Origin : Earth Companion to the Doctor – 1973 – 1976
“If you think I’m just here to run around making cups of coffee you have …..” [To the Third Doctor] – Time Warrior.
Forthright and headstrong young newshound.
Sarah-Jane Smith (played by Liz Sladen), first encountered the Third Doctor in The Time Warrior – 1973. She was an undercover journalist for ‘Metropolitan magazine’, who had gained entry into a UNIT conference; posing as a Scientist – with fake credentials.
Her character was a further positive step-up, from predecesor; Jo Grant – feeding into the wave of post-modern feminism, which swept the mid-1970s.
She was headstrong and forthright, was not afraid to challenge the Doctor – and quite able to whip a band of alien savages up, with gusto; into fighting superior opponents.
She was one of the longest serving companions, one of the most travelled and one of the most popular – to date. Outliving one Doctor and featuring in a number of spin-off series – following her eventual departure from the series – in 1976.
She made good friends with Harry Sullivan – the bumbling UNIT Doctor, during his short stint, travelling with the Fourth Doctor. Terror Of The Zygons featured a memorable moment of a Zygon duplicate of Harry – trying to kill Sarah-Jane, with a pitchfork.
She also encountered alot of monsters – on her travels, including; Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Ice Warriors and a memorable encounter with arch-Timelord criminal Morbius; amongst others.
It was, after temporarily being blinded by the Sisterhood, that Sarah-Jane was memorably harrassed by the Frankenstein creation of Dr Solon in The Brain Of Morbius – 1976.
She was one of the first companions to have specific stories written around her. The Hand Of Fear, is an example of a story, in which Sarah-Jane was pivotal to driving along the events. Something which had not been done before, in Doctor Who.
Having found (and been possessed by) an alien stone hand found in a quarry, Sarah-Jane is forced to break into a Nuclear Power Station and regenerate the dead alien into a powerful silicon based entity – called Eldrad.
At the end of this adventure, the Doctor received a message to return to Gallifrey and (as a human) Sarah-Jane was not allowed to go.
So the Fourth Doctor dropped Sarah-Jane off in what the Doctor thought was Croydon, London. However, it turned out to be Aberdeen!
Sarah-Jane made a further guest appearance in The Five Doctors – 1983, accompanying the Third Doctor, on his journey – to the tower of Rassilon.
Her popularity endured, long after her departure, with her own spin off shows.
