View source for Sarah-Jane is back for a another Who turn

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| publication = News Letter
| file = 2006-12-02 Belfast Newsletter.jpg
| px = 450
| height = 
| width = 
| date = 2006-12-02
| author = Wil Marlow
| pages = 24
| language = English 
| type = 
| description = 
| categories = Sarah Jane Adventures
| moreTitles = 
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| text = DOCTOR Who has produced some memorable characters over the years - from Daleks and Cybermen to the Master and the Doctor himself. But very few of the Doctor's companions have stood similar tests of time.

There's been the odd exception - Louise Jameson's Leela and her skimpy leather outfit; robotic dog K-9; and of course Billie Piper's Rose is set to be well-remembered for some time to come.

But it's Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith that has made the most impression over the years. She was the quintessential screaming (but staunchly feminist) Doctor Who companion - the one who entrenched the companion's purpose as getting into trouble the Doctor had to get them out of.

Now, after returning to the Doctor's world in this year's series with David Tennant for one-off episode School Reunion, Sarah Jane - and Elisabeth - is set to further cement her part in the Doctor Who legend with her own series, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

"I wasn't sure about it at first,"

DALEKS: while robot dog K9 may return for at least some of the new series, it's not known if the most infamous villains in the Dr Who franchise will make an appearance Elisabeth admits.

"I was thinking, they've used her for School Reunion and there's nowhere else you can really go with that. That's what they brought her back for and that's what I did and it was lovely working with them. "I thought, what can I bring to the character if she came back again? But they started telling me about this spin-off and it was just impressive what they had in mind. I thought, why am I questioning what they're doing?

"It's a challenge and I've just got to reach for it. How amazing."

The full series, which the producers have created for children's television (fellow spin-off Torchwood is aimed squarely at adults), doesn't start filming until next spring, but Who fans and young viewers alike are getting a taster of what's to come with a one-off episode this Christmas.

The hour-long special, set in west London, sees Sarah Jane forming an unlikely alliance with her 13-year-old neighbour Maria, played by Yasmin Paige, as they take on evil alien forces at work in Britain. Their first enemy comes in the form of Samantha Bond, who plays the mysterious factory owner Ms Wormwood.

"Sarah Jane is still the investigative journalist," Elisabeth says.

"She follows a story and sees more into it than other people do. She has a knowledge that maybe other people don't. "And she has certain things up in her attic she can use, because of her contact with extra-terrestrials and K-9." Yes, Doctor Who fans will be pleased to hear their favourite robot dog will be making an appearance, albeit briefly. Whether he'll be in the full series remains to be seen as his creator, Bob Baker, is trying to get a separate children's series - K-9 Adventures - off the ground. "I don't pretend to know what's going on behind the scenes," Elisabeth says, "but if he's allowed us to use K-9 for this special then never say never."

School Reunion. I open the script and I see Sarah and some weird thing goes off in my head and I know the pose and what to do.

"But then I have the dichotomy of thinking, she's 30 years older, I can't do that any more.

"That was my problem coming back. But then I had to realise that that's still her life.

"Her face, feet and hands are older, let them do the old bit, but if she still feels like that young Sarah Jane, that's how I've got to do it."

"It's not exactly a Peter Pan thing, but there's just too much there that's not moved on with responsibilities like family and a mortgage. There's always been something - the Doctor - in the way of that."

And Elisabeth's own love of playing Sarah Jane has not dimmed either.

Rather than be frustrated with her inability to shed her association with the character, she's embraced it wholeheartedly and seems to be revelling in her return to the role.

"Working on the classic series, I loved that time of my life," she says.

"I don't want it to come back, and I don't dwell on it, but if I remember it, it was a very special time. I'm very lucky."

The Sarah Jane Adventures give us a chance to get to know the new Sarah Jane after her brief appearance in School Reunion.

It's been 30 years since the Doctor, then played by Tom

Baker, dropped her back in the UK. Has she changed much since then?

"She's not very different to back then," Elisabeth says, "but she is very different to the Sarah Jane we saw in


Caption: THE RETURN: Sarah-Jane is back with the same feisty attitude as in the original series

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