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REVIEW – ELIZABETH SLADEN AT FAB CAFÉ, MANCHESTER 23^rd NOVEMBER 2006

I went to this delightful question and answer session with Elizabeth Sladen, best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in television’s Doctor Who.

Liz Sladen was one of the Doctor’s best-loved assistants, serving with Jon Pertwee, and Tom Baker up to 1976.

There was a brief attempt to launch Sarah on her own adventures with K9, a robot dog left to her by the Doctor. Sadly, the series never got past its pilot episode.

When Russell T. Davies recreated the Doctor for the 1990’s Sarah Jane returned in an episode called School Reunion with David Tennant playing the Doctor.

The Who revival has already spawned one successful spin off series, Torchwood, and now Russell T. has created a new series of children’s adventures for Sarah Jane and K9. Hopefully, the quality of the scripts from the Russell T. Camp will ensure that the new series succeeds. It must be unusual, if not unique for a failed series to get such a second lease of life as this.

Liz Sladen in effect bridges he generations of who fans more than anyone else in the series, (though K9, and his voice actor John Leeson also made the transition to the 21^st Century).

I saw Liz Sladen at some Who conventions in the 1990’s, mainly UNIT reunions and the last two Manopticon gatherings. Seeing her again at FAB Café was a real delight. You could hear the audience gasp at how gorgeous she looks. One question was about whether she has a Dorian Grey type portrait of herself in her attic. FAB showed clips from her who works from the Baker years, and the Tennant episode. It was clearer than ever how little she has aged in the period in between.

During that time she has done some sit-com work, and theatre work, but on the whole, she has fallen off the radar. Her answers to the various questions were sincere, and good-humoured. She came across as incredibly nice, and also very modest. To her credit she did not come across as plugging her new work. She was actually very discreet about the new K9 series, Sarah Jane Investigates, which is due out in January 2007.

FAB flyers hinted that someone might even dare to ask about K9 & Company, and I’m afraid that dubious distinction fell to me. When she signed some pictures for me later she jokingly told me that she should really just have smashed my face in, but she was far too polite and lovely to be taken seriously in such a tone.

Liz had dropped out from the Convention circuit, as she realized that the same people were asking the same questions over and over again, and there were only so many anecdotes to tell. She did relate one story I had heard before, about a prank played on her by producers in the early days of her career. After some filming, they told her that her blue dress had caused problems in that it had become invisible in the back projection shots taken, giving the impression that she was virtually naked. It had taken her a while to realize that they were pulling her leg.

Her visit to Manchester was both nostalgic and forward-looking. Few Dr. Who assistants have gained such a second lease of life. Asked about her DVD commentaries on the episodes she has appeared in Liz replied in laughter ‘That’s my pension scheme’.

A warm, happy event and hopefully there will be a return visit soon from one of the most down to Earth, delightful guests FAB have ever presented.

My review of THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES pilot episode is now online.