A little later someone came up and said, ‘There’s a big fan of yours over there.’
‘Oh really?’
‘Yes, he’d love to meet you, if that’s all right.’
I went over and it was Nick Park – my stalker!
It’s amazing to think that someone who has won so many Oscars with Wallace & Gromit could be so shy but he was great fun. The whole evening, in fact, was a pleasure from beginning to end.
Our second series, recorded in spring 2008, built on everything we’d achieved in the first. I really loved the opening story. I don’t know whose idea it was but Sam Bond was back – with a Sontaran. I’d been in the very first Sontaran story all those years ago, so it felt like coming full circle, working with Kaagh. I did take a quiet moment to think about dear Kevin Lindsay, though (remember, without him, we’d be saying ‘Sontaran’ in a completely different way).
The biggest change this time round was Anj Mohindra coming in to replace Yasmin’s character. I think Yasmin, who’d played Maria, was worried even then about being typecast – showing more professional nous than I ever had – but it was sad to see her go. Moreover, I had such a good rapport with her ‘dad’, which left a real void. Having said that, Ace Bhatti, who came in as Rani’s father, is a hoot to have around. You’d never guess from the stern character he plays, but that man only stops joking when the cameras roll. The children proved surprisingly resilient to change – they always do, I suppose. Anj was one of the team by the end of her first day. And of course Yasmin made the occasional return appearance.
We also attracted a few bigger names to guest star. Bradley Walsh was in Day of the Clown, Russ Abbot appeared in Secrets of the Stars, and Gary Beadle, as Clyde’s dad, in The Mark of the Berserker. For me, though, none of them compared – no offence, intended – to the special guest who joined us on the season finale, Enemy of the Bane: the one and only Nicholas Courtney!
It was super to see Nick again. He wasn’t in the best of health so we were all delighted when he announced that he could make it. Just as my relationship with Jon had blossomed after Who, I probably got on better with Nick during that shoot than at any time before. He was so happy for me to have my own show and absolutely chuffed to be involved. It wasn’t my decision at all, but try telling him that! (We wanted him to give me away on The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith but sadly he was too ill. I spoke to him about it, though. He was so disappointed not to chalk up an appearance alongside another Doctor!)
I really thought School Reunion would be the final word as far as Sarah’s appearances in Who were concerned. Russell, as usual, had other ideas. David was coming to the end of his third proper season and Russell wanted him to go out with a bang. So for The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End he drafted in Rose, Mickey, Torchwood and good old Sarah Jane Smith for the mother of all end-of-term parties.
I was in Cardiff anyway for The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series Three, but it was still a joy to be involved again. From the moment I saw the script, however, I knew I had every right to be there. Or rather, Sarah Jane had.
The villain of the piece, we soon learned, was Davros. Like the Sontarans, I’d been the first person, along with Tom and Ian, to face this monster (although this time it was Julian Bleach under the prosthetics and not Michael Wisher). Davros and Sarah had genuine history. The moment he recognises Sarah is quite enthralling and for anyone who’s seen Genesis of the Daleks, it’s guaranteed to send a shiver down the spine. It did mine, anyway, and I was in a studio surrounded by lights and wires and crew. Just think, if Sarah had got her way and the Doctor had wiped out the Daleks, this story would never have happened …
After the regeneration cliffhanger of The Stolen Earth there was massive interest in Journey’s End and that carried us through to a funny five-minute SJA Comic Relief Special, starring Ronnie Corbett, and in turn to our third series. As we arrived in Cardiff the press were going crazy for David’s final four ‘Specials’ as the Doctor. Little did they know he was actually doing five!
Series Three of The Sarah Jane Adventures was our best yet. The Who crossovers continued, so we got to meet the Judoon, who’d been in Freema Agyeman’s debut, Smith & Jones, while the return of the flatulent Blathereen meant another outing for the Slitheen costumes from the parent show. The guest stars this time were really top drawer. Jeff Rawle and Suranne Jones were in Mona Lisa’s Revenge, Miriam Margolyes and Simon Callow chipped in with voices in The Gift, Floella Benjamin was a hoot in The Eternity Trap and Nigel Havers almost stole the show in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
Two men, however, stand out. The Mad Woman in the Attic had a very special guest star from London. His name was Brian Miller!
Poor Danny had no idea. I didn’t tell anyone before the read-through and it was only afterwards that he came running over embarrassed in case he’d put his foot in it. The show’s schedule is so punishing that I barely got to see my husband working but it was refreshing to spend our evenings and lunchtimes together.
I’m sure he thinks I moan out of turn about my work, so when Brian nearly got swept away by hurricane conditions while filming on Barry Island beach, I couldn’t help but feel a little smug – ‘Now you see what I’ve been putting up with for thirty years!’
Apart from my real husband, it was an honour to have Nigel Havers play Sarah Jane’s groom-to-be in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. But it was our other guest who I knew would seize the headlines.
When David Tennant agreed to appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures I’m sure he didn’t expect it to be the last thing his Doctor ever did. The poor guy had already endured his regeneration, seen Matt Smith and Steven Moffat take over, basically had run himself physically and emotionally ragged for The End of Time – and now he had to do it all again! He must have been completely Who’d out by the time he arrived with us but you never would have guessed it. And it’s fitting, I suppose, that his last appearance as the Doctor is to save his former companion one more time.
The kids – I must stop calling them that – were obviously bowled over by the whole thing. Tommy and I had been in Journey’s End and The Stolen Earth already, but having the TARDIS with us and the actual Doctor really gave the whole episode the sort of boost money can’t buy. The energy of the man is utterly incredible – he’s like an electrical storm arriving on set. Things just happen. Even K-9 seemed to behave for him!
The only thing about the episode that frustrates me is the ending.
