Yet Another One Bites the Dust

Barely two months after lamenting the death of one childhood icon - Nicholas Courtney, who had played the Brigadier in Dr Who - I now find that another one has sadly gone. The death of Elizabeth Sladen, who played the Brigadier's contemporary Sarah Jane Smith in Dr Who, and more recently in her own spin-off series, was announced yesterday evening. I learned via Twitter, although I should have had an inkling that something was up when traffic started to be driven to the story Dr Who over on The Sleaze by variations on the search term 'Elizabeth Sladen naked'. I mean, really? What kind of person does that? Somebody dies, so you search for naked pictures of them on line? Jesus, some of you people out there are sick fucks. No, really. I'm quite serious. It takes a lot to disgust me, but you are just sick.

Anyway, setting aside my repugnance at the moral decadence of some of my readers, I'd just like to say what a sad loss Miss Sladen is, especially her, relatively, young age. As with Nicholas Courtney, I have many fond memories of her appearances opposite first Jon Pertwee, than Tom Baker as the Doctor. It took a while for her to win me round, as she replaced a particular favourite Dr Who assistant of mine, Jo Grant, played by Katy Manning. Nevertheless, along with millions of other fans, I came to like her portrayal of Sarah Jane Smith. Consequently, I was glad to see her back opposite David Tennant a few years ago, which resulted in her spin-off series, which, although officially a children's programme, was still extremely well made and entertaining. So, there you have it, another one of my childhood idols gone. Where will it all end, eh?