Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who.
Born	February 1, 1948 (1948-02-01) (age 59) Liverpool, England
Spouse(s)	Brian Miller

Elisabeth Sladen (born February 1, 1948, Liverpool, England) is an English actress best known for her work as the character Sarah Jane Smith on the television series Doctor Who and related spin-offs. She appeared as a regular on Doctor Who with both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and has reprised the role many times. Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith from Doctor Who (publicity still from Planet of Evil). ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... Location within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Historic county Merseyside Lancashire Admin HQ Liverpool City Centre Founded 1207 City Status 1880 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Liverpool City Council Area  - Borough & City 43. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Brian Miller is a British actor. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Historic county Merseyside Lancashire Admin HQ Liverpool City Centre Founded 1207 City Status 1880 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Liverpool City Council Area  - Borough & City 43. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its related spin-offs. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... John Devon Roland Pertwee (7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), better known as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. ... For other persons named Tom Baker, see Tom Baker (disambiguation). ...

Early career

An only child, Sladen developed an interest in performing at an early age, beginning dance lessons when she was five and dancing in one production with the Royal Ballet. She eventually turned to acting, and after finishing grammar school, attended drama school for two years. Royal Ballet may refer to: Royal Ballet, London Birmingham Royal Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Royal Danish Ballet There is also an article about the Royal Ballet School in London, England. ...

Following this, she began work at the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company as an assistant stage manager. Her first stage appearance was as a corpse. However, she was scolded for giggling on stage, thanks to a young actor, Brian Miller, whispering the words, "Respiration nil, Aston Villa two" in her ear while he was playing the doctor. Sladen was so good as an assistant stage manager that she did not get many acting roles, a problem she solved by deliberately making mistakes on several occasions. This got her told off again, but she started to get more on-stage roles. The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. ... Brian Miller is a British actor. ... Aston Villa Football Club (also known as The Villa and The Villans)[3] is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who currently play in the Premier League. ...

Sladen eventually moved into weekly repertory work, traveling around to various locations in England. Sladen and Miller, now married, moved to Manchester, spending three years there. She appeared in numerous roles, most notably as Desdemona in Othello, her first appearance as a leading lady. She also got the odd part on Leeds Radio and Granada Television, eventually appearing as a barmaid in six episodes of the long-running soap opera Coronation Street. Sladen made her first, uncredited, screen appearance in 1964 in the film Ferry 'Cross the Mersey as an extra. This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... Desdemona by Frederic Leighton Desdemona is a fictional character in the play Othello by William Shakespeare. ... Othello and Desdemona by Alexandre-Marie Colin. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Coronation Street is an award winning British soap opera. ... Ferry Cross the Mersey is the name of a 1965 song, film, and soundtrack album, all related to Liverpool and the Mersey Sound, as well as the Mersey Ferry, which still runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral. ...

In 1972, Miller was appearing in a play that moved down to London, and they had to move along with it. Sladen found city life a bit of an adjustment, but eventually adapted. Her first television role in London was as a female terrorist in an episode of Doomwatch. This was followed by guest roles in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Z-Cars. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Doomwatch was a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on the BBC1 channel for thirty-seven fifty-minute episodes, plus one unshown, and one part made, in three seasons transmitted on Mondays from 9 February 1970 to 14 August 1972. ... Frank Spencer sporting his trademark beret in a scene with Broadcaster David Jacobs Some Mothers Do Ave Em (1973-1978) was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. ... Z-Cars (sometimes written as Z Cars, and always pronounced zed, never zee) was a British television drama series centred around the work of regular beat police officers in the fictional town of Newtown, near Liverpool, in the north-west of England. ...

Doctor Who (1973-1976)

In 1973 actress Katy Manning, who was playing the Third Doctor's assistant Jo Grant opposite Jon Pertwee, was leaving the series. Producer Barry Letts was growing increasingly desperate in his search for a replacement when Z-Cars producer Ron Craddock gave Sladen an enthusiastic recommendation. Katy Manning (publicity portrait) Katy Manning (born October 14, 1949 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British-born actress best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Third Doctor is the name given to the third incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... Jo Grant, full name Josephine Grant, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... John Devon Roland Pertwee (7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), better known as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. ... Barry Letts Barry Letts is a British actor, television director and producer best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

Sladen arrived at the audition not knowing it was for the new companion role and was amazed at Letts's thoroughness. She was introduced to Pertwee, whom she found intimidating at the time. As she chatted with Letts and Pertwee, each time she turned to look at one of them the other would signal a thumbs-up. She was offered and accepted the part of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith. Companion, in the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, is a term used to describe a character who travels with and shares the adventures of the Doctor. ... Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its related spin-offs. ...

Sladen stayed on Doctor Who for three and a half seasons, alongside both Pertwee as the Third Doctor and Tom Baker as the Fourth, receiving both popular and critical acclaim for her role as Sarah. When she left the series in 1976, it made front page news, where previously only a change of Doctors had received such attention. For other persons named Tom Baker, see Tom Baker (disambiguation). ... The Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Later career

Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith together with K-9 in K-9 and Company.

Sladen returned to Liverpool with her husband and did a series of plays. Notable appearances following that include a two-year stint as a presenter for the children's program Stepping Stones, a role as a stand-up comic's spouse in Take My Wife, and a small part in the movie Silver Dream Racer as a bank secretary in 1980, only her second motion picture appearance to date. Image File history File links Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, from K-9 and Company. ... Image File history File links Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, from K-9 and Company. ... Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its related spin-offs. ... K-9, or K9, is the name of several robotic dogs in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. ... Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and K-9. ... The Stepping Stones are three prominent rocks lying 0. ... silver dream racer This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

The new decade also marked her first appearance at a Doctor Who convention, Who 1 in March 1980, along with Ian Marter, who had played companion Harry Sullivan on the programme. In 1981, Letts cast her as the female lead in the BBC Classics production of Gulliver in Lilliput. Ian Marter (born October 28, 1944 in Coventry; died October 28, 1986 in London) was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as Harry Sullivan in the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1975. ... Harry Sullivan is a fictional character from the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who and is a companion of the Fourth Doctor. ...

New Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner had asked her to return to the series to ease the transition between Tom Baker and new Doctor Peter Davison. She declined the offer, but accepted his second offer of doing a pilot for a spin-off series called K-9 and Company, co-starring with K-9, the popular robot dog from Doctor Who. However, the pilot was not picked up for a series. Sladen would reprise the role of Sarah in 1983 for the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors. John Nathan-Turner. ... Peter Davison (born 13 April 1951) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriots All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984. ... Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and K-9. ... K-9, or K9, is the name of several robotic dogs in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. ... Robot dog refers to a robot in the shape of a dog, or one which has other canine characteristics (such as a barking dog burglar alarm activated by disturbance of an infra-red beam). ... The Five Doctors was a special movie-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programmes twentieth anniversary. ...

She continued to appear in various advertisements and in another Letts production, Alice in Wonderland (playing the Dormouse), as well as attending conventions in the United States. After the birth of her daughter Sadie Miller in February 1985, Sladen went into semi-retirement, placing her family first, but still finding time to appear occasionally on television. Sladen's last TV appearance as Sarah before the 2005 revival of Doctor Who was in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time, however she also appeared as Sarah in the 1995 independently produced video "Downtime", from Reeltime Pictures, which also featured Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier and Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. Sadie Isabelle Amy Miller is the daughter of actor Brian Miller and actress Elisabeth Sladen. ... Dimensions in Time was a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and the soap opera EastEnders that ran in two parts on November 26 and 27, 1993. ... Downtime is a spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

Sladen returned to the role of Sarah once again in several audio plays. Two of them were produced for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death (Radio 5, 1993), and The Ghosts of N-Space (Radio 2, 1996), together with Pertwee as the Doctor and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Big Finish Productions has also produced two series of Sarah Jane Smith audio adventures set in the present day, released in 2002 and 2006. Sladen also appeared in a Bernice Summerfield audio drama, Kate Orman's Walking to Babylon, but not as Sarah Jane. Her daughter Sadie has also appeared in the Sarah Jane Smith audios. Radio drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio. ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ... The Paradise of Death is a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced by the BBC and first broadcast in five episodes on BBC Radio 5 from 27 August to 24 September 1993. ... The Ghosts of N-Space a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Nicholas Courtney Nicholas Courtney (born William Nicholas Stone Courtney on December 16, 1929) is a British television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. ... Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces audio plays released straight to compact disc, based on British cult science fiction properties. ... Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character originally created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishings range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures. ... Kate Orman is an Australian science-fiction author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Walking to Babylon (ISBN 0426205219) is a 1998 novel by Kate Orman in the Virgin New Adventures series featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny). ...

Sladen appeared as Sarah in "School Reunion", an episode of the 2006 series of the revived Doctor Who, along with John Leeson who returned as the voice of the robot dog K-9 and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. In the lead-up to the broadcast of "School Reunion", Sladen was quoted in The Daily Mirror being somewhat critical of the characterisation of Sarah Jane in the original programme: "Sarah Jane used to be a bit of a cardboard cut-out. Each week it used to be, 'Yes Doctor, no Doctor', and you had to flesh your character out in your mind — because if you didn't, no one else would." She spoke more favourably of the characterisation in the new series.^[1] School Reunion is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... “Doctor who episodes” redirects here. ... John Leeson (born March 1943 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England) is a British actor who although having had a varied stage and television career spanning forty years including both work in repertory and West End productions including Plaza Suite (1969); Flint (1970) and Dont Start Without Me (1971) and character... K-9, or K9, is the name of several robotic dogs in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. ... David Tennant is the stage name of David John McDonald (born 18 April 1971), a Scottish actor from Bathgate, West Lothian, best known as the tenth actor to portray the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who. ... The Tenth Doctor is the name given to the tenth and current incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a British tabloid daily newspaper. ...

In 2007, Sladen starred in The Sarah Jane Adventures, another television spin-off focusing on Sarah Jane, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC and written by Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts. A 60-minute special aired on New Year's Day 2007, with a full series to follow in september 2007.^[2] The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British childrens television series, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC, starring Elisabeth Sladen and created by Russell T. Davies. ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ... CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ... Russell T Davies, interviewed for the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential in 2005. ... Gareth John Pritchard Roberts (born 1968) is a British television writer and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

References

Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a British tabloid daily newspaper. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A press release (sometimes known as a news release or press statement) is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Online TV Interview on Liverpool Reporter hosted by Jonathan Thompson with Elisabeth Sladen in 2006
• BBC Norfolk webTV: Elisabeth Sladen previews the Sarah Jane Adventures
• Video interview with Elisabeth Sladen, Nov. 2006
• Elisabeth Sladen at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Norfolk webTV: Lis Sladen reflects on School Reunion - October 2006
• BBC Norfolk webTV: Elisabeth Sladen interview from April 2006
• BBC confirm return of Sarah Jane Smith
• Interview from 2001