Elisabeth Sladen - SJA

Heres a nice article/interview from The Age about Elisabeth Sladen and her role as Sarah Jane in her spinoff show.

Spin-off from the Tardis

FOR 35 years, British actress Elisabeth Sladen has lived with the character that made her famous - Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane Smith. She joined the original series in 1973 when Jon Pertwee was the Doctor, and then spent more than two years alongside Tom Baker, making her one of the best-loved companions from the series.

"She is a lovely character," Sladen explains about her attachment to Sarah Jane. "I aspire to be part of who she is, but I don't think I'll get there. She makes mistakes, but she keeps coming back and trying because she doesn't want anyone to be hurt. You know, when you're young, you think 'It's not fair; I have to make it fair'. She never lost that attitude. I like her; I like her very much."

Doctor Who was never far from Sladen, and in 2006 Sarah Jane returned to the revived series, and proved so popular she was given her own spin-off children's series, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

"I don't think they'd thought of it at the time; I believe it was a one-shot wonder for her to come back, and I thought 'what a lovely place to leave her'. But then RTD started to rethink. I didn't see the possibilities, but he did."

The new series sees Sarah Jane return to her journalist roots as she investigates aliens and monsters, but with her adopted son Luke and his school friends. Being aimed at a younger audience didn't mean that Sladen approached Sarah Jane any differently though.

"Your guideline is the script, and you add your bits and pieces to it. The only time Sarah Jane really changes for me is that she's different with the Doctor than she is with the children. You put yourself in a different position; you lead more with the children and you look after them, and I think with the Doctor, she was more likely to leap and think afterwards. It's a different dynamic with different responsibilities."

"There's a very real but very safe atmosphere about The Sarah Jane Adventures. Things are explained and not glossed over. You have big issues, like people losing people - Maria's family are not together; we touch very briefly on Alzheimer's, for example - but it's all done in a very supportive way."

And what about beyond that? Will Sarah Jane be around for a while yet? "I never like to look that far in the future; I never expected to be around this long, but I think she's still got some mileage."

Read the full article here