Sarah Jane Smith
- For the audio series, Sarah Jane Smith. For other individuals named Smith, Smith (disambiguation).
Sarah Jane Smith was originally a journalist and then companion with the third and then fourth incarnations of the Doctor. Afterwards, still a journalist, she worked first with K-9 Mark III and then solo, uncovering evil plots on the side. In the late 2000s, while living in Ealing, she worked with her adopted son Luke and several young friends to fight evil aliens.
Personality
As a companion, Sarah was confident, inquisitive and possessed a sharp mind as well as a sharp tongue. She was also something of a feminist; she was infuriated when the Doctor asked her to make coffee (DW: The Time Warrior) and later , and she often verbally sparred with fellow companion Harry Sullivan oer his chauvinistic and unintentionally patronising attitude towards her. Her feminism was more practical than fanatical, and did not get in the way of forming close friendships with Harry, or later with the the Doctor himself. She shared a strong rapport with the Doctor, and her subsequent life has been shaped by her finding him a tough act to follow; she stops short of saying that she had fallen in love with the Doctor, but the context of a discussion with Rose Tyler about the Doctor, and Rose's growing infatuation with the Doctor, implied this as a possible scenario (DW: School Reunion).
Other information
Skills and abilities
Sarah received training in evasion tactics from her UNIT days. (SJA:Warriors of Kudlak)
Miscellaneous facts
- Circa 2008-9 Sarah owned a car, namely a lime green Nissan Figaro. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane onwards)
- Until she apparently overcame it, due to the incident with the clown mannequin, Sarah had a case of coulrophobia. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)
Behind the Scenes
Popularity and significance
Sarah Jane Smith stands out as one of the more popular (arguably the most popular) of the Doctor's companions. Apart from Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, no other actor has a higher profile as a Doctor Who companion. On-screen, Sarah has met the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Ice Warriors, the Slitheen, the Master (in The Five Doctors) and Davros. Her debut story, The Time Warrior introduced both herself and the Sontarans. On-screen, she has appeared with the Third, Fourth and Tenth Doctors. In The Five Doctors, she appeared with the First (played by Richard Hurndall in that story), the Second and the Fifth Doctors
Sarah Jane spin-offs
Sarah Jane has appeared in two television spin-off's, K-9 & Company, introducing and co-starring K-9 Mark III, (which never got beyond the pilot episode, A Girl's Best Friend) and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Starting in 2002, she appeared in two seasons of an audio series, Sarah Jane Smith. The K-9 Annual gives some idea of how the K-9 & Company series might have progressed if it had gone to a full series.
Sarah Jane special
The Doctor Who Magazine special for Holiday 1992 concentrated on Sarah Jane Smith. The article The Roving Reporter details her life from a in-universe perspective, establishing several of the "facts" now made canon by The Sarah Jane Adventures, except that it uses the "near future" version of UNIT dating.
Continuity and canon
Sarah's return to television in School Reunion overwrites previously established continuity from spin-off merchandise, such a novels and audio dramas. Apart from The Five Doctors, which shows Sarah meeting up with the Doctor (in the form of his third incarnation, in the Doctor Who Magazine comic Train-Flight, she shared an adventure with the Seventh Doctor. Terrance Dicks' short story Farewells also shows a reconciliation with the Fourth Doctor. School Reunion strongly implies that the Doctor and Sarah never met again after their parting in The Hand of Fear (however, since it was the Third Doctor she met in The Five Doctors, the implication holds true as the Doctor and Sarah never met post-The Hand of Fear. Add to that; she did very breifly meet the Fifth Doctor in The Five Doctors, but there is nothing to suggest she realised it was a later Doctor, and the was barely enough time for them to say hello let alone discuss this.).
Lawrence Miles' Interference books One and two, set partly in 1997, has K-9 Mark III replaced with the new Mark IV and the 1997 version of Sarah seeing her future self marrying a man named Paul Morley a few years in her future and the short story Lily by Jackie Marshall shows the Fifth Doctor meeting with an older Sarah, who has a grand-daughter.
The Sarah Jane Adventures uses background from the The Roving Reporter article, with the change of pushing her birthdate back a few days to fit in better with the idea that the UNIT stories took place in approximately the years of broadcast.
Gallery
- SarahAtIrongrons.jpg
Sarah spies on Linx
- SJSSwimmingPOD.jpg
Sarah prepares for a swimming holiday on Florana
- SJSListeningIOD.jpg
An unimpressed Sarah Jane
A happy Sarah Jane
- SarahLooksUpPOE.jpg
Sarah on board a ship orbiting Zeta Minor
Sarah smiles at the new K-9 Mark IV
Sarah Jane as she appeared in her first adventure with the Tenth Doctor
Sarah in the Trickster's void
- Sarah Jane Smith.jpg
Sarah on the job
Sarah fears for the life of her son in light of the 21st century Dalek invasion of Earth
