Sladen, Elisabeth - Elisabeth Sladen - The Autobiography

The revival had registered on my radar, then, but that was all. Then fans started writing in – young correspondents who’d seen the new show and gone on to discover old tapes and DVDs of my serials. They were all asking about Sarah – ‘What do you think she would be doing now?’ Although it was nice to know the interest was there, again this didn’t impact on my life greatly. It was outside of what I was doing and thinking at the time.

When the press rang – as they did in their droves – to ask how I felt about Who coming back, I gave the most honest answer that I could. I said, ‘Brilliant news. It’s better to come back than not come back – on many levels. Actors working for a start.’ Ever the pragmatist …

I never for a moment thought one of those actors might be me.

* * *

When Russell pushed his script across the table I instinctively did what everyone in my profession does: I checked how many lines I’d have. How else do you know if you’re an important character or not? I thought I’d be rifling through for my appearance but I couldn’t believe it: there I was on virtually every page! This wasn’t a cameo – this was a whole story.

I started to scan the words. Toby Whithouse, now better known for having created Being Human , had written a beautiful, beautiful script and the point where Sarah realises the Doctor has returned after all those years is tear-jerking.

I didn’t know what to say.

‘No pressure,’ said Russell. ‘It’s fine if you don’t want to do it.’

I stared again at the pages, dumbfounded that they’d actually written it already. There I was, third on the cast list. Everything already seemed to be in place.

How could I say no?

Afterwards Russell admitted the scale of the gamble he’d taken in commissioning the script before approaching me. If I’d turned it down they wouldn’t have gone to anyone else – Sarah was the one he wanted. She was the journalist, she fitted the script; they weren’t prepared to shoe-horn in any old former companion just for the sake of nostalgia. What an incredible honour.

I think all that took about half an hour. Then we ordered more wine and told jokes. The perfect meeting!

Twenty-nine years after first walking away, I was going back to Doctor Who .

* * *

Table read-throughs are always pressured environments. It’s the first time you meet a lot of the people you’ll be working with. When I was on Who , I was firmly ensconced in the BBC family. The extras coming in had to join our world, not vice versa. Upon arrival at a hotel in Cardiff for the School Reunion table read-through in the summer of 2005, I was as nervous as I’d ever been. The train ride down had given my doubts time to fester. What if they realise they’ve made a mistake? What if they think it’s too much of a risk pinning so much on a near-sixty-year-old?

But if I had a dose of the first-day nerves, imagine what it must have been like for the new Doctor. Chris Eccleston had left and David Tennant was in the hot seat. And this was his first day at work.

Because of time limitations they were doing read-throughs for all three parts of the first recording block in one day. So whereas I expected to be met by a cast well into their stride, in fact David was even more nervous than me.

‘I’m absolutely bricking it,’ Billie Piper admitted. ‘David is, too.’

That made me feel better so I marched over, hand out.

‘Hello, Doctor.’

He couldn’t have been nicer, although when he told me how honoured he felt having me on board I assumed it was just good manners. It was only when I saw him do publicity for the show that I realised how much of a fan he had been of Tom’s Doctor and Sarah Jane. Everything he said about them was so heartfelt. Just like everything he said about me. Bless!

In my day, at a read-through, apart from the cast, there’d be someone from makeup perhaps, maybe another person from costume if they weren’t busy, and the script editor. This place was heaving – so many scriptwriters, the entire makeup department, lighting, sound, cameramen. The only person not there was the tea lady – although soon enough she popped in with refreshments. There were even people standing around the edges. That was the point at which I really panicked – I knew they were there to see David’s debut and not me but even so, I thought, I’m getting terrified now …

I sat next to Anthony Head (Mr Finch, the headmaster). He’s got such a twinkle about him, which is why people loved him so much in those Gold Blend coffee adverts with Cherie Lunghi. Funnily enough, my daughter Googled my name recently – and a picture of Cherie came up! I don’t think I mentioned that to Tony but I was so glad we were in the same episode – I knew it would be a winner with him on board.

We did the episodes in order, so Tony and I had to sit there through two other shows first. David and Billie betrayed no sign of nerves – they were tremendous. Meanwhile, I was getting more tense by the minute. Oh God, I just want to go home!

I stared at the script and concentrated on summoning the spirit of Sarah Jane. Unlike David, who had a pretty blank canvas, I had a duty to honour the character they’d seen me playing on and off for more than half my life – I needed to make sure this was the woman I knew, the Sarah I remembered.

Reintroducing myself to the character was one thing. The show, I realised, was something else. I was actually shocked at how emotionally attached I felt just being back. None of the spin-offs on telly or radio had prepared me for this. Maybe I was naïve imagining I would be able to treat it like any other job. You know, come in, do the best you can, and buy something nice with the fee – that wasn’t going to happen today. The nerves told me otherwise.

Come on, Sladen, I thought. Lots of deep breaths, lots of deep breaths …

Suddenly it was our turn.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the door opened and Stephen Fry strolled in. Just what I need – a celebrity audience.

At these sessions you literally just sit round a table and act out, as best you can, the script in front of you. Even though you’re seated, they expect you to put in as close to a proper performance as possible so Russell and the director can then tweak if some of the dialogue’s a bit slow, or we inspire a joke or something like that. With everyone looking on it’s quite a pressured environment and some people have been known to fall apart.

Not so David and Billie, though. They were in their stride now and Tony was just as sublime. I, on the other hand, was crap! There you go. I couldn’t bear to look at Russell. Despite his pledge in the restaurant, by the end I was thinking, I wouldn’t blame him if he swapped me for Jo Grant.

Afterwards people were very kind to me and someone said, ‘Russell, Phil, Billie and David are going out for a meal with Stephen. They’d love you to join them.’

‘Wonderful!’ I said, all the while thinking, Will the torture never end?

Even though I was staying overnight, for some reason I’d forgotten to bring any makeup – I must have been panicking even before I left home. I rushed over to the makeup supervisor and said, ‘Have you got anything for me?’ Bless her, she parcelled up a bit of blusher and a few bits and bobs then I ran up to my room and got ready.

Stephen had been going to write an episode at one point, that’s why he was there – although he was also a friend of David’s anyway. I’d seen David in Russell’s Casanova and also Blackpool , in which he was with the only Liverpudlian who can make a Scouse accent sound sexy – David Morrissey. I must say, though, he really stood out for me in Stephen’s film Bright Young Things . I thought then, That boy knows how to deliver a line fast. Anyone acting with him really needs to be on their game.