Doctor Who Companion Elisabeth Sladen Passed Away

David Tennant (The Doctor) and Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)

Elisabeth Sladen, 63, passed away after a battle with cancer.  The actress portrayed Sarah Jane Smith on the original show on and off from 1973 to the present.  While I admit I was late on the Doctor Who bandwagon, only coming in at the start of the new series, I have retroactively watched many of the Sarah Jane adventures with Tom Baker and John Pertwee as well as her appearances on the new and found her delightful.

The news has been confirmed by fellow Doctor Who alum Nicola Bryant in a tweet:

I'm so sorry to have to say I've just had a call to say Liz Sladen has died. It's too much to take in, but it's true. How tragically young.

And also by Gallifrey One, the annual Doctor Who convention:

We are absolutely devastated to note the passing today of the extraordinary Elisabeth Sladen. Our deepest sympathies to her family.

My heart goes out to her friends and family.

Update:  BBC news, Doctor Who news page, and Digital Spy also confirm.

Cardiff Library Closes: Was a Doctor Involved?

A pane of glass fell in the Cardiff Central Library causing the building to close its doors, according to the Guardian.  The library opened in March 2009 to hopes that it would be distinctive in a land of already distinctive architecture.  No explanation has been put forth for why one of the glass panels shattered unexpectedly in the middle of the night.

No explanation until now.  While fighting a host of the Vashta Nerada that came through a wormhole from the The Library, The Doctor and his episode only companion The Perspective (an American reality TV star) escape the creatures by climbing on top of the Cardiff Central Library.  The pane of glass was broken when Perspective pressed his butt cheeks to the glass in an attempt to mock the creatures.  The Perspective is then killed and The Doctor then goes on to seal the Vashta Nerada into a volume of Encyclopedia Brittanica with a dead lock.  The Perspective's one time fling and fellow reality star Snacky then vows revenge and starts an organization called "Hardwood" to watch for The Doctor and other other-worldly threats.  We learn later that Snacky ate herself after she was locked in a sauna while slathered with coconut self tanning lotion and Hardwood was disbanded.