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Sarah Jane Smith was a journalist based on Earth, who has worked with the third and then fourth incarnations of the Doctor. Later, in Ealing, after meeting with the Doctor several more times, she acted as mentors to several young friends who helped her fight evil aliens.
Profile
She was one of few Humans to have enjoyed a relationship with the Doctor across more than two of his lifetimes. Of all the companions, she had by far had the longest relationship with the Doctor from his perspective. Only the Brigadier met more of the Doctor's selves than she. She travelled extensively with the Third and Fourth Doctors, had significant contact with the Tenth Doctor, and briefly met the First, Second and Fifth Doctors.
She met more other companions and regular associates of the Doctor than any other companion. Along with Donna Noble, she was only one of two companions to both accept and reject the Doctor's offer to travel indefinitely in the TARDIS. She encountered more major recurring alien races — Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Ice Warriors and Raxacoricofallapatorians — than any single incarnation of the Doctor.
She was the adoptive mother of Luke Smith, the owner of K-9 Marks III and IV, and the friend and mentor to Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer, Rani Chandra, and, to a lesser extent, Rose Tyler. She was directly responsible for Mickey Smith finally becoming a traveling companion of the Doctor.
She had a working, if unofficial, association with UNIT in her younger days - mostly due to her connections to the Doctor who at the time was serving as the organizations scientific advisor - but more closely followed the Fourth Doctor's anti-establishment, anti-military approach to alien contact as she grew older. Likewise, she was a staunch feminist when she met the Doctor, but this passion was supplanted by a growing "humanist" tendency as she met an increasing number of aliens.
Biography
Early life
Sarah Jane Smith was born in April or May of 1951.
- The dating seems clear based on her age at time of Andrea Yates's death (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?) and her astrological sign of Taurus (SJA: Secrets of the Stars)
She lost her parents in an automobile accident when she was very young. She was then raised by her father's sister, Lavinia Smith.
During her youth, she developed a strong fear of clowns, derived mainly from a toy clown that used to hang in her room and stare down upon her as she slept. In later life, she would discover that the toy had been manipulated by the Pied Piper to instill coulrophobia in her. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)
On 13th July 1964, while off on a school outing together, Sarah Jane's best friend, Andrea Yates, slipped off of a pier to her death. The Trickster would later alter this event and create a timeline in which Sarah died, rather than Andrea; a timeline which, many years later, would eventually doom the planet Earth.
In the normal timeline, the event would change Sarah, impressing onto her the importance of life. She would never forget Andrea. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)
- Just prior to the accident, Sarah Jane and Andrea briefly encountered Maria Jackson, who accidentally travelled through time as she escaped the Graske. It is not known if Sarah Jane remembered this incident, or if it was erased from history when the Trickster's plan was unravelled.
Travels with the the Doctor
First meeting with the Doctor
Sarah Jane gave her age as 23 during the events of "Operation Golden Age", which occurred during the (DW:Invasion of the Dinosaurs). In her capacity as a journalist for Metropolitan magazine, Sarah posed as her aunt, Lavinia Smith, a famous virologist, in order to infiltrate a UNIT-controlled facility where some scientists had gone missing. She met Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT's unpaid scientific advisor the Doctor. Suspicious of the Doctor's activities, Sarah Jane stowed away in the TARDIS and traveled back in time with him to 13th century England, to defeat a Sontaran known as Linx, who had kidnapped the scientists. (DW: The Time Warrior).
Early adventures
Sarah Jane and the Doctor would have many adventures together both on Earth and on other planets. She got to know the Brigadier, Captain Mike Yates of UNIT (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs) and Jeremy Fitzoliver (BBCR: The Paradise of Death).
She met and fought the Daleks for the first time. (DW: Death to the Daleks). Faction Paradox altered the Doctor's timeline twice when Sarah Jane traveled with him. In one timeline, the Doctor died (and did not regenerate) on the planet Dust. In another, the Doctor did regenerate, an event which should never have happened at that time and place. (EDA: Interference: Book Two (The Hour of the Geek)). Later, these events reversed, allowing history to take its natural course. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell).
In the regular timeline, the Doctor regenerated following his exposure to deadly radiation in the cave of the Great One on Metebelis III. With the Doctor dying and his TARDIS lost in the Time Vortex, he left Sarah Jane and the Brigadier to await his return for three weeks. The Brigadier believed he had died, but Sarah maintained faith. Sarah and the Brigadier watched as the Doctor's TARDIS returned to UNIT HQ and he regenerated in front of them into his next incarnation. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Robot)
Later travels
Along with another Human companion, Harry Sullivan, Sarah Jane and the Doctor traveled off on other adventures in time and space. (DW: Robot) The Doctor, in his new incarnation, had less interest in Earth, yet he seemed to have a closer relationship with Sarah Jane herself. She was present on the planet Skaro during the creation of the Daleks by Davros and the Doctor's attempt to change or prevent it. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks)
- The Doctor's mission to stop or alter the creation of the Daleks has been posited as the origin of the Last Great Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords by Russell T Davies in Doctor Who Confidential.
The departure
As she later related to Rose Tyler, Sarah encountered the Loch Ness Monster (DW: Terror of the Zygons), anti-matter monsters (DW: Planet of Evil) and "walking mummies" (DW: Pyramids of Mars. Earlier she had met the Cybermen. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen)
Finally, after many trips with him, the Doctor received a summons to return to Gallifrey, his home world; as a human, she could not accompany him (although this later ban was evidently rescinded as the Doctor was later able to bring human companions to Gallifrey). The Doctor attempted to deposit her near her flat in South Croydon (DW:The Hand of Fear), but mistakenly left her in Aberdeen, Scotland, instead. (DW: School Reunion)
The Doctor would later suggest he did not return for Sarah because he feared becoming too attached to any individual human, given that the differences in their life expectancies meant he would almost inevitably have to watch them grow old and die (DW: School Reunion)). There is also evidence that he believed Sarah was growing too detached from her Earth life and it was in her best interests that she return to it. (DW: Doctor Who and the Face of Evil)
After the Doctor
The 1980s and 1990s
The Doctor did not forget Sarah, but sent her K-9 Mark III as a companion and keepsake. In the early 1980s, they uncovered the murderous cult of Hecate in the village of Moreton Harwood (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend). Sarah Jane was also instrumental in helping Harry Sullivan in Harry Sullivan's War. Shortly after, a Time Scoop removed her (but not K-9) to the Death Zone on Gallifrey where she participated in the Games of Rassilion, and re-united with the Doctor's third incarnation. She briefly met the first, second and fifth Doctors, and introduced herself to Tegan Jovanka. Sarah also had a reunion with The Brigadier and briefly met Susan Foreman and Turlough (DW: The Five Doctors). Sarah Jane was returned to her proper place in time and space, and, it would seem, had her memory wiped of these events on Gallifrey as she appeared to not remember the incident during her much-later first encounter with the Tenth Doctor. (DW: School Reunion)
Decades later, Sarah Jane accompanied the Doctor's seventh incarnation to a jazz concert in the Albert Hall and defeated an invasion of Earth by rogue members of the insectoid Kalik species (DWM: Train-Flight). It appears her memories were also wiped after this adventure, too.
In the mid-1990s, Sarah Jane worked with Victoria Waterfield, one-time companion of the Second Doctor, and the Brigadier to defeat the Great Intelligence (BBV: Downtime).
The late 1990s
In 1996, with the Doctor's eight incarnation's companion, Sam Jones she fought against international human rights abuses and met her future husband, Paul Morley (NA: Christmas on a Rational Planet, EDA: Interference). Some accounts state they had a daughter together called Lauren and a grandchild called Lily (ST: Lily).
Later, in 1997, she assisted the Doctor's seventh incarnation against the Cortez Project in Hong Kong and died (PDA: Bullet Time). The Council of Eight had altered history by seemingly having Sarah die in 1997, well before her time (PDA: Bullet Time). This seems to have been undone by the Doctor's eventual defeat of the Council (EDA: Sometime Never...).
- Several contradictory accounts exist of the birth, deaths and marriages that occur or do not occur in Sarah's life following this adventure.
Sarah Jane Smith continued to work as an investigative reporter following her departure from Planet 3 and her aunt's death. (BFA: Comeback)
The 21st century
During the mid-2000s, Sarah Jane launched an investigation into strange goings-on at Deffry Vale High School, which led her to an encounter with the Doctor in his tenth incarnation. She exhibited no signs of remembering her previous encounters with post-Fourth incarnations, and instead chided the Doctor for leaving her in Aberdeen. She also met the Doctor's current companion, Rose Tyler, and after some initial animosity, competition, and jealousy, bonded with the young woman. She was also instrumental in convincing the Doctor to take on Mickey Smith as a companion. During the incident at Deffry Vale, her K-9 was destroyed, but the Doctor constructed her a new one. During this adventure, Sarah Jane came to terms with the fact she was unable to move on with her life after leaving the Doctor, and departed the Doctor's company with newfound confidence. (DW: School Reunion)
- No reference is made of her marriage to Paul Morley, though from her references to having been unable to find anyone to replace the Doctor in her life, it's possible the marriage had failed by this time. The fact there is no reference to her daughter, Lauren, either here or in the The Sarah Jane Adventures series might suggest she did not win custody. Or that these events do not reconcile in continuity.
===The Bannerman Road years===
At an unknown time after her return to her Aunt Lavinia's estate with K-9, Sarah permanently moved from South Croyden to Ealing and bought a rather large house on Bannerman Road. Sometime after this (after her encounter with the Tenth Doctor and 18 months prior to the Xylok attempt to relocate the moon (SJA: The Lost Boy)), she found, near the remnants of the Krakatoa eruption, an alien crystal, around which she built a computer, which she named Mr Smith. Mr Smith possessed information on many alien species and the ability to contact any computer in the world. (SJA: The Lost Boy). Sarah also had a sonic lipstick, a watch to scan for alien life, and various other futuristic and extraterrestrial devices. Using these technologies and her experience, she began defending the Earth in a way not dissimilar to the operation set up by Isaac Summerfield in the 1980s. She chose to help the Earth by quietly opposing those aliens hostile to it, while simultaneously welcoming those aliens who might befriend it. Her philosophy of alien contact stood in stark contrast to UNIT and the Torchwood Institute, whom she believed tended go in "all guns blazing". (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
In the early 21st century, Sarah Jane and Bernice Summerfield enjoyed a coffee together and shared reminiscences of their time in the TARDIS (BFBS: A Life of Surprises: A Mutual Friend), a time that for Sarah was shortly to be revisted in an inspirational reunion with the Doctor (DW: School Reunion). After this initial encounter with the Tenth Doctor, she was offered a chance to rejoin the TARDIS crew. However, she reluctantly rejected this invitation, opting instead for the genuine closure that she had been denied by the Fourth Doctor. Saying goodbye to the Doctor, she returned to her life of quietly protecting the Earth. However, her encounter with the Doctor had made her do so with greater zeal and peace of mind, as she no longer wondered if she had been "dumped" by the Doctor.
As a consequence of the Krillitane incident, however, K-9 was apparently destroyed. As a second parting gift, the Doctor replaced him. Soon thereafter, however, K-9's unique abilities forced their separation. He became involved with a long-term project to stabilise an artificial black hole. She was left without even the companionship of her "daft metal dog".
Nor did she have much in the way of human social interaction. Amongst the residents of Bannerman Road, she was seemingly viewed as a quiet and unsociable neighbor. Kelsey Harper, though likely exaggerating, described her as a "mad woman". The Bane invasion changed all this as its events exposed her secrets to her young neighbour Maria Jackson. Along with "the archetype", an artificial Human boy created by Bane technology, they defeated the Bane Mother. In the aftermath, Sarah Jane adopted the boy as her own, re-naming him Luke. Sarah was no longer content to live alone and opted to include Maria and Luke in her adventures. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
Through having Luke as a son, she met Clyde Langer, a friend of his and Maria's; all three helped her defeat the Slitheen. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen) They also helped her against the Gorgon. (SJA: Eye of the Gorgon) She and Maria saved Luke and Clyde from General Kudlak. (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak) She was almost wished out of reality by The Trickster until Maria's father Alan saved her and Maria. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?) She was helped by the Slitheen to defeat Mr Smith, who had turned out to be evil. (SJA: The Lost Boy)
When the Daleks transported Earth to the Medusa Cascade, Sarah Jane, worked with Torchwood 3 to contact the Doctor so that he could used Mr Smith to have every telephone on Earth ring the TARDIS. She reluctantly left her son behind and found herself first confronted by two Daleks (DW: The Stolen Earth) and then transported to the Dalek base, the Crucible where she again met Mickey Smith and made the acquaintance of Jackie Tyler. In the heart of the Crucible, she once more met Davros. After the defeat of the Daleks, helped to drive the TARDIS and bring the Earth back home and said another farewell to the Doctor. (DW: Journey's End)
Again with Luke, Clyde and Maria, she saw off the Sontaran known as Kaagh (the last survivor of the Sontaran invasion of Earth) who wanted to take Sarah Jane back to Sontar to stand trial in the Doctor's stead. During that adventure, Maria announced that her father had a job offer to move to America and had decided to let him take it. Six weeks later, she moved out. (SJA: The Last Sontaran)
Shortly afterwards, Rani Chandra, a teenage aspiring journalist, and her parents Gita and Haresh moved in to 36 Bannerman Road and joined Luke and Clyde in defeating a child-stealing energy entity which had inspired the Pied Piper myth. Reluctantly, she took on Rani into the team. The entity thrived off of Sarah's fears of clowns which started one night in childhood and trapped it in a fragment of the meteorite which had brought it to Earth originally. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)
Alternate universe versions
Andrea Yates' World
The Trickster swapped Sarah Jane's destiny with that of schoolfriend Andrea Yates. Consequently, Sarah Jane, not Andrea drowned in 1964 and never led the life she would have alongside the Doctor. Had her life not been restored, life on Earth would have been likely destroyed by an asteroid that only Mr. Smith could have stopped. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)
Donna's World
In this universe, time was altered as the Doctor's companion Donna Noble was assaulted by a member of the Trickster's Brigade who coerce her into turning right instead of left six months prior to when Donna first met the Doctor, leading to her never meeting and saving the Doctor. Sarah Jane investigated the Royal Hope Hospital with Maria, Clyde and Luke; and met Martha Jones. When the hospital was teleported to the moon by the Judoon, Sarah Jane did try to step into the Doctor's role and defuse the situation. She was unsucessful, though, and, along with everyone else, suffocated. (DW: Turn Left)
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; in her first appearance she was infuriated when the Doctor asked her to make coffee, and she often verbally sparred with fellow companion Harry Sullivan, who had an old-fashioned, 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, however, and a more personal feeling for the Doctor himself. These views became less prominent as the series went on, but Sarah never gave the impression that she was less than capable. In spite of the dangerous and frightening situations she often found herself in, she loved adventure and risk, and in spite of her outward complaints, was always thrilled to go off in search of more adventure. 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, implies this as a possible scenario (DW: School Reunion). Due to the common experiences, she bonded with Rose (after some initial mutual animosity and jealousy) and invited the younger companion to contact her if she ever left the Doctor and needed somone to talk to.
Other information
- Until she apparently overcame it, Sarah had a fear of clowns. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)
Aliases
- When she first met the Doctor she claimed to be her aunt Lavinia Smith. (DW: The Time Warrior)
- When she entered St. Agnes Abbey she called herself "Felicity Barnes". At this time, she flipped through a number of fake I.D.'s.(SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)
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
External links
BBC Norfolk: Interview with Elisabeth Sladen regarding Sarah Jane Smith