Maria Jackson

Maria Jackson was a young neighbour and ally of Sarah Jane Smith.

Biography
When Maria was thirteen, her parents Alan and Chrissie Jackson divorced. Alan and Maria moved to 12 Bannerman Road (as referenced several times in the first series but changed to 36 Bannerman Road in the second series) in Ealing. That night Maria made the life-changing discovery of a neighbour, Sarah Jane Smith, conversing with a glowing winged alien. The very next day, she and a new friend from the neighourhood went to the Bubble Shock! factory, encountered other, unfriendly aliens and with Sarah, Kelsey and a young artificial Human, Luke (at that time known only as "the Archetype"), banded together to defeat the Bane invasion. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) One week later the now fourteen year old Maria met the "cool" Clyde Langer at school (Park Vale Comprehensive School)), who joined with the others. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen) This places Maria's birthday sometime in the last week of August as she had to be fourteen before the 1st of September to be in year 10 with Luke and Clyde. After a number of other adventures, Maria helped Sarah Jane after the Trickster made it so that she had never existed. In this reality, Luke also did not exist and she barely knew Clyde Langer. With the original timeline restored, however, Maria's father stumbled in on the existence of Sarah Jane's activites.(SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?) Alan told Maria that they were moving away. Alan recanted and decided to stay in their old home. (SJA: The Lost Boy)

During the Dalek theft of Earth, Maria was staying in Cornwall with her father. (DW: The Stolen Earth) When Alan got a new job offer in America, Maria and Alan made the decision that he should accept the offer. They then moved to Washington, D.C. (SJA: The Last Sontaran) She still stayed in contact with Luke via email. (SJA: The Day of the Clown) She and her dad also helped to find information on the Berserker to help Luke and Rani. (SJA: The Mark of the Berserker)

A year later, she was helping aliens hide from the American government. (SJA: The Mad Woman in the Attic)

Soon after she was invited to Sarah Jane's wedding but could not attend because she was taking exams. (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith)

Donna's World
If Donna Noble had turned right for a job interview instead of turning left, Maria would have investigated the Royal Hope Hospital with Sarah Jane, Clyde and Luke. Since, as it was moved to the moon, the oxygen ran out it caused every one in the hospital, including Maria, to die of suffocation. (DW: Turn Left)

Personality
Maria had a patient, tolerant personality and also an inquisitive personality. The divorce of her parents made her somewhat moody. Maria seems much less worldly-wise and trendy than Clyde though she was also braver and more sensitive. Clearly, Maria looked up to Sarah Jane. Sarah trusted her more than anyone in the world. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)

Key Life Events

 * Parents Chrisse and Alan divorced. (Mentioned SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
 * Meets Sarah Jane Smith and Luke and defeats the Bane. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
 * Meets Clyde Langer at school. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
 * Leaves Earth for the first time (strongly implied). (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak)
 * Briefly travels in time to the year 1964. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)
 * Moves to America with her father. (SJA: The Last Sontaran)
 * Meets Rani Chandra. (SJA: The Mark of the Berserker)
 * Helps Luke and Rani find Clyde Langer. (SJA: The Mark of the Berserker)
 * Becomes a government agent. (Mentioned SJA: The Mad Woman in the Attic)
 * Temporarily turned into The Master along with the rest of the human race. (DW: The End of Time)

Behind the scenes
Although Maria technically left the series in The Last Sontaran, each story for the remainder of Series 2 included some on-screen reference to her, with Maria herself making a cameo in The Mark of the Berserker. Maria was again referenced several times in Season 3, though she did not appear.