I was genuinely sad to here about the news of the death of Lis Sladen! What a tragedy for her family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them. She played my favourite among all the Doctor Who assistants, Sarah Jane Smith. She was feisty, yet vulnerable, funny, and a beautiful English rose if there ever was one. There are very few in the acting profession that could keep a character alive, and relevant like Lis Sladen had done over the years, and so I wanted to do this tribute to thank her for the enjoyment she has brought to us all. I never met her, but by all accounts from people who had, they said how gracious and kind she was. Her personality certainly came through her performances and interviews!
She started her time with Doctor Who along side the legendary Jon Pertwee in 1973 in the 'Time Warrior'. She was great at the role straight from the start, and embraced by the fans of the show.
The cartoon shows the last time she played Sarah Jane with Tom Baker back in 1976. Her and Tom were great together, and their friendship shone through. My favourite Doctor and assistant together. For me the golden age of Dr Who, with stories like the 'Seeds of Doom', 'Genesis of the Daleks', 'The Ark in Space', 'Pyramids of Mars', 'The Brain of Morbius', and many more I could mention! In this one 'The Hand of Fear', she wore in that story what was often described as an Andy Pandy costume; but it was the 70s, and Lis would look great in anything, so I certainly did not see anything odd about it. I think the phrase 'Eldrad must live', followed her around at all the Who conventions she attended, as it was one of those iconic moments in British sci-fi television. I thought it was fitting to choose this as a tribute to her. RIP Lis!
