From: arthur@alum.calberkeley.org   
      
   On 1/4/2026 11:37 AM, The True Melissa wrote:   
   > Verily, in article <10je82m$252ju$3@dont-email.me>, did ahk@chinet.com   
   > deliver unto us this message:   
   >>   
   >> The True Melissa  wrote:   
   >>> did ahk@chinet.com deliver unto us this message:   
   >>>> BTR1701  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>>> I watched some old Tom Baker DOCTOR WHO episodes on YouTube, with the   
   >> b>>>est companion of the entire series: Sarah Jane Smith. Yes, even better   
   >>>>> than Pond.   
   >>   
   >>>> They tried something during those seasons: excellent writing. She was a   
   >>>> fully-drawn character, with a wonderful performance by Elisabeth Sladen.   
   >>>> Robert Holmes wrote many episodes during this period, with producers   
   >>>> Barry Letts and Philip Hinchcliffe. I liked her Season 11 Jon Pertwee   
   >>>> episodes too.   
   >>   
   >>>> She was marvelous, complete contrast to Katy Manning as Jo Grant.   
   >>   
   >>> I liked Jo, too. Wasn't she the most popular compaion before Sarah Jane?   
   >>   
   >> She replaced Liz Shaw (Caroline John), a scientist, an intelligent woman   
   >> meant to challenge and play off The Doctor, the main companion in Season   
   >> 7. Jo, introduced in Season 8, was helpless woman in peril, little more   
   >> than a plot device, who rarely moved the plot along. She really didn't   
   >> work as the point of view character to whom The Doctor explained the   
   >> absurdities of the plot.   
   >   
   > I may be conflating Jo and Liz. I haven't watched that era much in a   
   > while.   
   >   
      
   Same.  I have a bunch of Doctor Who blu-rays sitting on a shelf still in   
   the shrink wrap or otherwise unwatched.  I'm planning to finally dive   
   into them at the end of the year, but I have very few pre-Tom Baker   
   episodes in my collection.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)