My Sarah Jane: Tribute Post

[viomisehunt]

Please join me in sharing clips, or first viewings, or articles about our Dear Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah Jane was not the First Assistant, and in some minds not the best of Assistants, but to this Classic Who Fan she was the definitive Doctor's Assistant. Feisty, pretty, intelligent, courageous, curious, independent, with a sweet but dry sense of

Comments

[ibishtar]

when becoming the Doctor's best friend meant a little more than She doesn't want to jump my skinny bones....
Ehh, I reckon there's a lot more to the Doctor's friendship with Donna and Amy than 'they didn't want to jump his bones' (or didn't eventually). And of course he had a very sweet friendship IMO with someone who did...

But back to Sarah Jane!

[viomisehunt]

Thanks for the link. Here is a wonderful interview where Miss Sladen talks about Sarah's dynamic debut as opposed to her falling back into "Yes, Doctor, No Doctor" role of Assistant.

Ehh, I reckon there's a lot more to the Doctor's friendship with Donna and Amy than 'they didn't want to jump his bones' (or didn't eventually).

Fans have their own POV, and I would hope it is true, but that statement was a cryptic aside to NuWho writers. Russell Davies, in discussing the ease with which Donna and Ten bond, Noted that Donna did not represent the tragedy of Rose, and Complication of Martha, and then we have this conversation:
DONNA
Do I need injections though, do I? Like when you go to Cambodia, is there any of that? Cos my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and...
She suddenly notices that he doesn't look happy.
DONNA
You're not saying much.
DOCTOR
No, it's just... It's a funny old life, in the TARDIS.
DONNA (quiet, and very sad)
You don't want me.
DOCTOR
I'm not saying that.
DONNA
But you asked me.
The Doctor just stares at her, so sad.
DONNA
Would you rather be on your own?
DOCTOR
No. Actually, no. But...
He throws the bags to the ground.
DOCTOR
The last time, with Martha, like I said it... it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I just want a mate.
DONNA (shocked disgust)
You just want TO MATE???
DOCTOR
I just want a mate!
DONNA
You're not mating with me, sunshine!
DOCTOR
A mate, I want a mate!
DONNA
Well just as well, because I'm not having any of that nonsense. I mean you're just a long streak of... nothing. You know, alien nothing.
DOCTOR
There we are, then. OK.
DONNA
I can come?
DOCTOR
Yeah. Course you can, yeah.

So yeah, basically, unlike the Third and Fourth Doctor, the Doctor had some personal boundaries/issues when welcoming a traveling companion and best friend.

[ibishtar]

I think you forgot to include the link to the interview in your comment?
Yeah, in that moment the Doctor needs to clear that issue with Donna because after what he experienced with Rose, Martha and Astrid he's not ready to go through that again (he would anyway, and indeed it did him in), but I think his and Donna's friendship goes way beyond 'lack of romantic complications'. It's already there in The Runaway Bride when Donna's heartbroken after discovering Lance's betrayal, and he is still raw from losing Rose, but they both forget that in the moment when he has the joy of showing her the formation of the Earth, she's awed by the new perspective this gives her, she makes a joke about the Isle of Wight, and they both laugh. It's also there in the times she's told him off, supported him, been his voice of conscience, and all the times he trusts her, praises her, and continues to expand her horizons. And all the laughter they share all throughout.

[viomisehunt]

Doctor needs to clear that issue with Donna because after what he experienced with Rose, Martha and Astrid I'm not a fan of NuWho tendancy making the Doctor's emotional issues front and center as somehow the "Fault" or "responsibility" of the Companion, which is why the Sarah Jane/Three and Four is so precious to me. But as you say, back to Sarah.

Here's the link:

[ibishtar]

I don't think the show did that. In that scene you quoted the Doctor actually says "that was all my fault".

That's a brilliant interview, thanks for sharing!

[viomisehunt]

Yeah I loved that interview. There is an audio version of much longer interview (Featured in the Doctor Who Magazine Tribute edition) with Lis from the 1990s where she makes that tripping on twigs remark, describing her purpose. But Sarah Jane did much more than that.

[viomisehunt]

I wish you had a gif of the cute "Walk this way" scene from that episode, when Sarah and The Doctor were trying to avoid being seen in the windows. They had so much fun.

[ibishtar]

I had a search on tumblr, but didn't find. Hopefully my icon makes up for it. That part is indeed very cute!

[viomisehunt]

Yes, yes, thank you for sharing that. That is one of my favorite scenes. Silly, sweet, charming and wonderful which is how I best remember the Classic show.