Sladen, Elisabeth - Elisabeth Sladen - The Autobiography

Acknowledgements

There are so many people to thank from us as a family as well as on Mum’s behalf.

Top of the list is Pat and the Davis family for being there through everything and for being the best friend Mum could have wished for.

Also Andrew Beech, for being the original Sladen roadie; Alan Langley for conventions and beyond; Roger Carey Associates; and the whole Sarah Jane Adventures team – with special mention to Anj, Danny, Tom, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, the gorgeous Nikki Wilson, Phil Ford, Brian Minchin, Matthew Bouch, Emma Bailey, Stewart Meachem, Gary Russell, Graeme Harper, Joss Agnew, Ashley Way, Michael Kerrigan, Charles Martin, Alice Troughton, all the wonderful writers and the very hard-working crew! Not forgetting everyone in the new Doctor Who team, particularly Ed Russell for his amazing feat …

Very special mention to the late Barry Letts who was much loved and who, of course, created Sarah Jane, and also to the much loved and cherished Russell T Davies for bringing Sarah Jane out of her attic.

Friends past and present, especially Liz and the Bowyers, Jane and Dave, the Lonnens, the Badgers, the Plumleys, the Benthams, Barbara and Chris and all those unmentioned but who know who you are.

A very special mention to Sam Harrison and everyone at Aurum Press, and Jeff Hudson, Mum’s co-writer, for all their hours and dedication in creating a fitting tribute and a great read.

A huge thank you to all the children, young and old, who loved watching Mum and who have shared their thoughts and best wishes with us.

Finally, I’d like to thank my Mum, Elisabeth Miller – not Sladen – who will not be shared with anyone and whom I miss and love very much.

Sadie Miller

London, September 2011

Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgements

Foreword It Was Always The Doctor And Sarah

Prologue I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World

One ‘S’ Is For ‘Star’

Two Here She Comes, Sarah Heartburn

Three How Do You Keep Your Shoes So White?

Four What Would You Like To Drink, Katy?

Five O.O.B., Sladen?

Six There’s Nothing ‘Only’ About Being A Girl

Seven What If A Snake Slides Up My Skirt?

Eight Tom, I Don’t Need A Coat!

Nine I Thought You Were Doing A Doctor

Ten Over Here, Cloth-Eyes!

Eleven Eldrad Must Live!

Twelve Bippetyboo, Bippetyboo

Thirteen Affirmative, Mistress!

Fourteen Think Of The Fans

Fifteen Count Me In

Sixteen That’s The Last I’ll Be Hearing From Them

Seventeen In Case The Buggers Change The Locks

Epilogue Who On Earth Would Want To Read About Me?

Copyright

Foreword

It Was Always The Doctor And Sarah

2005. My first day on a new job.

A long table scattered with scripts, water bottles and paper name plates stretched the whole length of the room. What felt like hundreds of people milled around expectantly, chatting, checking BlackBerries, casting sideways glances as I tried to keep breathing and affect an air of insouciant calm. I took my place in front of my little paper sign and glanced around the table. And there, just across from me and down to my left, a face from my childhood leapt out from among the throng.

Sarah Jane Smith was quietly leafing through a script and composing herself for the afternoon ahead. Perhaps she was sipping a glass of water, maybe chatting to her neighbour, I don’t remember now – all I remember is the sense that in that moment someone familiar, someone comforting and someone slightly magical had come to make sure everything was going to be all right.

If Sarah was here, there was nothing to worry about. Later that afternoon she would be calling me Doctor. The little eight-year-old in my head (who was frankly reeling at the fact that I was in that room at all) was soothed, and of course thrilled , that the Doctor’s one true assistant was there to look out for him.

Of course later I would get to know Lis and realise she was just as nervous as me that day, but in that moment she represented all that made me want the job in the first place. It was her voice that transported me. In one line she catapulted me back to Saturday tea times, the little catch in her voice as she confronted the latest intergalactic horror. The jeopardy was always palpable; everything seemed so real, almost raw. Everything Sarah did was alive and true. Lis’s absolute conviction in playing that role brought the worlds of Doctor Who to vivid, irrefutable life. There was no danger that a cheap set or a less than convincing rubber mask would puncture the magic when Lis was there, believing in everything around her with such passionate certitude.

And here she was, just the same: the same conviction, the same passion for it. She was utterly consummate. And of course, she looked the same. Everybody would say it, but Elisabeth Sladen never seemed to age, either in looks or spirit. As an actor you’re not supposed to get star-struck; it isn’t the done thing to be in awe of someone you are working with. It wouldn’t be very helpful if you couldn’t look your co-star in the eye when you’re supposed to be playing their boss, or their lover. It’s a professional necessity that you can at least pretend to be easy in the company of your colleagues. I would have to admit to a handful of instances where such professionalism has failed me though, and that afternoon, when I finally met Lis, was one of them.

Reading through the script was easy. I was doing scenes with Sarah Jane Smith, I’d played them out a million times in the playground as a kid, but actually meeting Elisabeth Sladen, who used to be on posters on my bedroom wall, and having to talk to her as an adult . It was too much. Except, of course, she was everything I could hope she would be. Charming, diffident, conscientious, giggly, determined, straightforward, a little crazy and enormously warm. She inspired absolute devotion in everyone who worked with her. Through her largesse and openness I very quickly moved from adoring fan to genuine devotee. I would quiz her for stories about Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and after a while she’d oblige, but always with absolute grace and generosity. She would never bore anyone with actorly anecdotes – she had way too much class – but if you could tease some out of her, they were always delicious.

That day around that long conference table was the beginning of a fantastic journey for me. For Lis it was the continuation of a much longer one (albeit the beginning of a glorious new chapter for Sarah Jane Smith). Those scenes in the episode ‘School Reunion’ where the Doctor sees Sarah again after all that time were some of the most thrilling I had on Doctor Who . It was the realisation of a childhood fantasy I never imagined I would entertain. It could only have been with Elisabeth. It was always the Doctor and Sarah.

I loved my time on Doctor Who . I had the huge privilege of working with a host of remarkable, gifted and often highly prestigious actors. My own travelling companions – Billie, Freema and Catherine – were second to none, but the experience just wouldn’t have been the same if my TARDIS hadn’t been graced by the lady who lit up my childhood and helped me fall in love with it all in the first place.

As a child I was delighted to know Sarah Jane Smith.