Clang & Clatter

Elisabeth Sladen (2/1/1946 - 4/19/2011)

Elisabeth Sladen, best known for her role as The Doctor’s traveling companion Sarah Jane Smith in the Doctor Who series, died yesterday at the age of 63 after a private battle with cancer. Sladen first portrayed Sarah Jane in 1973 alongside Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, remaining for nearly four seasons and into Tom Baker’s tenure as the Fourth Incarnation of The Doctor. She returned to the role many times in later years before being given her own spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2007.

Tom Baker released a statement on his website yesterday (excerpted below for brevity) about the years he spent on the Doctor Who set with Sladen and the friendship that resulted:

Sarah Jane dead? No, impossible! Impossible…

She can’t be dead. But she is: she died yesterday morning. Cancer. I had no idea she was ill; she was so private, never wanted any fuss, and now, gone. A terrible blow to her friends and a shattering blow for all those fans of the programme whose lives were touched every Saturday evening by her lovely heroic character, Sarah-Jane Smith…

Those sweet memories of happy days with Lis Sladen, the lovely, witty, kind and so talented Lis Sladen. I am consoled by the memories. I was there, I knew her, she was good to me and I shall always be grateful, and I shall miss her.

Tenth Doctor David Tennant had this to say to the BBC about working with Sladen:

I just can’t believe that Lis is gone. She seemed invincible. The same woman who enchanted my childhood, enchanted my time on Doctor Who and enchanted generations who have watched her and fallen in love with her - just like I did. I feel very honoured to have shared a TARDIS with Sarah Jane Smith, and I feel very lucky to have shared some time with Lis Sladen. She was extraordinary.

Rest in peace, Elisabeth Sladen.

Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

According to his official website, Nicholas Courtney, most famous for his role as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the Doctor Who series, passed away at the age of 81 on February 22, 2011 after a “long battle with illness.”

Courtney first appeared as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in the 1968 serial The Web of Fear with the Second Doctor played by Patrick Troughton, and he returned later in The Invasion as the newly-promoted Brigadier and head of the UK branch of UNIT, an organization that protected the Earth from alien invasion. This recurring role as The Brigadier saw him appear alongside five doctors: Troughton’s Second Doctor, the Third Doctor played by Jon Pertwee, the Fourth Doctor—and the one who will always be THE Doctor to me since I grew up watching him—Tom Baker, Peter (Moffett) Davison’s portrayal of the Fifth Doctor, and in his final appearance in 1989’s Battlefield with Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Courtney did not perform in any of the Sixth Doctor episodes, but if you wanted to split hairs, you could say the count was actually six Doctors since he was in the 1983 special The Five Doctors with Richard Hurndall playing the part of the First Doctor since original actor William Hartnell had died in 1975.

Courtney continued to act extensively in theater and on TV after his Doctor Who days, but it is his performance in more than 100 episodes of the unwavering Brigadier that he will likely best be remembered.

Here’s what Tom Baker had to say about his colleague at his website:

Nick Courtney died yesterday after a very long and painful battle with cancer. I went to say goodbye to him on Friday at the wonderful hospice near Belsize Park in North London. The lady in charge said he was very stoical. And indeed he was. It was so distressing to see him so weak and yet so strong in resignation. My jokes were received with a generous effort from Nick to smile. I was with Michael McManus who helped me through the ordeal of seeing a beloved old pal so reduced by illness.

Of all the characters in Doctor Who there is no doubt that he was the most loved by the fans for his wonderful portrayal of the rather pompous Brigadier. ”Five rounds rapid” was the line we all loved, always addressed to Sergeant Benton. Nick’s close friends simply adored him. There was a certain innocence in his personality that was utterly endearing. He was very easy to tease, and I did my share, which made him shake his head in disbelief when he realised he had been had.

He was a wonderful companion and his friends would call each other or e-mail to relate the latest little stories of a night out with the Brig. He had a marvellous resonant voice which he used brilliantly when it was his turn to spin a yarn. And his background was fascinating too: born in Alexandria, Egypt, he was brought up speaking French and Arabic. Later he perfected English and after a few drinks he would speak in Latin tags to great comic effect.

We shall miss him terribly.

Rest in peace, Nicholas Courtney.