Recommended only if you're willing to risk a fair-sized lump in your throat. Here are comments left by young viewers in memory of Elisabeth Sladen on the BBC website:
CBBC - Newsround - What are your memories of Sarah Jane star?
I don't think I've ever seen something like this for a children's show before, but it's a very good thing for the BBC to present online. Not just in terms of paying tribute to one of their own or honoring a well-liked celebrity and respected actor, but in sending the message to kids that it's safe to acknowledge the fact of death and normal to feel upset when someone you like dies. Even if it's someone you only knew from watching television with your family.
As I said in a comment to cerebus660, describing Lis Sladen as best known for her role in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures kind of misses the point: a lot of folks now in their forties and fifties, and still others who might not even be ten years old yet, know her best for being there during our childhood. It's not that a companion from Doctor Who is gone, but that we've lost a companion.
Very brave of those two young actors to present that tribute. They had worked with Lis Sladen for a number of years so that must have been hard to do. And, as you say, it's a good thing that the CBBC website is giving young kids tips on how to deal with their feelings of sadness.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't able to watch the clip on the web from my vantage point across this large body of water, but I found a bit of it posted by a fan on YouTube. And yeah, those two boys deserve much credit.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was a very moving tribute to Elizabeth Sladen, very nice for what it is.
ReplyDelete"It's not that a companion from Doctor Who is gone, but that we've lost a companion."
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant and expresses the loss of Lis Sladen perfectly.