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| INDIVIDUAL | |
| Sarah Jane Smith | |
| File:Sarah Jane.jpg | |
| Race | Human |
| Home Planet | Earth |
| Home Era | 20th Century Humanian Era |
| Appearances | Full List of Appearances |
| Actor | Elisabeth Sladen |
Sarah first appeared in the Third Doctor serial The Time Warrior, where she had managed to infiltrate a top secret research facility by posing as her aunt, Lavinia Smith, a famous virologist. She sneaked into the TARDIS while the Doctor was preparing to follow the trail of a kidnapped scientist through time, and became embroiled in the subsequent adventure.
Sarah then found herself working with the Third Doctor and UNIT on a number of occasions. She was present when he regenerated into the Fourth Doctor at the end of Planet of the Spiders, and continued to accompany him on his journeys through time and space.
The exact placement of Sarah's adventures with the Doctor is part of the UNIT dating controversy. In Pyramids of Mars she stated (more than once) that she was "from 1980", which implies that her adventures with the Doctor took place in the near future from the time of broadcast. However, fans continue to argue whether she meant 1980 as the year she came from, the year she last returned to Earth, or the year she believed it was in her personal chronology.
During her time with the Doctor, Sarah encountered Daleks, Cybermen, antimatter creatures on the most distant planet in the universe, android mummies in 1911 England, ancient evils in 15th century Italy and other dangers, until the Doctor received a summons to his home planet Gallifrey and could not take her along.
Sarah had a flat in South Croydon, where the Doctor tried to drop her off at the end of The Hand of Fear (but, typically, did not get the coordinates quite right. In fact, it was finally revealed in School Reunion, 30 years later, that she had not been dropped off in Croydon, but in Aberdeen, Scotland). When the Doctor did not return for her (despite having left K-9 Mark III, a robot dog, as a gift) she believed him to be dead, until she encountered his TARDIS in School Reunion.
As a companion, she 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 rapport with the Third and Fourth Doctors, and is consistently one of, if not the most popular of the companions among fans.
At the time of School Reunion, Sarah was still single, having found it impossible to hold down a lasting relationship with any man following her experiences with the Doctor. At the episode's conclusion, Sarah Jane was gifted with a new K-9 model.
In the time between School Reunion and Sarah's Adventures (at least a year and a half), K-9 has left Sarah to close off a black hole, occasionally passing close enough to contact her, leaving her entirely alone Sarah Jane has developed a reputation on Bannerman Road as being unsociable and quiet, keeping her investigations into alien life a secret. Acquiring a sonic lipstick, a watch to scan for alien life, sentient supercomputer assistant Mr Smith and various other futuristic and extraterrestrial devices in the meantime, she has helped the Earth and alien life forms in a much less violent way to organisations such as UNIT and the Torchwood Institute who she remarks tend to go in "all guns blazing". As of the pilot episode, Invasion of the Bane, Sarah Jane has adopted a son — Luke Smith, and befriended neighbour Maria Jackson, remarking that since meeting them she is no longer content to live alone. When asked by several characters why she has never married, she remarks that there was only one man for her, to whom no one could ever compare.