This one hit me really hard.

RIP

She was the companion when I started watching Doctor Who. I was very sorry to see her leave.

Only 63, too. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU----

I've got a vid in the hopper cut from an episode of Doctor Who Confidential about the making of the School Reunion episode when they brought her back to the series. It's nice that she had such a resurgence, but so sad that she went so young.

All those nights in grade school watching reruns of her and Tom Baker.

Getting to see her in the new series was really nice. This is sad.

Man, I'm just depressed now. I had no idea she had died.

I always thought the Sarah Jane spinoff show suffered from some incredibly inconsistent writing, but I always tuned in to see her. She had this easy, maternal strength about her that made her different from any other lead character on TV, especially on an action show. Even the most lackluster stories were highly enjoyable because she was such a great lead, not to mention a terrific role model for the show's target audience.

Sad day.

I grew up on PBS re-runs of the late Pertwee era/Tom Baker era, so for me it was always Sarah Jane. I was heartbroken at the end of Hand of Death when she left.
What I loved about her was that she was such a colossal actress...she could pull off being so terrified of the stupidest monsters and make you actually scared at the same time.