With the sad news of the death of Elisabeth Sladen still raw in many people's minds and so difficult to comprehend, many fans around the world have been making their own tributes to a woman who was such a central part of so many childhoods.

British folk singer Talis Kimberley has recorded her own tribute, Goodnight Sarah Jane, available as a download from her website. Kimberley says "this is my tribute to the actor Lis Sladen. Along with many other people I was desparately saddened to hear of her death; her portrayal of Sarah-Jane Smith was an inspiration during two periods of my life."

Other tracks released include Companion by Parralox and What's the Story Sarah Jane by New Magnet.

The tribute page in Gallifrey Base now stands at over 2000 posts and a special thread has been setup where fans can post their own artwork. Meanwhile a whole new generation of fans have been expressing their sense of loss on the BBC's Newsround page, which has had its biggest response ever to a story covered on the site. Some of the messages from children are read out by the co-stars of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Tommy Knight and Daniel Anthony, who are mourning the loss of the woman they called their "Mother Hen, ...always smiling, always laughing".

Many fans have made their own tribute videos which can be found on YouTube. Dork Tower, the online comic, has also produced its own cartoon in tribute.

A group of fans have launched a JustGiving site raising money for the charity Cancer Research UK, in memory of the actress. To date over £3000 has been raised. Other fans have been donating to the Lymphoedema Support Network, which was understood to be a charity the actress supported. A JustGiving site has been set up to buy an imaginary pint to toast Sarah Jane.

The BBC's programme in memory of Elisabeth Sladen, My Sarah Jane, which contains contributions from many of those who worked with her, can be seen in the UK on CBBC at 6.45pm Saturday, directly after Doctor Who finishes on BBC One.


News links: Obituary, Doctors pay tribute, Elisabeth Sladen Tributes, Press Roundup

Today sees the release of the latest Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition, which looks in depth at series three and four of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

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Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury reflects on the sad timing of this particular publication:

The BBC have announced that there will be a special programme broadcast this coming Saturday, called My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen. The show is due to be shown on the CBBC channel at 6:45pm, directly after Doctor Who finishes on BBC1 and before Doctor Who Confidential on BBC3 at 7:00pm.

Doctor Who Magazine have also reported that there will be a dedication to the actress at the start of Saturday's episode, The Impossible Astronaut.

The three surviving actors to play Sarah Jane Smith's "Doctor" have paid tribute to their former co-star Elisabeth Sladen, who died yesterday morning.




Sixth Doctor Colin Baker has also paid tribute via Twitter:

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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Media Articles: BBC News, Independent, Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mirror, Sun, Express, Press Association, BBC America, Entertainment Weekly, ABC News, TVNZ, Variety, Airlock Alpha, Entertainment Weekly, ABC Australia, Den of Geek, CBS News, Digital Spy, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, AOL, Examiner, Gather, Unreality TV, ATV Today, SFX, TV Guide, TV Overmind, Wired, contactmusic.com, E Online, MTV, Geeks of Doom, UTV, Canadian press, Stuff, eCanada, likeitido, nowpublic, Crave, SheKnows, Nerd Reactor, All Headline News, Courier Mail, Big Shiny Robot, San Antonio Express, gather Celebs, Theatermania, Comic Book Resources, 411mania, Apex News, AV Club, Orlando Sentinel, KSN, KVOS

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.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will be making an in-store appearance this Friday (8th) at the Barnes & Noble store in Fifth Avenue, New York, to sign copies of The Complete Series 5 boxed set.


Last year, Matt, Karen and Steven Moffat went to New York for a publicity tour to promote Series 5. They attended a 'Meet the Cast' event at the Apple store in SoHo. It is not yet known if there will be a similar tour while the team is in New York this time around.

This week's issue of the Radio Times sees Matt Smith feature on the cover for the first time this year as he returns to Saturday evening - though in this case "The Naked Doctor" is representing his new role as the gay icon Christopher Isherwood in the BBC Drama Christopher and His Kind, which will be broadcast on BBC2/BBCHD this coming Saturday at 9:30pm.

In an interview with the magazine, the actor compares Isherwood’s experiences in 1930s Berlin to those of his time-travelling alter ego, the Doctor:

The new issue of the Radio Times is available in the shops from today.


You can also read an interview with Matt Smith on his role via the BBC Press Office.

Who's That Girl? the autobiography of Elisabeth Sladen is due to be published in the UK later this year.

Originally planned for release in April the book is now expected in the Summer or Autumn.

The 320 page hardback book will tell the story of the woman behind one of Doctor Who's most enduring characters, Sarah Jane Smith. Elisabeth Sladen first took on the role of in 1973, playing opposite Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, a role she is still playing today in the hugely successful Sarah Jane Adventures. The book tells the story of her remarkable career: giving a unique, insider’s view of the world’s longest-running science fiction series; and of British television yesterday and today.

The book is published by Aurum Press Ltd on 25 April 2011 and will be priced £16.99

Publishers Aurum have also announced that their biography of Terry Nation, The Man Who Invented the Daleks, will be published in May.

The book, which was first reported last July, looks at the life of the man behind Blake's 7, The Survivors and The Daleks.