This delightful, entertaining memoir came to my attention at the right time. ‘Lis’ Sladen played the role of Sarah Jane Smith, the best-known companion of Jon Pertwee’s and Tom Baker’s characters on Doctor Who. She had her own spin-off show too and was involved with various other Who-related things, despite not actually being that keen on sci-fi! She loved her fans and this book shows she put them first, even in the majority of the book being devoted to the Who years. She discusses her career in theatre, where she met her husband Brian Miller (their daughter Sadie also became an actress). Although she had other roles, Sarah Jane Smith is the major one and this memoir goes into detail about how Lis played the character, as well as crazy stories about working on the show. I say the book found me at the right time, because I’m making my way through all the Doctor Who series (it’s a long-term project…) and had almost finished her original episodes, so these were not too distant in my mind when I read about how they were produced. It sounds completely exhausting working on the show, sometimes miserable, but other times a lot of fun. It was a really great read and you got to know her well. Not long after she completed the book with her co-writer, Lis was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died in 2011, before the book was published. This autobiography is a wonderful tribute to her and includes a foreword by David Tennant, and an epilogue by Brian and Sadie.

Published by Aurum Press, 2011.