been about loss and wonder and soldiering on in the face of both. Everything they did with her character on the new series and SJA spoke to that. There's a whole generation of kids she taught how to grieve and a whole generation of adults she taught how to move on after lost love, and we need those lessons so much today.

[annathepiper]

Hear hear.

I very much went 'awwww' at io9's article about her. And am all the more appreciative of her paving the way for us getting Rose and Martha and Donna and Amy today.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

In _Ark in Space_, the genetically perfect survivors of Earth's cataclysm - all tall and broad and athletic - discover that the only person who can fit through the ventilation duct and Save Them All is little Sarah Jane.

[annathepiper]

And just because of you, I bought this episode last night, and watched it all the way through. ;)

Sympathized with Sarah every time she looked like she wanted to punch Harry OR the Doctor in the face. Didn't know this was only Tom's second episode, either!

Liked the First Medtech character who has to take over command of the station. Sucks to be her, with her commander/life partner turning into a bug and all.

[miladygrey.livejournal.com]

I first met her through New Who as well, and one of the things that shone for me in "School Reunion" was the sheer joy on Ten's face when he saw her. Part of that was David Tennant's glee at getting to meet Lis, but it really showed just how special Sarah Jane was to the Doctor, and how special Lis Sladen is to the fandom. And that last huge hug at the end--"My Sarah Jane!"

I should go mainline some Classic Who now.

[annathepiper]

I wound up buying two classic Who DVDs last night just to get some old-school Sarah into our DVD collection. Bought "The Ark In Space" and "Genesis of the Daleks", the former because stickmaker recommended it and the latter because spazzkat had shown it to me and it did yea and verily rock, and I wanted my own copy.

Watched "The Ark in Space" last night. Very much sympathized with Sarah every time she looked like she wanted to punch Harry in the face. Or the Doctor. ;)

But oh god yes her interactions with Tennant. Sniff. I got pointed at the io9 article about her over here, and that pic of Tennant hugging her down in the comments made me go awwwwwwww.

[prettyshrub.livejournal.com]

I'd only seen a bit of old Doctor Who, but I was delighted to see here in the New Doctor who, and the Sarah Jane Adventures are a pleasure. I truly enjoyed watching her interact with the young actors.

[annathepiper]

We didn't give the SJA show enough of a shot at the Murk, I fear; we watched a chunk of the first season, and never got around to watching the rest. I feel like I really ought to get caught up!

(The over-the-top music strike every time they went up to see the supercomputer in the attic got to me, a bit. I hope they toned that down as the show progressed...?)

I really do want to see the later episodes that Tennant and Smith show up in though. :D

[prettyshrub.livejournal.com]

Sorry to have to disappoint you, but the music stays just as over the top.

There is some very cool stuff about Sarah Jane's past though, and you find out interesting stuff about the computer.

[annathepiper]

Darn about the music, but yay about the backstory!

[akadriver.livejournal.com]

I'm not even sure I can narrow it down to one favorite, because I love everything she's done, and have since I was little. But one of them has to be when she left the first time, and the Doctor dropped her off...in the wrong place. Just her reaction to it was priceless.

[annathepiper]

I don't think I've seen that episode! Which was it? I REALLY need to see more of her episodes.

[akadriver.livejournal.com]

'The Hand of Fear'. It's actually out on DVD, so you should be able to track it down fairly easily.

I actually need to get a copy of it myself, come to think about it.

[annathepiper]

Excellent, thank you!