The Sarah Jane Adventures was a science fiction television series, that started in 2007 and ended in 2011, due to Elisabeth Sladen's death. It was a spin off from the British cult series Doctor Who.
The series starred Elisabeth Sladen as the journalist Sarah Jane Smith, who was a companion of the Third and Fourth Doctor in the classic Doctor Who series. Sladen played the original part of Sarah Jane from 1973 until 1976. Sarah Jane was considered the most popular companion of the Doctor and appeared in the new series episode "School Reunion" along with her robot dog, K-9.
Unlike the other spin off of Doctor Who, Torchwood, the target audience for The Sarah Jane Adventures was children as it is shown on CBBC.
The series featured many connections to Doctor Who. The Slitheen family, who first appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" appeared in two stories in the first series, and the Sontarans, who first appeared in the Doctor Who story The Time Warrior featured in two stories in the Second series. The character Doctor Who also appeared in the episodes "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" (played by David Tennant) and "Death of the Doctor" (played by Matt Smith).
Doctor Who also used ideas from The Sarah Jane Adventures. In the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left", the Doctor makes a reference to the Trickster - an enemy who had only featured in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sarah Jane also appeared with her son Luke Smith in the Doctor Who episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End".
The first episode was a 60-minute special, and served as a basic introduction to the series.
The first series featured five stories. Each story was made up of two episodes.
The second series featued six stories. As with the first series, each story was made up of two episodes
A short, 5-minute special was made for the 2009 Comic Relief appeal.
The third series featured six stories. As with previous series, each story was made up of two episodes.
The fourth series featured six stories. As with previous series, each story was made up of two episodes. The final episode of this series was the last to air before Elisabeth Sladen's death on the 19th of April, 2011.
The fifth series only featured three stories, as those three were filmed alongside series four, before Elisabeth Sladen's death. As with the previous series, they were all made of two episodes.