Goodbye, Sarah Jane
I’m not really able to come up with the words for this. She’s gone. She’s been my heroine since I was 14. My favourite Doctor Who companion. And now she’s gone.
Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane, died this morning of cancer. She was 63.
There’s some lovely tributes on the BBC Doctor Who site. In the coming days there will be obituaries and more tributes and many things to say about a marvelous actress and an enduring legend in the world of Doctor Who.
Perhaps I will join in by then. Right now, I can’t say anything. I’m too full of sadness. I miss my Sarah Jane Smith.
RIP Lis Sladen.
Posted by Graeme on Tuesday, April 19 at 9:22 pm
9 Comments...
Such sad news. Another bright star - and wonderful character - leaving our world. Elisabeth Sladen will be sorely missed by generations of fans. RIP.
Posted by Rachel on 04/19 at 10:44 PM
My first reaction when I heard the news was unprintable. I mean, I don’t think I’ve been this blindsided by the death of a public figure since Jim Henson died. Bless him, but when Nicholas Courtney passed away, it was not a huge surprise; sad, yes, but not a surprise. This one was an utter shock. Last we’d heard, she’d just filmed a few episodes for Series 5 (I’d heard they filmed part of the season back-to-back with Series 4.) And I watched an online version of Death of the Doctor, and if she was ill then, she certainly didn’t look it. In fact she looked younger than Katy Manning—and Lis was a year older!
I think the last words I heard from her was a reaction to Tom Baker being hired by Big Finish, and there were of course hopes that the two would reunite for an audio.
I hope the BBC is able to do something on Doctor Who in tribute to her. It’s highly unlikely they’ll be able to add something in just a few days - odds are the final broadcast version of Impossible Astronaut is already “locked down” - but given Steven Moffat’s wonderful tribute to Lis Sladen earlier today, I’m sure if he can do something, he will.
Posted by Alex on 04/19 at 11:16 PM
I was—and indeed still am—completely shocked by this. Somehow I never even considered the possibility of Lis Sladen no longer being with us. She just seemed so eternally young and vital. She was such a part of my childhood; in fact, the first Doctor Who stories I ever saw were Seeds of Doom, Masque of Mandragora and Hand of Fear (and soon after, TVO went back to several of the Pertwee stories, including Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon and Planet of the Spiders). So for a long time, Lis/Sarah was the person I thought of as the Doctor’s “companion.”
Like you, Graeme, part of me wants to write more of a tribute, but right now I still can’t quite take it in. It’s so very sad, and I think of how her family and close friends must feel right now.
Posted by Ben Hakala on 04/21 at 12:48 PM
everything you guys said before me, well, you took the words straight out of my mouth! Its consoling in a way to know that other fans are feeling exactly the same way you are.
Complete shock, she seemed so healthy, vital, so alive. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see SJA go on and on for years until they decided to rest it when it was still fresh and full of ideas. Never in a million zillion years did I EVER think this would happen.
Death is always sad, and we have mourned the losses of Barry Letts and Nicholas Courtney and many others just so recently, but Elisabeth Sladen’s passing really hit hard.
All I can say is thank you Lis for giving of yourself to 2 generations of children, letting us adults enjoy your character all over again in 2006 and beyond, putting so much effort into Sarah Jane, and fiercely defending Doctor Who always, especially when there was no show on the air. You have left us with a most memorable character that will forever be an integral part of the Whoniverse.
You once told the Doctor that no one would ever forget him. Well, Sarah Jane Smith, no one will EVER forget you either!
Posted by Ian on 04/23 at 08:59 AM
My sentiments are the same as all of you: shock, horror, sadness, disbelief etc.
Does anyone know of a place to offer public condolences online?
Posted by steven on 04/25 at 09:42 PM
You can offer your online condolences here:
http://www.christianmemorials.com/tributes/elisabeth-sladen/
Posted by steven on 04/25 at 10:18 PM
I am re-acquainting myself with the good Doctor and his adventures over the years - I first watched as a child in the 1960s and 70s, fell away in the 80s and 90s and was thrilled to see the series resurrected in 2005. Being overly sentimental I do like to see previous companions and Doctors make cameos in the current incarnations and so when Lis reappeared I was absolutely thrilled. To my old eyes she hadn’t changed a bit: she was as beautiful, energetic, funny, boisterous, daring, caring, and adventurous as she had been back in the golden days when she was THE bomb and the good Doctor sometimes had difficulty keeping up! I will miss her awfully, and I send my profoundest sympathies to her family. Fortunately, I still have some copies of my old video tape collection featuring a very young Lis. In them she will be forever young and vital, as immortal now in her own way as the Doctor is in his. Goodbye Elisabeth, safe travels…
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