Farewell, Sarah Jane

[Sound booth]

JACOB DUDMAN: It was a lovely service, and everyone came. Luke, Clyde and Rani looked around the room. So many people. It was a bright cold spring day, sunlight shining through the tall windows of the reception room, and the guests sat on chairs and on the floor, and in the corridor and outside on the lawn, all smiling. All sad. All gathered to remember Sarah Jane.

JACOB DUDMAN: Luke said hello to the soldiers from UNIT, and the Brigadier's daughter gave him the biggest hug.

JACOB DUDMAN: Clyde chatted with a nice couple from Australia, Tegan and Nyssa, and then Ben and Polly, who'd come from India, then Ian and Barbara from Cambridge, and then Martha and Mickey with their son August. A woman called Dodo said hello, and so did Doctor Holloway, and Liz Shaw, and someone called Victoria, and Sky manifested briefly in her human form. Captain Jack stood at a distance and saluted, and then turned away. Maria and her dad smiled down from a video screen. They'd missed their plane - too busy chasing a Bandril through Seattle - but they laughed and joked with everyone, and then Maria cried and her father hugged her.

JACOB DUDMAN: But Rani stood back. She was polite and smiling. She watched everyone and everything, but Rani didn't say much at all. Once the wonderful speeches and glorious songs were done, everyone broke up into little groups.

JACOB DUDMAN: Tall, handsome waiters gave out drinks and sandwiches. The guests told stories and swapped tales. There was laughter and tears, but really a sense of joy - huge joy - in remembering a life well-lived, and well-loved.

JACOB DUDMAN: There was also a quick little ten minutes where the tall, handsome waiters turned out to be Jackals of the Backwards Clock, servants of the Trickster, who materialised in a blaze of dark light with a plan to swap planet Earth with a vile copy from the Septic Dimension, but all the guests joined forces to shrink the Trickster to the size of a doll and lock him in a treasure chest at the bottom of the Atlantic for the next thousand years. And then the party went on. But time passed, and people had to go. They all swapped numbers and promised to meet up every year. They'd call themselves the Family Smith. And then Luke, Clyde and Rani stood by the door to say goodbye to everyone as they left.

(turns to camera)

JACOB DUDMAN: First of all, Jo Jones came up to them and said:

JO: Well, my darlings, I'm sorry, but I really do have to run. Oh, wasn't it wonderful? Oh gosh, and I'm really sorry about breaking that vase. (vase smashes) Oh, you know, I loved her so much. She really was such a special, special girl. I've been thinking. I know you're all waiting for the Doctor to turn up, but, come on, he couldn't, could he? I mean, he's got two hearts. Imagine them both breaking. I don't think he could bear it. Anyway, he's probably off, I don't know, saving some asteroid from a giant squid or something. Well, that's it. Now I truly, truly have to go. Oh, where's Rio de Janiero? No, not the city, my granddaughter. Although if I can't find my glasses, oh gosh, I probably can't find the city either. Anyway, this really has to be goodbye. And remember, I love you all so much. I really, really do. Take care, my darlings. (blows kiss)

JACOB DUDMAN: And off she went. Gita and Haresh missed all the business with the Trickster because she'd brought sausage rolls for the buffet but she'd lost the plate, and went to the kitchen to cause a right old fuss demanding it back. (to camera) But now Gita came up to them and said:

GITA: What a lovely day. I couldn't understand half of it. She was a funny woman. I used to get all tense because, well, I thought Haresh fancied her. But I tell you what about Sarah Jane. She was your best friend, you three. And you were kids back then. You should have been going out, having parties and going into town and hanging around the parks and things. But you stayed, all the time, with her, and I used to think that says something about Sarah Jane Smith. It says that she was remarkable, and the street's very quiet without her. Sorry. Bye.

JACOB DUDMAN: Gita left, and then Dorothy McShane gave them all a big hug and said:

ACE: I just wanted to say something the Doctor once said, a long time ago now. We were trapped on this prison planet run by these giant mechanical prawns, and we sat in the dark, and the Doctor went all quiet and full of memories like he sometimes did, and he said: "I miss her. Out of all the people in this whole wide universe, I miss Sarah Jane." And then, years later, after I met her, we had that adventure with the Diamond Wolf Clan, and the Doctor was right - again - because I miss her. I will miss Sarah Jane for the rest of my life.

JACOB DUDMAN: And Dorothy said goodbye, taking K9 with her. And everyone made their farewells, until it was just Luke, Clyde and Rani. The old gang. (to camera) And they talked about Sarah Jane, and Clyde said:

CLYDE: Ah, she was all right.

JACOB DUDMAN: And they laughed. But then he said:

CLYDE: I could have been nothing. Just one of those boys, bad at school, full of terrible jokes, too cheeky for his own good, just scribbling silly cartoons, but it's like... Sarah Jane looked through the crowd and she saw me, you know? She saw what I could be. And I wish I'd told her how much I loved her, cos I did. I loved her with my whole heart. How lucky were we to have found her, eh? She was the best. The absolute best.

JACOB DUDMAN: Then Luke drove them back to Bannerman Road, and they talked about the terrible day they'd heard the news. Luke and Clyde both agreed they'd all been out of the country at the time. Luke with UNIT in Geneva, Clyde as a guest of honour at the New York Comic-Con, Rani at the North Pole reporting on Project Refreeze. So it felt like Sarah Jane had waited until they were out of sight, to save them any pain. That's what Luke and Clyde said. But Rani sat in the back, still not saying much at all. They arrived on Bannerman Road and went into number 13, remembering so many things that had happened in that house. So many amazing days, so much terror, and so many laughs. And then they went upstairs to say goodbye to Mister Smith. The attic was the same as ever, perhaps just a little dust beginning to settle. They called for Mister Smith. Mister Smith's voice was as calm and as formal as ever, though even a super-computer couldn't hide the sadness behind the words. Sarah Jane had left instructions. She had said that Bannerman Road should close down, Mister Smith should be folded away in secret, and the house left to grow dark, waiting - that's what Sarah Jane had said - waiting for the next one. Waiting for its new owner. Waiting for the stories to begin all over again. And then when all was said and done, they simply had to go. Luke had equations to solve. Clyde had meetings about his Silver Bullet movie, and Rani was due to publish a scoop which would bring down the government. But they'd see each other on Christmas Day, like they always did, the best of friends forever. (to camera) And then Luke said:

LUKE: I was so lucky, because I had the best mother in the entire universe. And that is a literal fact. She showed me the whole wide world. And I don't mean all the monsters and invasions and people made of smoke and vegetables. I mean the real world. She's the one who told me that Sanjay was looking at me in that way, and she's the one who told me to go and talk to him. And now we've been married for five years. That's the greatest gift she ever gave me. I may have been created by the Bane, but Mum, she gave me life.

JACOB DUDMAN: The other two smiled, and Luke hugged Clyde and then Rani, and the boys headed off. Rani looked around. She tidied a few stray books. She turned off one light, then another, then she put Mister Smith into his close-down sequence. And as the timer ticked away, before Mister Smith folded himself into the dark, Rani stood in the doorway and she thought, (to camera) and then Rani said:

RANI: You know what I think? I think it's not over, because I don't think she's dead. I really don't. That's not just me being mad, cos I honestly think in my heart and soul that he came back for her. Right at the end, the Doctor came back for his Sarah Jane, and he said, shall we go? Out into the stars? One last trip? And she said, oh yes please. And I think they're out there now, Sarah Jane and the Doctor in the TARDIS, travelling through space and time forever, in a story that never ends. That's what I think. What about you?

SMITH: Yes, Rani. I think so too.
RANI: Goodbye, Mister Smith.

JACOB DUDMAN: Then Rani closed the door and walked downstairs, went outside, locked the front door, and walked away.

(to camera)

JACOB DUDMAN: But it's still there, the house on Bannerman Road, just waiting.

In loving memory of Elisabeth Sladen. Our Sarah Jane.

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

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