Now, Minchin has reflected on the show’s final months, in conversation with Doctor Who Magazine. “It was doing hugely well on CBBC”, he recalled. “We already had scripts commissioned [for future episodes]. We were ready to go. And CBBC wanted more series after that. We’d been in to have meetings. “Russell [T Davies] was living in LA, but was fully committed to it. Then Lis [Sladen] rang Russell to tell him the news [that she was struggling with cancer]. It was quite a shock. “I think it really is a mark of the love and respect that the crew had for her that the news didn’t get out there at all. It was about ten weeks after that phone call that Lis passed away. It was a really sad time.” And was there any talk of continuing without Sladen’s Sarah Jane, to wrap up the stories for the young cast’s characters? Minchin touched on that topic too, saying, “we still had some episodes to go out, posthumously, and even though we felt duty-bound to the cast and everyone else to discuss it, our hearts were never in continuing. “Russell emailed me not so long ago saying, ‘We shouldn’t have stopped, should we?’ He thinks we cancelled the show out of shock. And he’s right. It was such a lovely show, and Lis was fantastic.” There you have it, then: an interesting what-if for Sarah Jane Adventures fans. I’m sure CBBC would’ve welcomed whatever sort of continuation Davies and Minchin could’ve mustered, and fans may well have appreciated the closure. But, alas, what’s done is done. The show still stands up as a testament to Sladen’s considerable talents, and that’s plenty to be grateful for.
