She had a brief appearance in "The Five Doctors" but only as a faked image meant to distract the Doctor.I love Liz Shaw and I think she really got a raw deal. I wish they had brought her back for a proper guest appearance at some point. There would have been a perfect opening for her to be an unwitting assistant of the Master in "The Time Monster" since he hadn't been introduced onto the show until after she left UNIT.
It's not the first time a companion left for marriage (Susan was the first), but it was her own decision, rather than the Doctor pushing her away (for what he considered to be her own good). Even the novelized version was emotional.Jo Grant takes some getting used to but she became one of my favorites. While she is sometimes a screamer and a damsel, she really cared and oftentimes it would be her enthusiasm and perseverance that would ultimately save the day. And her departure, while subtle, is still one of the most heartbreaking in the show's history. (Nearly every classic series fan video that I've ever seen includes that scene when they're trying to convey sadness, wistfulness, or heartbreak.)
That first season of the Tom Baker era, with the story arc involving the Ark, the Sontarans, the Cybermen, and the Daleks, was my favorite. To a lot of Classic Who fans, "Genesis of the Daleks" is the Whovian equivalent of Star Trek's "City on the Edge of Forever." Sarah was great in all of these, and I like Harry Sullivan as the new companion who's been thrown into the deep end of a very weird situation. The scene in "Robot" when the Doctor is trying to convince Harry that he's fit enough to be out of bed is priceless.I'm not quite sure why Sarah Jane Smith is quite so well beloved. I mean, she's fine and all but she's very middle of the road, IMO. (Of course, I could say the same thing about Rose Tyler and she's also one of the most widely beloved companions.) I only really liked Sarah Jane when she had Harry Sullivan as a foil. I consider the 4th/Sarah Jane/Harry dynamic to be the prototype for the new series' 11th/Amy/Rory dynamic (minus any actual romance between Sarah Jane & Harry, of course).
Ian Marter novelized quite a few of the Classic stories, including the two-part Sontaran one he was in. Ordinarily there wouldn't have been enough material for a regular-sized Target paperback, but Marter added some to enhance it. He also novelized The Ark in Space... and I remember reading it in the cafeteria at the college I was attending at the time (having supper before my evening anthropology class). His description of how the aliens had killed the people on the ark were so... descriptive, I nearly lost my supper right there.
He also wrote an original novel called Harry Sullivan's War.
Dystopian SF has been a lot more popular in recent years. Consider The Handmaid's Tale (based on the novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood; airs first on Hulu and then on Bravo in Canada). Last I heard, it's been nominated for 10 Emmy awards. The novel itself has never been out of print and has been taught in Canadian high schools, colleges, and universities for over 30 years.Actually, given a lot of their dark speculative fiction, the British are really starting to worry me. Stuff like "Turn Left" and Children of Men make it seem like they're really only 1 major setback away from descending into absolute fascism.
Agreed. "Can't we be role models as people?"Colin Baker just (politely) laying a verbal smackdown on all of the anti-female Doctor people is awesome.![]()
Perfect.