Wednesday 20 April 2011

Elisabeth Sladen

I've just heard the terribly sad news about the death of Elisabeth Sladen.  She played the definitive Doctor Who companion, Sarah Jane Smith both in classic and new Doctor Who and in her own spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures.  Usually when a famous person whom I admire passes away I do what, I think it's fair to say, a lot of people do in these situations.  I spend a minute reflecting on what a shame it all is before updating my Facebook status with an RIP (mostly to demonstrate to my cultural awareness to my followers) and then indulging in some tasteless gallows humour in order to prevent myself from dwelling on my own mortality.

But this time it's different. When I read of her death I literally caught my breath and reacted with shock, disbelief and genuine sadness.  The fact that her passing could have this much of an effect on a complete stranger is a testament to the warmth and charisma she brought to the role of Sarah Jane Smith.  There's a lot of other complete strangers all over the world feeling exactly the same as me and of course, a lot of people who knew her and loved her feeling a lot sadder still.  I know it's a bit of a corny thing to say, but through her work she touched a lot of people's lives in a really positive way and that's pretty amazing.  So this is a genuine, honest and heartfelt...

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen