Greatest Doctor Who girl ever, is how the British tabloid The Sun reports the sad death of Elisabeth Sladen yesterday, at the age of 65. The paper reports how Doctor Who fans are in mourning over the loss of one of the most popular actors to have worked on the series. The Guardian confirms the tribute stating Sladen is widely regarded as the most beloved companion in the show's 48-year-history.

BBC News interviewed former Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies, who spoke of her love for the character of Sarah Jane and how devastated the Doctor Who family are at the loss. "It was a joy to know the woman", he said "and an honour to work with her".

Sladen had been suffering with Cancer, something known only to her close family and friends. Davies spoke of her privacy and how she hated any fuss. "She would give me a good nudge in the ribs for talking about her on the Radio" he said. "She was a great great woman and a great actor... If I'm glad about anything in my career I'm so glad we brought her back, so a whole new generation of children could fall in love with her"

The loss has made headlines around the world, reported in publications from the US to Australia and from Canada to New Zealand, with the news trending on Twitter for much of the evening - a number of media articles are listed below.

The BBC's heavyweight news programme Newsnight closed its Tuesday edition with Jeremy Paxman reading a tribute to Sladen and a clip from The Sarah Jane Adventures. The following morning saw a tribute running on BBC Breakfast and the BBC News channel throughout the morning - this is available to watch via the BBC News website. The Classic Doctor Who channel on YouTube features a section highlighting her work on Doctor Who.

Other broadcasters also covered the news, with items running on Sky News, ITV's Daybreak and Lorraine shows, and even on Channel 10's news in Australia.

Many fans and colleagues have also posted tributes, which are reported in our earlier article.

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Many tributes have been paid Elisabeth Sladen who died earlier today.

Russell T Davies who brought the character of Sarah Jane back to Doctor Who and who later created The Sarah Jane Adventures said: "I absolutely loved Lis. She was funny and cheeky and clever and just simply wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith; the world was lucky to have Lis."

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's current Lead Writer and Executive Producer said:"Sarah Jane Smith was everybody's hero when I was younger, and as brave and funny and brilliant as people only ever are in stories. But many years later, when I met the real Sarah-Jane - Lis Sladen herself - she was exactly as any child ever have wanted her to be. Kind and gentle and clever; and a ferociously talented actress, of course, but in that perfectly English unassuming way."

John Barrowman, who worked with Sladen on Doctor Who, posted on twitter:"I loved my time on the Tardis with her. I am proud to have worked with such an icon of the sci fi world, your Dr Who family are very sad and will miss you and your beautiful smile."

Keith Jones, Director, BBC Cymru Wales which make The Sarah Jane Adventures, said:"A brilliant presence on screen and on set, she brought the excitement and energy of the Doctor Who family of programmes, of which we are very proud at BBC Wales, to a whole new generation. She will be missed by all at BBC Wales who worked with her."

Damian Kavanagh The Controller of CBBC said :"Lis brought joy, excitement and a sense of wonder to her many fans in her role as Sarah Jane Smith. She was adored by our young audience and I know all of them will miss her as much as I will."

Roger Carey, who represented Lis for many years, said:"She was not just a client, but a dear friend. She was so positive about life and her natural energy was intoxicating. She couldn't believe her luck when her career was resurrected in her own series."

Mary Tamm, who played Romana in the classic series, said: "Sad, sad day. Just heard the news of Elisabeth Sladen's death. I can honestly say she was one of the loveliest women I ever met - beautiful, talented, charming and clever. I was over the moon for her when her career in who was resurrected with the Sarah Jane Adventures; she was brilliant in it. how we will all miss her. Goodbye Liz, you were loved more than you knew, dear friend."

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You can listen to a tribute to Elisabeth Sladen from Russell T Davies via BBC News, and BBC Worldwide have published a YouTube playlist of Sladen's finest moments.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of the actress Elisabeth Sladen - forever known to us as the Doctor's best friend, Sarah Jane Smith.

Born in Liverpool in February 1946, Elisabeth Sladen took an interest in acting from an early age; she joined the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company as assistant stage manager after drama school, where she would meet her future husband Brian Miller. After a stint touring the country in repertory, she settled in Manchester, during which she had her breakthrough television role in 1970, appearing as Anita Reynolds in Coronation Street. More small roles were to follow in popular shows like Doomwatch, Z Cars and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

Then in 1973 came what would be her defining role as she was cast as the replacement companion for third Doctor Jon Pertwee. Following in the footsteps of popular companion Jo Grant played by Katy Manning, Sladen was to hit the ground running as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith in her debut story The Time Warrior, and over the next three years would see her popularity soar as she became part of what is arguably known as the "golden years" of Doctor Who alongside fourth Doctor Tom Baker, an era including the story frequently appearing top of fan polls, Genesis of the Daleks.

Despite choosing to leave the programme in 1976, with an emotional departure scene at the conclusion of the serial The Hand of Fear, Sladen later stated in interviews that although she had left Sarah Jane, "Sarah Jane never left me". Although she declined producer John Nathan-Turner's offer to come back as support for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration (being present at his own arrival at the end of this week's DVD release Planet of the Spiders), she did returned to the role for the 1981 pilot: having been described by the Doctor as his best friend, Sarah was form her second long-lasting partnership with his "second-best friend" in the titular K9 and Company.

Sladen was re-united with "her" Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in the 1983 20th anniversary celebration The Five Doctors, and again during the 1990s for the two radio stories The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, written and produced by the person who originally cast her, Barry Letts - the two would also be joined by another popular Doctor Who legend in the form of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.

Outside of Doctor Who, Elisabeth continued to work in theatre and television, often alongside her husband Brian; roles included Josie Hall in Take My Wife, a small role in the film Silver Dream Racer, and as Lady Flimnap in a production of Gulliver in Lilliput by her former producer Barry Letts, followed a few years later in his production of Alice in Wonderland as the Cheshire Cat. However, with the birth of her daughter Sadie in 1985, she was to focus more on her family.

However, Sarah would never be far from her life, with the actress continuing to be a popular guest at Doctor Who conventions, and also featuring in a series of audio adventures from Big Finish. Then, in 2005, a discussion with the revived Doctor Who's head writer and long-term fan of hers, Russell T Davies, led to a guest appearance in the second series adventure School Reunion, which re-united Sarah (and K9!) with the Doctor in his most recent incarnation (David Tennant) - her appearance proved instrumental in cementing the connection between the 20th and 21st Century productions in a way that the Daleks couldn't!

The character, and Sladen's performance, proved to be as popular as ever, if not more so, and led to her own starring role in spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures; the CBBC series continued on from her re-introduction in Doctor Who as an independent investigator of alien activity - now joined by her young own assistants as well as her faithful K9 - and winning a whole new legion of fans, both young and old. It is also a testament to the strength of the show that it has been graced by the appearance of the both the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), and the Doctor himself in both his Tenth incarnation in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (and David Tennant's final performance as the Doctor), and Eleventh in the form of Matt Smith in Death of the Doctor - where Sladen was also to come 'full circle' by performing with the actress she 'replaced' way back in 1973, Katy Manning, aka Jo Jones né Grant.

The series itself has gone on to win awards, including the Royal Television Society award for Children's Drama last month.

At the time of her death there are still three stories of The Sarah Jane Adventures to be broadcast on television, and her autobiography, Who's That Girl is due out later in the year.


Elisabeth Sladen died in the morning of 19th April, having been battling with cancer for some time. She is survived by her husband Brian Miller, and daughter Sadie.


Media Obituaries: Toby Hadoke for The Guardian; Scott Matthewman for The Stage.

Doctor Who remains at 6pm for the second episode in the new series, Day Of The Moon, to be broadcast on 30th April.

The programme is once more sandwiched between Don't Scare the Hare, a game show and So You Think You Can Dance a dance competition.

ITV1 has People Do the Funniest Things wth Channel 4 showing Come Dine with Me Down Under and Channel Five showing the 1989 film The Abyss.

The BBC will be hoping the early start for Doctor Who can draw viewers into its Saturday night schedule, which has been performing poorly in the last couple of weeks. The highest rating BBC One show last Saturday was Casualty with an overnight figure of 4.2 million viewers. So You think You Can Dance had just 3.6 million watching. The show which occupied Doctor Who's slot was Eurovision: Your Country Needs Blue which had 2.0 mllion viewers. ITV1 has the highest rated show last Saturday with Britain's Got Talent being watched by 10.4 million.

Back in 1967 the Doctor was tasked with identifying the Human Factor, which was to ultimately revealed as a plan to unveil the Dalek Factor (The Evil of the Daleks). But what is the Dalek Factor in reality? Fan wisdom states that the Daleks are the first of the Doctor's adversaries to warrant the "behind the sofa" moniker, but now a Cambridge academic has written a paper on what he believes really makes the Doctor's greatest enemy so frightening.

Doctor Robin Bunce has researched how the Daleks have been used over the years and the perceived effect on viewers, eventually arriving at the conclusion that our 'fear' of them is based upon how they challenge us on what it means to be human ourselves:

For more details on the paper, see Cambridge University Research News.

Actor John de Lancie has been confirmed as a member of the cast of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

The actor is best known for his portrayal of Q, a recurring character in the Star Trek franchise. He created the role for the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and was so successful that he had regular appearances in the series throughout its run as well as episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.

He has also appeared in numerous television shows including: The Six Million Dollar Man, Hill Street Blues, The Thorn Birds, Nero Wolfe, The West Wing, Sports Night, Judging Amy, The New Twilight Zone, The Closer, Legend, L.A. Law, MacGyver, Picket Fences, Civil Wars, The Practice, Charmed, Murder, She Wrote, Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica (1978), Emergency!, and Touched by an Angel.

de Lancie's casting in Torchwood was revealed in a tweet by one of the series' authors, Jane Espenson.

The series is currently in production for transmission worldwide this summer.

The second edition of Doctor Who Insider will be available in North America from May 5th.

In an exclusive interview, Karen Gillan reveals her thoughts on filming in America, Amy’s on-screen marriage, and what her hopes are for future episodes.The magazine also talks to one of Gillan's predecessors, Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant opposite Third Doctor Jon Pertwee in the Seventies.

Also in the issue

• AMERICAN ADVENTURES
The opening episodes of the new season are set in the USA and although this is the first time major filming for the series has actually taken place in America, this isn’t the Doctor’s first visit by any means.
• I WAS… COLONEL HUGH CURBISHLY
Christopher Benjamin reminisces about working with Jon Pertwee in the 1970 story, Inferno, playing Colonel Curbishly in The Unicorn and Wasp in 2008, and creating the much loved character of Henry Gordon Jago in 1977’s The Talons of Weng-Chiang – a role he has recently returned to on audio.
• NEXUS POINT
A look back at the moment that the Ninth Doctor confronted the Emperor Dalek in 2005’s dramatic season finale, The Parting of the Ways.
• DATA FILE
All the Doctor’s greatest foes gathered to entrap him in The Pandorica Opens. The guide shows you who exactly was there for this momentous moment.
• TIME SCOOP
The Time Scoop has collected the Silurians and the Sea Devils this issue. There is a closer look at the Earth’s original inhabitants and their encounters with the Doctor.
• MERCHANDISE
Previews of the latest Doctor Who merchandise, including Terror of the Autons and Planet of the Spiders on DVD featuring mini interviews with Richard Franklin who plays Mike Yates in both adventures; the Seventh Doctor gains a new companion in the audio adaptation of Lost Story, Crime of the Century from Big Finish Productions; and author Paul Finch tells how – and why – he gives the Doctor a rough time in his new novel Hunter’s Moon.
• FAN ZONE
A selection of photographs of fans and their incredible creations inspired by Doctor Who, including two lady Doctors and a tiki Dalek!

PLUS! The latest official news on the second half of the new series, and a giant, doublesided poster of Amy Pond and the Pandorica alien alliance!

Executive Producer Steven Moffat will be a guest on Graham Norton's Radio 2 show next Saturday, 23rd April, just a few hours before the launch of the new series.

The show will have a clip from the first episode. The producers are asking for emails for Norton to put to Moffat during the programme, which can be sent to graham.norton@bbc.co.uk.

Radio 2 is available worldwide on the BBC iPlayer. Moffat will be on the show around 1130 UK Time.

With just over a week until the new series of Doctor Who launches on BBC One, BBC America and SPACE, the BBC have released a new trailer.


The series premiers on BBC One next Saturday at 6pm

2|Entertain's Classic Doctor Who have released a "First Look" video on their YouTube channel to promote the forthcoming release of the third Doctor's final story, Planet of the Spiders.