Lis Sladen

[CCorsair]

This is just sad news to all .. i tom must be vary sadden at her passing ..Still so very young and doing so well with her new show.. I still find it hard to believe this happen..

CC

[Peter Egan's Audi]

Unbelievably sad. She kept her illness private, which I can only admire for her dignity.

I met her a few times at conventions and she was always delightful.

So soon after Nick and Barry this is very painful news to take. I can't even bear to watch any of her episodes in tribute at the moment. I realise a lot of fans are feeling the same sadness.

[tracy]

a friend told me last night i didnt know liz was ill wasnt expecting that

[Henners]

I've just been reading Tom's words on the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen.

It strikes me how absurd I am to be so upset by the passing of someone I never met. The news was so shocking, I've reacted as I would if a dear friend had been taken away too soon. I suppose that's some testament to the power of TV and good stories in general.

I'd be alarmed at my reaction to the death of someone I didn't know if my brief scan of Twitter.com didn't show that I'm by no means alone in that regard. Her name has been one of the most popular topics on the site* since the news broke yesterday - the messages showed that this same shocked sadness is very widespread. To choose just one: "Oh... Honestly never struck me that the world would one day not have Elisabeth Sladen in it..."

Fittingly, in a way, it's a beautiful day today outside. Everything else in life, except the absolute essentials, is having to wait while I think through this sad, sad news.

Condolences to her family & friends.

* Worldwide, but of course especially in UK, Australia and the US. (edit: this is the most read item today on abc.news: http://www.abc.net.au/news/)

[Toothy Grin]

How terribly sad that we will now never get to hear Lis working with Tom again for the Big Finish audios they had just agreed to do. I bet they would have been fantastic. Watched The Time Warrior and Robot last night in tribute and can hardly believe it when I realize that out of Lis, Jon, Nick, Ian Marter and Tom only Tom is now left with us.

[tch]

I keep remembering a mini-interview Liz gave for one of the New seasons DVD extras and how genuinely surprised she was that everyone was so excited that she had come back to the show. It was so sweet.

[Blue Ghost]

Hello, I just wanted to express my deepest sympathies on Lis Sladen's passing. I found out yesterday late afternoon and was truly shocked. I grew up watching Dr. Who in the 70s and 80s when one of the films and several of the series were imported here to America, California specifically.

I did have a bit of a crush on her in my formative years, and always enjoyed her role as the Doctor's companion. A few years back I did see her revitalized role in the new Dr. Who series, and then discovered she had been given her own Dr. Who spinoff TV show. It seemed like all was great over in the UK for everything Dr. Who.

And then I got this bit of news, and was just plain shocked. None of the local news outlets had anything on it, and I can't get the media feed from the BBC here in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I decided to sign up for this forum specifically to learn about this horrible event and express some hear felt thoughts.

I am very sad about this, and will miss her like many other Dr. Who fans.

[Wonkakid]

Wow. Like everyone else, I'm shocked. I didn't even know she was sick. This makes she sad. She was and always will be my favorite. She seemed like a very good person. Horrible shame.

[canadianfan]

Thanks for posting Tom's tribute to Lis Sladen. I came here first to look for it. I became a Doctor Who fan in Canada when the Jon Pertwee episodes were being run. When the Tom and Lis episodes were running both in Canada and the U.S. in mid 70's, it was great to watch the show and make many new friends. The popularity of the series spread like wildfire. Elisabeth Sladen brought such a vitality to the show and there was great chemistry between her Sarah Jane and Tom's Doctor. When the "Hand of Fear" ended, it was sad. Saddest of all though, was to learn yesterday of Lis's passing away. I am glad the Canadian and American newspapers, including Variety, carried stories about her and her career. It was hard telling my teenage son this morning that she had passed away. He became a Sarah Jane fan a few years ago. He is also very saddened. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Elisabeth's family and friends. Sincerest condolences.

[Henry Gordon Jago]

Very sad! She was a wonderful actress with a lot of heart. Tom's tribute to her is really touching...