Our Sarah Jane

Actress Elisabeth Sladen who played perhaps the most iconic of all the Doctor's traveling companions, Sarah Jane Smith, would have been 67 today. Back in 2008 I remember watching the episode Turn Left, which depicted an alternate timeline where Sarah-Jane died saving the lives that the Doctor wasn't around to save. Even though I knew she'd be back at some point, when the Doctor Who universe returned to its normal state of fiction, it still made me sad. When Sladen died a couple years ago, it was of course sadder because it meant that Sarah Jane would never be back. For fans of my generation, I think that's even worse than Patrick Troughton or Jon Pertwee who we never knew as anything but past Doctors. Sladen was always Sarah-Jane, and one of the nicest things about the resurrection of Doctor Who several years back is that she remained a key part of the show's history. As the show's 50th year rolls along, it's unfortunate that Sladen and Sarah Jane are now only part of its past.

Rest in Geek Part 3: The Doctor's Best Friend

To a generation of Doctor Who fans, myself included, the character of Sarah-Jane Smith was our companion. Even (some would say especially) in the show's 21st century incarnation, the companion role is still an audience identification figure. In that regard, Sarah-Jane was a highly aspirational character, not just because she was a respected professional but more so because by the end of her time in the TARDIS she was very much the Doctor's equal. As one of the few companions to make return appearances to the Doctor Who since their initial departure, let alone get their own spin-off series, Sarah-Jane was almost as much an icon of the show as the Daleks. When she appeared opposite David Tennant in the 2006 episode School Reunion, it conveyed even more powerfully than the Daleks did the previous year that the 21st century version was spiritually the same show I'd loved for so long. In short, her character was an indelible part of my childhood that somehow sidestepped the ravages of time (not to mention the forces that make things you loved as a kid suck as a grown-up).

That's what makes the news that the actress who played her, Elisabeth Sladen died of cancer today even sadder. Sladen was 63 but really she seemed ageless. Unlike her fellow 1970s Doctor Who alumnus Nicholas Courtney, who died a couple months ago, very little of the almost 40 years between her first and last episodes as Sarah-Jane showed in her appearance. In addition to being another reason she remained an aspirational figure to fans, that's probably one of the things that makes her death feel so surprising.

The 2008 episode Turn Left depicted an alternate time-line where the Doctor had died and his friends tried to pick up the slack. Not surprisingly, Sarah-Jane was one of those friends, dying heroically in the process. I remember being surprised how affecting I found that off-screen death, which was relayed in a news report watched by a character who sadly had no sense of its significance. Having learned about Sladen's death in much the same way feels similarly sad.

Thankfully, the antidote is readily available in DVD form. Genesis of the Daleks and School Reunion sounds like a nice double-bill. It's as close to time travel as we can get these days.