CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF ELISABETH SLADEN AS SARAH JANE SMITH!

Sunday, December 17, 2023

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF ELISABETH SLADEN AS SARAH JANE SMITH!

A memorable image from Elisabeth Sladen's press launch for Sarah Jane Smith - 1973.

"Sarah had to stick up for herself. She was pretty forceful, especially at first, but then we allowed her to soften and adapt more to the circumstances that she was living in. Sarah wasn't only a feminist; she was feminine - a rather happy, forthright girl, with a lot of intelligence, and plenty of courage, too."

Elisabeth Sladen - Doctor Who Magazine interview - Issue 89

Discovering the joys, adventure and all[-round fascinating Doctor Who, primarily from the age of four years onwards, I had only the vaguest of prior memories of companion Jo Grant as played by the ever-gorgeous Katy Manning. It was to be Elisabeth Sladen as the plucky and lovely Sarah Jane Smith that I would importantly and formatively grow up with, and whom I had a major crush on, during the show's glorious 'Gothic Years' produced by Philip Hinchcliffe, as she and Tom Baker made a genuinely charismatic and wonderful pairing to watch as, every Saturday tea-time evening, they visited weird realms and fought truly scary and diverse alien threats within a series truly at the top of its production game, and which had a superb way of pulling in mass audiences with its conviction and thrills in storytelling. That the Doctor and Sarah, Tom and Elisabeth, had a truly special aura about them, which the general public and fans truly loved, was never without doubt, and the show, during the rest of its late 1970's aura was never quite the same again once Miss Sladen left the programme. We all loved Sarah Jane and Elisabeth Sladen back then and just as much now, if not more so, as she quite rightly became the ultimate companion of the Classic Series within pop culture history.

I was fortunate to have met Elisabeth Sladen on two occasions, once in the mid 1990's (at a Doctor Who - Companions book signing in London's Tottenham Court Road) and later in 2005 (at a Birmingham film/ TV fair), where she was just as marvellous, generous, and gorgeous as I'd hoped she'd be- bright, funny, instinctively razor-sharp, and an incredibly attractive person who clearly enjoyed the legacy that being such a vital part of Who had ultimately brought her. When her sad passing was announced on 19th April, 2011, fans worldwide of all ages were deeply upset - I especially remember weeping hard and long that evening when I received the news...

Gone but never to be forgotten, we hope readers enjoy this special assemblage of images from her stories as Sarah primarily across the Pertwee/Baker eras, as part of this special 60th Anniversary...

Unveiled to the public via the official BBC press photo call at TV Centre, alongside an enthusiastic Jon Pertwee - 26th June, 1973.

Unveiled to the press in her debut adventure costume. Colourised image by Clayton Hickman.

"I remember Barry (Letts) saying to me, 'Come along and meet Lis.' As they were casting for Katy's (Manning) replacement, i instinctively knew that this was the girl that Barry had in mind. Lis was probably the better actress of the two - a very talented lady with tremendous looks and a smashing figure... Anyway, he led me into his office and introduced us. We all stayed for coffee and some general conversation, and little did Lis know that every time her back was turned, I was making thumbs-up signs to Barry, who, when given the opportunity, was frantically returning them to me."

Jon Pertwee - Doctor Who Magazine interview - Issue 113

Monk-eying about with the ever humorous Jon Pertwee on location for Miss Sladen's first filmed adventure, The Time Warrior.

The Doctor must stop the Sontaran warrior Linx (Kevin Lindsay) in this posed publicity image for The Time Warrior.

Back on Earth and allied with UNIT to thwart the perils from the Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Sarah is terrorised by a flying Pterodactyl in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Trapped by the Doctor's dreaded foes in Death to the Daleks!

Investigating the mystery of the Temple of Aggedor in The Monster of Peladon.

Sarah helps the diverse Galactic Federation members in The Monster of Peladon.

Sarah is terrorised by the Ice Lord Azaxyr (Alan Bennion) in a posed publicity image for the story.

Sarah finds herself trapped on the hostile world of Metebelis III - the Planet of the Spiders!

Sarah watches her first regeneration as the dying Doctor Three becomes Doctor Four at UNIT headquarters at the end of Planet of the Spiders.

Tom Baker is announced as the new Doctor at a 1974 BBC photocall, alongside a happy Elisabeth Sladen and Pat Gorman as a Cyberman. Colourised image by Clayton Hickman.

The new TARDIS trio of Baker, Sladen and Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan, alongside the ever faithful Bessie roadster, prove a massive hit with TV audiences.

"My favourite assistant in many ways has to be Elisabeth Sladen, because she was so good to me - she was already there, you see, and I was joining. It was crucial that she and I made the chemistry right for me to be secure. Elisabeth, she's a wonderful girl, but she's also a beautiful actress with great sensitivity...She was marvellous."

Tom Baker - Doctor Who Magazine interview - Issue 179

Having fun with her new Doctor in Tom Baker, during a posed publicity shoot for his premiere story, Robot!

The classic King Kong story gets the Who treatment, with Sarah and the K-1 Robot (Michael Kilgarrif) in Robot!

Examining a dead Wirrn Queen alien in a posed publicity image for the all-time classic The Ark in Space.

Captured by the evil Sontaran Field Major Styre (Kevin Lindsay) in The Sontaran Experiment.

Leading a gutsy prison breakout with the kind muto Sevrin (Stephen Yardley) in Genesis of the Daleks.

Attacked by a lethal Cybermat device on Nerva Beacon in Revenge of the Cybermen.

Sarah is terrorised by a shape-changing Zygon in this great art by Tom Connell, recreating the classic Part One cliffhanger to Terror of the Zygons.

Making a fine companion pairing in their last full story together, in Terror of the Zygons. Both Miss Sladen and Ian Marter remained good friends after the latter left the series by 1975. Colourised image by Clayton Hickman.

Arriving on the hostile jungle world of Zeta Minor during the design-impressive opening episodes to Planet of Evil, the all-time favourite story of Miss Sladen's, primarily due to the perfect acting partnership she shared onscreen with Tom Baker.

The Doctor and Sarah find themselves back in Earth's past as the evil Osiran war lord Sutekh is about to be freed from one of the Pyramids of Mars.

Sarah's previously unrevealed skills as a crack shot rifle user are revealed in this story.

Lovely on set image of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen taken during filming. The pair had become a remarkable onscreen combination loved by audiences of all ages.

An android duplicate of Sarah Jane almost fools the Doctor in a return to Earth so as to fight The Android Invasion.

Look behind you! On the desolate planet of Karn, Sarah, having been temporarily blinded, recovers to the terror of The Brain of Morbius.

The Doctor and Sarah witness the self sacrifice of the witch-like Sisterhood of Karn's leader in the final to The Brain of Morbius.

Ready to protect the world from biological disaster, our heroes encounter the Krynoid in The Seeds of Doom.

Rediscovering the original console room, the TARDIS is soon hi-jacked by a deadly energy force in The Masque of Mandragora.

Arrived in Renaissance Italy, Sarah enjoys the company of Giuliano (Gareth Armstrong) in The Masque of Mandragora.

Back on modern Earth, Sara is ensnared by The Hand of Fear.

Kastrian alien Eldrad (Judith Paris) must live, in The Hand of Fear.

"Till we meet again, Sarah!" The Doctor and Sarah part company in a special good bye scene mostly improvised by Miss Sladen and Tom Baker.

Back at her home in Hillview Road, South Croydon. Or is it?

Though deciding not to come back for Tom Baker's finale story as Sarah. Miss Sladen did agree to be the star of her own one-off special, in K-9 and Company, which aired to ratings success in Xmas 1981.