Death of the Doctor: Part 1 (25 Oct. 2010)

Sarah Jane is told by Colonel Tia Karim of UNIT that The Doctor is dead and so she goes with Rani and Clyde to UNIT's underground headquarters in Wales, where a rocket will fire the ... See full summary »

Director:

Ashley Way

Writers:

Russell T. Davies (creator), Russell T. Davies

Stars:

Elisabeth Sladen, Matt Smith, Tommy Knight

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Matt Smith	...	The Doctor
Tommy Knight	...	Luke Smith
Daniel Anthony	...	Clyde Langer
Anjli Mohindra	...	Rani Chandra
Ace Bhatti	...	Haresh Chandra
Alexander Armstrong	...	Mr. Smith (voice)
Katy Manning	...	Jo Jones
Finn Jones	...	Santiago Jones
Laila Rouass	...	Colonel Tia Karim
Jimmy Vee	...	Groske
Paul Kasey	...	Shansheeth
Ruari Mears	...	Shansheeth
David Bradley	...	Shansheeth Blue (voice)
Philip Hurd-Wood	...	Groske (voice) (as Phillip Hurd-Wood)

Storyline

Sarah Jane is told by Colonel Tia Karim of UNIT that The Doctor is dead and so she goes with Rani and Clyde to UNIT's underground headquarters in Wales, where a rocket will fire the doctor's remains into space. Jo Jones, formerly Jo Grant, another of the doctor's friends from the past, arrives with her grandson Santiago and, like Sarah Jane, does not believe that The Doctor is dead. The three youngsters overhear the Shansheeth, giant birds who allegedly found The Doctor's body, plotting to lead the two women into a trap. Then The Doctor appears, having exchanged energies with Clyde, who finds himself on another planet as the Shansheeth try to kill the doctor for real.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

25 October 2010 (UK)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jo Jones: If they're lying, that means The Doctor's still alive!
[she and Sarah high-five]
Sarah Jane Smith: Yes!
Clyde Langer: [the Doctor is speaking through him] Of course I'm still alive, Jo! I'd have thought that was obvious! Catch up!

User Reviews

In Memory Yet Green, In Joy Still Felt

UNIT troops turn up on Bannerman Road to take Sarah Jane and her young friends to the Doctor's funeral at Mount Snowden. There she meets up with another mourner, Josephine Jones, née Grant.

The fourth season of THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES seems to be the best of the lot. The characters have fallen into place, the humor has evolved from the modified fart jokes and the stories have integrated the details of their symbolic content into the script.

In this nostalgic musing on the power of memory, Russell T. Davies integrates artfully aged clips of old Doctors with rogue UNIT officers and aliens who look like the Graske aliens from earlier seasons -- sometimes things aren't what our memory tells us they are. Sometimes it's a good thing to remember, but they cannot be our only guide.

I won't claim that this is a perfect episode. Anji Mohinda is clearly a young adult, not a teenager and there's something a touch off about Matt Smith's turn as the Eleventh Doctor -- his eccentric movements are too constrained. On the other hand, there are a couple of moments when the cameraman catches him at just the right angle and I thought that he looked remarkably like Jon Pertwee, the actor who played the Third Doctor. It's moments like that which endear a show like this to me. It's those moments that we remember.