The Giggle confirmed that Sarah Jane has died, following Elisabeth Sladen’s passing in 2011.
Amid a host of game-changing twists and heartrending callbacks, Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary special also paid a poignant tribute to one of the show’s most-beloved companions, Sarah Jane Smith.
Sarah Jane actress Elisabeth Sladen died in 2011, and now the show has established that the character has also passed on, in a touching moment towards the end of the episode.
After a shocking twist which saw the Fourteenth Doctor bi-generate, meaning both he and the Fifteenth Doctor existing at the same time, the duo defeated the Toymaker and returned to the TARDIS.
There, the Fifteenth Doctor and Donna tried to convince the Fourteenth that he was “wearing” himself out, after which they spoke about all the loss he had suffered up to that point.
Amongst the names and events mentioned, Fifteen said to Fourteen: “Our whole lifetime, that Doctor that first met the Toymaker never, ever stopped. Put on trial, exiled, key to time, all the devastation of Logopolis. Adric. River Song. All the people we lost. Sarah Jane has gone, can you believe that for a second?”
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Fourteen responded: “I loved her”. Fifteen said that he loved her too.
This isn’t the first time the Whoniverse has paid tribute to Sladen. Just earlier this year, in spin-off series Tales of the TARDIS, Jo Jones and Clyde Langer remembered her fondly.
As well as paying tribute to the past, The Giggle also set up a lot of plot threads for the show’s future, including the potential return of the Master and the arrival of new (or returning) villain, The One Who Waits.
Doctor Who will return for The Church on Ruby Road on BBC One at 5:55pm on Christmas Day.
Previous episodes are available on BBC iPlayer and on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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