Matt Smith to star in special Sarah Jane Adventure

Matt Smith to star in special Sarah Jane Adventure
Matt Smith to star in special Sarah Jane Adventure (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

New Time Lord Matt Smith is to appear in the new series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, alongside another former companion Katy Manning. Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) will reunite with Jo Grant (Katy) when the new series screens on CBBC this autumn. Matt Smith will also star in a special edition of the show written by executive producer Russell T Davies. The two episodes will see The Doctor and his two former time-travelling partners caught up in an alien-busting adventure. Elisabeth said: "It's a fantastic script and I can't wait to work with another Doctor and hope Matt has fun with us. I've known Katy for ages and I am delighted to be working with her. I last met her in LA, but this time we will be in Cardiff. LA was good, but Cardiff is better." Katy Manning, who recently returned to live in the UK again, adds: "Playing Jo Grant again is something I never really considered. I was gob-smacked when they told me and I am over the moon. What an incredible little treat. I come home and this is one of the first things that happens." Katy co-starred alongside Jon Pertwee in Doctor Who in the early 1970s. Other guests lined up for The Sarah Jane Adventures include Laila Rouass (Primeval, Footballers Wives) and Cheryl Campbell (Pennies From Heaven).

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.