The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC. Created by Russell T Davies, it is a spin-off of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. In comparison to Doctor Whos family-orientated viewership, The Sarah Jane Adventures is aimed at a younger audience generally aged 6–12 years old. 53 episodes and 1 short were produced between 2006 and 2011 across five series.
The programme focuses on Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), an investigative journalist and former companion to the Doctor, an alien time traveller whom Smith adventured with in her youth. Now living in modern-day Ealing, London, she investigates extraterrestrial matters and protects Earth against alien threats with a group of teenage accomplices: her adopted son Luke Smith, neighbour Maria Jackson and friend Clyde Langer. New neighbour Rani Chandra and adopted daughter Sky Smith later join the cast. Additionally, the group is aided by Mr Smith, a sentient extraterrestrial computer, and K9, a dog-shaped robot gifted to Sarah Jane by the Doctor.
Following an introductory episode broadcast as a New Year's Day special, a first series of 10 episodes (5 two-part serials) premiered on 24 September 2007. Series 2–4, each comprising 12 episodes (6 serials), followed annually between 2008 and 2010. A fifth series of 12 episodes was commissioned in 2010, but only 6 (3 serials) were completed before Sladen's death. They were posthumously broadcast in 2011.
For Series 1 and 2, after an episode was broadcast on BBC One, the next would air immediately after on CBBC. Certain repeats are broadcast in omnibus rather than the traditional Part One and Two format.[1]