Sadly, longtime Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen has died. She played Sarah Jane Smith, one of the most popular of the Doctor’s companions (and the most popular prior to the 2005 revival). Debuting in 1973 as 3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee’s last companion, she went on to play 4th Doctor Tom Baker’s first, and would return to guest-star on the revived version of the show alongside David Tennant in 2006. Since 2007, she has starred in the spinoff series Sarah Jane Adventures, making a success of a fairly unusual project by mainstream media standards: a science-fiction series whose principal character is a woman in her 60s. The show was halfway through filming its fifth season at the time of her death.
