Pajiba

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

First Nicolas Courtney and now Elizabeth Sladen. My favorite companions of all time. Sniff.

I think she's only dining with 3 doctors (Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee). Four if you count the actor who filled in for Hartnell in The 5 Doctors.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite companion, but Sarah Jane would be on the short list. This sucks, but Elisabeth Sladen made her mark.

I think one of the reasons why Sarah Jane Smith is regarded as highly as she is as a traveling companion of The Doctor is that she seemed genuine. While I won't say she never screamed in fear, it was far more realistic in terms of infrequency and reason. She looked at alien things with the same bewilderment as the viewers did and was far less likely to question the answers the Doctor offered unlike may other associates. She would charge into a situation to help the Doctor because he was her friend, not just a source of adventure. Unlike many of TARDIS crewmembers, she seemed to take the approach like many of us watching did. And it was her acceptance of the fantastic and unbelievable that put her on the same level with the show's watchers.

The dynamic she held with both the Third and Fourth Doctors were each different, but equally real. She was genuinely heartbroken while Pertwee's Doctor lay dying and even altered her own approach when Baker's changed the rules. The rapport between the two had humor without forced laughs, arguments without spite, and a sense of love without romance. If there ever were a companion I would believe would have truly wandered the cosmos in the TARDIS for eternity by choice, she would be it. When she left (and not by choice), there was an emptiness that wasn't filled in properly. Oh there were good characters that came and went but more often than not they were not the willing avatars of the audience.

But I believe the one thing that truly set apart from others companions is that Elizabeth Sladen in every way owned the part even after all the years. When she came back to the role after five years and then later 30 years after her original stint, she was still Sarah Jane Smith. Other actors who returned to their Whovian roots never seemed like the same characters (maybe with Nicholas Courtney as the exception) Past actors seemed more like older people trying on clothes from their youth; they never quite fit and seemed out-of-date. But with Sarah Jane Smith, it was though she aged and we didn't see her on screen, but her character never left the active Whoniverse.

Take note Karen Gillian, THIS is how to be a quality companion. Tits and jiggle are cute, but without a sense of belonging there, you're doing little else than taking up space until your inevitable replacement steps in.

I wish I could say more, but I am in a strange position that, despite being British, Americans of my generation have more intimate knowledge of the original run of doctor who, thanks to the surprisingly low frequency of their broadcast on the BBC while I was growing up, especially compared, it seems, to how often the serials were shown on PBS.

She was great the times she showed up on NuWho, and definitely owned the role in the Sarah Jane Adventures, which was surprisingly good compared to the mostly dreck* that was the other Doctor Who spin off.

Affirmative, mistresses!

Sarah Jane: Surely he mentioned me?

Rose: Let me think. No, nevah.

Mickey, slapping 10 on the back: The Mrs. and the Ex. Every man's worse nightmare.

--------

Samantha: Stick my name on that petition to put Tom Baker in a protetive bubble, please.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure the "Dining with 10 doctors" thing means the 10 doctor characters that have already regenerated, not the deaths of the actors playing them.

I love the idea of this metaphorical banquet with the ten previous Doctors. Those characters have all died; it has always been made clear that Ten was not Nine in a new host, but a completely new and different man. And I know they are all happy to welcome Sarah Jane back into that not-so-forgotten fold.

Fucking cancer.

I've been waiting for your to post this.

FUCK CANCER.

~~~

Yup, makes me tear up every time too.

http://connect.in.com/youtube/play-video-goodbye-my-sarah-jane-de95d93d3b2f4e25589509a1ff6b56776efd9a93.html

I hope K-9's housebroken - I mean, I'd to keep finding piles of batteries around the house.

"Other actors who returned to their Whovian roots never seemed like the same characters (maybe with Nicholas Courtney as the exception) Past actors seemed more like older people trying on clothes from their youth; they never quite fit and seemed out-of-date..."

See: Rose Tyler, awful, terrible return.

"I hope K-9's housebroken - I mean, I'd to keep finding piles of batteries around the house"

-Nothing's worse than slipping in a puddle of ball bearings at 3AM.

Damn it Steven.. Why you have to make me cry at work...?