Good Bye Sarah Jane Smith

Saying Good Bye To A Sci Fi Legend:

Elisabeth Slader Of Doctor Who Fame

Passes Away Of Cancer at Age 63.

I've never hidden the fact that I grew up a fan of the british sci fi series Doctor Who, i've always been rather vocal about my fanship, my likes, my dislikes, all of that fun stuff. I can remember sitting on the floor of the living room on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching the reruns of the classic series on both PBS stations in the area, Boston's fabled WGBH channel 2 and New Hampshire's WENH (More commonly called NHPTV), both aired two episodes per day on the weekends, back to back, at different times, and always different ones, so I got a rather good amount of Who in my life growing up, which really isn't all that surprising, given how many people I know that claim my personality is an almost exact copy of The Doctor himself.

Anyway I'm writing about this because of some rather sad news that came down the news line today, the passing of Elisabeth Sladen, known to the world better as Sarah Jane Smith, one of the most beloved characters in the series, and the one to appear the most next to fan favorite Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), who, sadly, also passed away not long ago as well. Sarah Jane also was the first character to break off and expand the Who Universe, being the star of the failed spin off K-9 and Company, where she and K-9 would have went around their small town in the countryside of England solving mysteries, possibly with a van. She was also one of the few members of the cast of the original show to make it into the relaunched series in 2005, appearing in a handful of episodes as well as her own spin off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, which this time around lasted four years before Elisabeth's death effectively canceled the program, how this will addressed, if at all, no one really is sure.

Though to say she'll be missed is an understatement as many who fans will tell you, most of us had our first exposure to Doctor Who during the three and a half years of Elisabeth's first run on the show, working with the two that most old fans argue over being the best to play the role of The Doctor, first working with John Pertwee and his successor, Tom Baker, the man most credit with taking Doctor Who from being a british sci fi series into the international cult series that its become, most people will tell you their first memories of Who involved Sarah Jane and K-9 to some degree, fortifying herself into Nerd Lore forever, where she shall forever stay. Because thats the joy of nerd lore, you're never forgotten.

So like many, I will be mourning the loss of one of the best loved sci fi characters of all time... Rest in peace Elisabeth, you've long sense earned it.

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BC