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 news-reporter.
Sarah-Jane Smith (played by Liz Sladen), 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 continuation of predecesor; Jo Grant – feeding into the wave of post-modern feminism, which swept the Western world – in the mid-1970s.
Sarah-Jane was headstrong and forthright and was not afraid to challenge the Doctor’s authority. Sarah was also able to whip up a band of alien savages; with courage and gusto – into fighting superior opponents.
Sarah-Jane was one of the longest serving companions, one of the most travelled – and also one of the most popular – to date.
She outlasted one Doctor and went on to feature in a special and (in a firsr for a Who companion) her own spin-off series – following her eventual series departure – in 1976.
She made good friends with Harry Sullivan, who was 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 different monsters on her travels, including; Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Ice Warriors and a memorable encounter with arch-Timelord criminal Morbius.
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 in a quarry, Sarah-Jane was forced to break into a Nuclear Power Station, to 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, Scotland!
Sarah-Jane made a further guest appearance in The Five Doctors – 1983, accompanying the Third Doctor, on his journey – to the tower of Rassilon.
Sarah-Jane’s popularity endured, long after her departure from the series; with her own spin-off shows.
