Goodbye Sarah Jane

 
Elizabeth Sladen & Jon Pertwee © bbc

Yesterday, 19th April 2011, Elizabeth Sladen died at the age of 63 from cancer. Although I’ve never met her, it has upset me. I have watched her work on TV for the whole of my life. I grew up watching her play Sarah Jane Smith on Dr Who in the 1970’s and I was touched every Saturday evening by this wonderful character that she brought to life. I was lucky enough to talk to her via Twitter a few times, and her replies were favourited immediately. I have had to write something……

It’s fair to say that Sarah Jane Smith is my favourite companion, for me she wins hands down over every other, no one else even comes close.

Why? Well, being in the series at a time to appear in some of the best stories ever written for Doctor Who and appearing with two of the best Doctors of all time didn’t do any harm. The stories that feature Sarah Jane would fit happily into anyone’s top ten episodes “The Time Warrior” “Robot“ “The Sontaran Experiment” “Genesis of the Daleks” “The Ark in Space” “Pyramids of Mars” “The Brain of Morbius” “The Hand of Fear”.

But that shouldn’t take anything away from Sarah Jane. She is everything that the ideal companion should be, intelligent, pretty,(very pretty), strong-willed, brave, often the equal of the Doctor. In her first story, “The Time Warrior“, she infiltrates U.N.I.T. and sets out to catch the Doctor, and occasionally she’s ahead of him, as in “Planet of Evil“, where she points out an avenue of escape that the Doctor had completely missed.

It is this period between December 1973, Season Eleven and “The Time Warrior” with Jon Pertwee and October 1976, Season Fourteen and “The Hand of Fear with Tom Baker that is seen as Dr Who’s golden age. Sarah Jane and the 3rd Doctor always made a good team. They were very similar types and the Doctor was very protective of her, they were a delight to watch, but Sarah Jane and the 4th Doctor were fantastic! You can see they both enjoyed working together, they just seemed to understand each other so well. The little jokes and smiles passed between them makes all the story more believable.

But unfortunately all good things come to an end and in 1976 Sarah Jane’s run as the Doctors companion ended in “The Hand of Fear” and I thought that, as companions past, she was gone. However in 1981, Sarah Jane got a well deserved chance of her own spin-off series called “K-9 and Company“. In the pilot episode entitled “A Girl’s Best Friend“, Sarah Jane receives the robot dog K-9 as a present from the Doctor. Unfortunately, despite good ratings, a series did not materialise. The 20th anniversary special “The Five Doctors” in 1983 gave the chance to reprise the role, and again in 1993 for the Children in Need special “Dimensions in Time” and sadly in 1996 Dr Who disappeared from the BBC.

After a long gap Dr Who retuned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, he left after one season, and I was unsure about this ‘New Series Dr Who’. In 2006 David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor) arrived for season 2 and suddenly Sarah Jane was back in an episode called “School Reunion” surely this was real Dr Who again!! Its a great story with a fantastic end, a proper goodbye for Sarah Jane. It was also in 2006, Children’s BBC expressed an interest in producing a Doctor Who spin-off. Their initial idea wasn’t going to fly and Russell T Davies suggested a series based on Sarah Jane Smith

And on 1 January 2007 The Sarah Jane Adventures debuted on BBC One with a 60-minute special, entitled “Invasion of the Bane“. This has now been followed by 4 very successful seasons, The Sarah Jane Adventures has been nominated for a British Academy Children’s Award in 2008 in the Drama category, and once again in 2009 for a BAFTA Cymru, in Children’s Drama.

 At the time of her death Elisabeth Sladen was nearing completion of filming season 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

 The longevity of the character is due to her continually developing. Sarah Jane is a well rounded character, but it’s more than that, she is interesting. It is something that Elisabeth Sladen pushed for during her time on Doctor Who. It is strongest aspect of Sarah and it is due to the talent of the actress that plays her. Elisabeth Sladen is a delightful person in real life you can just see her enthusiasm in interviews, and its that enthusiasm and the belief that she has in the character that shines through. It is something that she has kept alive since her first appearance in 1973.

 Arguably the best companion throughout the series? No! Sarah Jane Smith is simply the best companion the Doctor ever had!

 List of appearances

 25 stories of Doctor Who over 4 seasons

3 specials, The Five Doctors & Dimensions in Time (a charity special crossover between Doctor Who and EastEnders soap opera) & The End of Time

K-9 and Company “A Girl’s Best Friend”

4 Seasons of The Sarah Jane Adventures

 13 audio dramas

 4 BBC Audiobooks

 13 novels

 27 Short stories

 And several comics

 Elizabeth Sladen is still with us, She is remembered by her family, her friends, her fans and by her work. Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith.

2011
04/20
CATEGORY
Doctor Who
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Near Earth flyby of asteroid 2010 JA

Near Earth flyby of asteroid 2010 JA on 08/05/2010. 436,892 miles away from Earth about 1.8 times the distance to the moon

Miss Distance: 436,892 miles (703,110 km)

Estimated Diameter: 36 – 79 ft (11 – 24 m)

Relative Velocity 18902 mp/h (5.25 mp/s – 8.45km/s)

More details at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

Orbital Diagram: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010JA;orb=1

2010
05/08
CATEGORY
Space
Uncategorized
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Asteroid 2010 GA6 To Fly Within Moon’s Orbit on April 8, 2010

Near Earth flyby of asteroid 2010 GA6 on 08/04/2010. 223,000 miles away from Earth about 9/10ths the distance to the moon

Miss Distance: 223,000 miles (359,000 km)

Estimated Diameter: 71ft (22m)

Relative Velocity 27044 mp/h (7.5 mp/s – 12.09km/s)

More details at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

Orbital diagram at: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010GA6;orb=1

2010
04/08
CATEGORY
Space
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Near Earth Fly-by of 2010 FW9

Near Earth flyby of asteroid 2010 FW9 on 28/03/2010

Distance: 725,055 mi (1,166,863km)

Estimated Diameter: 39 – 85ft (12 – 26m)

Relative Velocity 19841.5 mp/h (5.5mp/s – 8.87km/s)

More details at: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010FW9;orb=1

2010
03/27
CATEGORY
Space
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NASA’s Stardust Burns for Comet

Just three days shy of one year before its planned flyby of comet Tempel 1, NASA’s Stardust spacecraft has successfully performed a maneuver to adjust the time of its encounter by eight hours and 20 minutes. The delay   maximizes the probability of the spacecraft capturing high-resolution images of the desired surface features of the 2.99-kilometer-wide (1.86 mile) potato-shaped mass of ice and dust.

With the spacecraft on the opposite side of the solar system and beyond the orbit of Mars, the trajectory correction maneuver began at 5:21 p.m. EST (2:21 p.m. PST) on Feb. 17. Stardust’s rockets fired for 22 minutes and 53 seconds, changing the spacecraft’s speed by 24 meters per second (54 miles per hour).

Stardust’s maneuver placed the spacecraft on a course to fly by the comet just before 8:42 p.m. PST (11:42 p.m. EST) on Feb. 14, 2011 – Valentine’s Day. Time of closest approach to Tempel 1 is important because the comet rotates, allowing different regions of the comet to be illuminated by the sun’s rays at different times. Mission scientists want to maximize the probability that areas of interest previously imaged by NASA’s Deep Impact mission in 2005 will also be bathed in the sun’s rays and visible to Stardust’s camera when it passes by.

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:   http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-055&cid=release_2010-055

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

2010
02/19
CATEGORY
Space
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Happy Biirthday Doctor

16/02/1964 – 46 years ago. Christopher Eccleston, the 9th Doctor, born in Salford, Lancashire, England. A very highly regarded British actor, Eccleston has twice been nominated in the Best Actor category at the BAFTA Television Awards, the UK’s premiere TV awards ceremony.
Best known for roles in:

Let Him Have It (1991), as Derek Bentley

Elizabeth (1998), as the Duke of Norfolk,

Our Friends in the North (1996), as Nicky Hutchinson

28 Days Later (2002), as Major Henry West

Doctor Who (2005) as the 9th Doctor in 13 episodes

‘Of the ten actors to play the Doctor in “Doctor Who” (1963), Doctor Who (1996) (TV) and “Doctor Who” (2005), he is the only one who has never worked with Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the former from 1968 to 1989 as well as in numerous Big Finish audio dramas‘ IMDB.

Happy Birthday Doctor

2010
02/16
CATEGORY
Doctor Who
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My Doctor Who Scarf

 

Season 12

I am a huge Doctor Who fan and I’ve always wanted a scarf like Tom Baker, now I’m lucky enough to have a Doctor Who scarf being knitted for me. Its going to be a replica of the original scarf as it appeared in season 12, that’s The Robot to Revenge of the Cybermen. It’s now reached about 2½ ft in length so there’s a long way to go yet to reach the full 15ft, but it’s looking good.

My wife, who is doing all the hard work, has used a Sport and Melange weight Alpaca wool. Apparently

The first 2.5ft

 ‘Alpaca fleece is a lustrous and silky natural fibre. While similar to sheep’s wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and bears no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. Without lanolin, it does not repel water. It is also soft and luxurious.’ Thank you Wikipedia.

The trickiest part so far has been finding colours that are close enough to the original. The rest has been easy thanks to www.doctorwhoscarf.com the website is full of all the information that you need to make your own scarf. Instructions, colour and yarn advice, designs showing how the patterns changed season to season and even a history of the Who scarves.

Well that’s about it for now, there will be further updates and pictures as the scarf grows and maybe some of you will visit doctorwhoscarf.com and start your own.

Also if you want to vote for your favourite Doctor please go visit the poll page and make your selection, thank you.

2010
02/14
CATEGORY
Doctor Who
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Which is your favourite Doctor?

I am a big Doctor Who fan. I love the ‘classic’ ‘original’ ‘old’, whatever you want to call it, series. My favourite Doctor is Tom Baker, but I am also interested in who you think is the best Doctor Who so please go to the poll page at the top of this page and cast your vote for your favourite Doctor.
 
 This poll will remain open until 28/02/2010 
2010
02/04
CATEGORY
Doctor Who
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The Brig

One of my favourite companions in Doctor Who is Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart aka The Brigadier or just The Brig, played by Nicolas Courtney. He first appears in the 1968 season 5 serial The Web of Fear next to the second Doctor Patrick Troughton, and whether you class him as a companion or not he has met more Doctors than any other, appearing alongside every subsequent Doctor from the ’classic series’ (except Colin Baker the sixth Doctor).

By his next appearance in The Invasion (Season 6 1968), he had been promoted to Brigadier and is working with UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce retitled UNified Intelligence Taskforce for the ‘new series‘), an international organisation that defends Earth from alien threats. It was Lethbridge-Stewart that gave the Third Doctor the position of UNIT’s scientific advisor when he was exiled to Earth. A position that has been taken up by subsequent Doctors.

I like the Brig because he is one of the most interesting and complex characters in Doctor Who, with some great one liners, often giving as good as he gets. On the face of it the Doctor and the Brigadier seem to be complete opposites, the Doctor is a rebel, a runaway and anti-establishment, the Brig the classic stiff-upper-lipped British Officer, a career soldier and that is what makes the Brigadier’s relationship with the Doctor so interesting. They are two opposites that over time earn the respect of the other.

In one of my favourite stories, there is a fantastic twist. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart becomes Brigade Leader in the fascist world of Inferno. Loyal to the leader who governs this alternate version of Britain, the ruthless Brigade Leader was the antithesis of the Brigadier. And as if trying to prove his anti-Brigadier status the Brigade Leader was shot and killed by his own second in command Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw, while forcing the 3rd Doctor to help him in a cowardly attempt to escape his doomed Earth at gunpoint.

The character was treated so badly in seasons 10 & 11. In the finale to season 11 and the 3rd Doctor, Planet of the Spiders, the astute professional soldier has degenerated into playing Watson to the Doctors Holmes, and not the good Jeremy Brett Watson but the buffoon Rathbone Watson. The no-nonsense Brig waits around to be told what to do by the Doctor, his casual manner, near shoulder-length hair, would be unacceptable in any professional army. He is incapable of understanding even basic scientific concepts and in the scenes where he suggests that a belly-dancer’s movements could be adapted as exercises for his men or the revelation of a ‘dirty weekend’ spent in Brighton, you feel embarrassed for the character he looses all authority. It is unfortunate that the writers decided to play with such a well loved character, luckily in later seasons we see the old Brigadier restored to us.

And lets not forget it’s now Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

List of appearances

11 seasons, 22 stories of Doctor Who

2 anniversary specials, The Five Doctors & Dimensions in Time (a charity special crossover between Doctor Who and EastEnders soap opera)

16 audio dramas

22 novels

2 video spin offs

1 episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures

And several comics and short stories

As the Brig would say ‘Five Rounds Rapid!’

 

2010
02/01
CATEGORY
Doctor Who
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Water Found on Moon

NASA’s LCROSS mission discoveries water on the moon.

The LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket impacted the moon in a permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole, creating a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater.  The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

“We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

After a journey of approx. 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles (9 million km), Centaur and LCROSS separated on thier final approach to the moon. Traveling as fast as a speeding bullet, Centaur impacted the lunar surface shortly after 11:31 a.m. GMT 09/10/2009 with LCROSS watching with its onboard instruments. Approximately four minutes later LCROSS itself impacted the lunar surface.

These permanently shadowed regions could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system. In addition, water, and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration.

Source www.nasa.gov 

For more on this story go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html

2009
11/13
CATEGORY
Space
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