The
Sarah Jane Adventures is a spin-off series from the sci-fi series Doctor
Who.
It
focuses on the adventures of journalist Sarah Jane Smith (played by
Elisabeth Sladen) who used to travel with the third and fourth
incarnations of the Doctor.
In
2006, Children's BBC expressed an interest in producing a Doctor Who
spin-off. Their initial idea was "a drama based on the idea of a
young Doctor Who", but Russell T. Davies vetoed this.
"Somehow, the idea of a fourteen-year-old Doctor, on Gallifrey
inventing sonic screwdrivers, takes away from the mystery and intrigue
of who he is and where he came from," said Davies. He suggested
instead a series based on the Doctor's former companion Sarah Jane
Smith.
A
pilot for another Doctor Who spin-off series, K-9 and Company,
made in 1981, featured Sarah Jane and the robot dog K-9; however, the
option to make a series was not picked up. Sarah Jane and K-9 returned
to Doctor Who in various media many times over the years, most
notably in the 20th anniversary special "The Five Doctors"
(1983) and in the 2006 episode "School Reunion".
Sarah
Jane is frequently voted the most popular Doctor Who companion by
both Doctor Who fans and members of the general public. The
prospect of a new television series focusing on Sarah Jane was first
rumoured in The Sun in March 2006, prior to the airing of
"School Reunion"; the report at that time suggested that Sarah
Jane and K-9 would both appear in the series. The fact that a Sarah Jane
series was being developed was first confirmed in the BBC's in-house
newsletter, Ariel, in early August 2006. These early rumours were
associated with the working title Sarah Jane Investigates.
K-9
briefly appeared in the special, but will not be in the series. This is
due to the concurrent development of K-9, which is not associated
with the BBC and will not feature any Doctor Who connections
beyond K-9 himself. However, on the launch of the series on September
24, 2007, Elisabeth Sladen confirmed in an interview on the CBBC channel
that K-9 will make a small appearance in the show.
To
date there 10 episodes and 1 New Year Special pilot episode, and it
appears likely that a second series will be commissioned.
