Sarah Jane’s Back Revealed
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After a successful pilot was aired at the end of last year, the second Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, will begin airing in England the end of this month.
Oriented more towards children the way Torchwood is geared towards adults, the ten-episode season will see the return of various Doctor Who villains, including the Slitheen. The production and writing crew will be the same as that for Doctor Who and Torchwood, masterminded by executive producer Russell T. Davies.
Thus far, Sarah Jane Smith is the only continuing human character from the classic series to return to the new Whoverse. Elisabeth Sladen returns to the role she made famous with Doctors three and four, and in nine original audio dramas from Big Finish Productions.
Liz Shaw came close to returning. She appeared in a series of fan-produced shows called P.R.O.B.E., which was a UNIT-like organization, actually close to Torchwood. They were written by Mark Gatiss, later of the League of Gentlemen, and who finally got his shot as a writer and actor on Who.She was in one Big Finish play as well.There've been some fanboy wishful-rumorings that Liz could appear on Torchwood, as there were mentions that another old Who character may appear.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_ShawI thought the Sarah Jane pilot was quite fun, I wouldn't mind if Samantha Bond showed up again as a recurring villain.
FWIW, Tennant's Doctor met Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in a comic strip that ran in the Doctor Who magazine a few months ago. I don't remember much about the actual story, but I thought the reunion itself was handled pretty well.
I spent the better part of a couple days talking with Nick Courtney (Lethbridge-Stewart) back in the day, and he was as charming and as fascinating as one would hope. I asked him if he had done any radio drama, given his approach to Lethbridge-Stewart. He melted, talking about how much he enjoyed doing audio theater. Since then, of course, he's returned to the role of Lethbridge-Stewart on any number of Big Finish shows. Great stuff. It would be wonderful if he were to return in next year's crossover episode, if for no other reason that to react to one or more "new" Doctors.
I met Nick Courtney at a convention many many years ago. We talked only briefly but he told me about he did a stint as the Narrator in a production of "The Rocky Horror Show," and how he could still do the Time Warp. Like you said, fascinating and charming.