All five series of Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, are coming to streaming platform, BritBox, next month (Augst 2021), and we couldn’t be happier.
This means a whole load of new people will be discovering the show, while also allowing those who have seen it before to enjoy it afresh.
The Sarah Jane Adventures is, after all, the best Doctor Who spin-off of all time. Okay, arguably, but you’ll probably agree after watching a few episodes.
Elisabeth Sladen played the lead, alongside Yasmin Paige, Tommy Knight, Anjli Mohindra, Daniel Anthony, Alexander Armstrong, and Sinead Michael; plus occasional special guest stars like John Leeson as the voice of K9, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, and Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, and Katy Manning as Jo Grant!
The show ran from 2007 to 2011, sadly being cancelled after Sladen’s passing.
There are 53 episodes in total and ideally, you’d go from Invasion of the Bane all the way through to The Man Who Never Was, but if you’re looking for a few highlights, we suggest:
- Warriors of Kudlak: You’ll have seen the main baddie already in The Pandorica Opens, albeit briefly in the background. He’s a fantastic character nonetheless.
- Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?: Sarah is missing from time! The story is written by Gareth Roberts (The Shakespeare Code) and directed by Graeme Harper (The Caves of Androzani).
- The Day of the Clown: See how great Bradley Walsh can really be, scaring the pants off everyone as Odd Bob.
- The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith: Guest starring the Tenth Doctor!
- Death of the Doctor: Russell T Davies writes for the Eleventh Doctor!
- The Empty Planet: Clyde and Rani wake up to find an empty Earth. Well, almost empty…
- The Curse of Clyde Langer: A gorgeous examination of homelessness, better than most dramas on “adult” TV.
But that’s the tip of the iceberg. The SJA is such a great show, and we hope more people will come to love it.
A BritBox subscription is £5.99 per month, and you can sign up for a week’s free trial here.
