Elisabeth Sladen’s death punched a hole in the Who universe, but she left us with a character who is dearly loved, and the fifth and final series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, though a bittersweet experience, is the last great reminder of why generations have fallen for the feisty reporter.

Sky is a solid opening episode and a fine introduction to Sinead Michael’s character, who thankfully does not fall into the great crevasse of annoying child actors. The ‘child as a weapon’ motif is how we came to meet Luke (Tommy Knight) and it’s echoed here more than once.

Miss Myers is a bit of a poor man’s antipodean Miss Wormwood, but the Metalkind is one of the show’s best designed aliens and is well realised by Who‘s regular Cyberman, Paul Kasey.

Phil Ford’s The Curse of Clyde Langer is the strongest story of the series and a contender for best story in SJA‘s entire run.

An evil totem pole (not enough of them on TV these days…) manages to turn everyone Clyde knows against him, forcing him to go on the run and live rough and nameless on the streets. The plight of homelessness is handled sensitively without being preachy, and Daniel Anthony’s performance is the best it has ever been. We expect big things for him in the future.

The Man Who Never Was has the sort of concept you’d see in a Russell T Davies Doctor Who episode: the kind placed early on in a series and which would feature David Tennant’s Doctor swishing around and saying “Well…” a lot. But while the idea is clever its execution is a little sluggish. The ‘evil’ Harrison (James Dreyfus) is about as threatening as a regional office manager, and the alien Scullions, while very sci-fi in their Jawa-ness, are little more than waddling metaphors.

It’s not the episode you’d want the series to bow out on, but it does show Sarah Jane at her best; taking the character back to her classic Who roots by getting the chance to do some old-school infiltration, spying and investigative reporting, just as she was doing when we saw her way back in her Doctor Who debut, The Time Warrior, in 1973.

And then that’s it. The series is cut by tragedy, the adventures end abruptly, and you can’t help but feel a bit like Sarah Jane in 1976’s The Hand of Fear when The Doctor dumped her in Aberdeen: left craving further adventure and wondering what might have been.

‘The story goes on forever’ we’re consoled at the end in a lovely montage, and as long as we’ve got Sarah Jane’s adventures in the collective and digital memory that’s true. So buy Series 5, watch it, enjoy it, then stick on The Time Warrior, and let the grand story of Miss Sarah Jane Smith, the companion of companions, start all over again…

Extras: Only one extra present, but it’s a lovely one. Goodbye Bannerman Road is an exclusive 18 minute tribute to Elisabeth Sladen, featuring interviews with the cast, all of whom clearly loved her as both a colleague and friend.

Matt Smith’s contribution is particularly thoughtful and insightful, and shows just how much respect the current Doctor has for Sladen and the show.

Rightfully for the DVD it’s oriented more towards her work on SJA, but encompasses all her work on Doctor Who and has some classic footage of her being feisty alongside Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, which is sure to ignite a nostalgic flame in older fans.

Released on DVD on Monday 6th February 2012 by 2entertain.

> Buy The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 1-5 boxset on Amazon.

Watch the trailer for Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures…