Series 5 (SJA)

Series 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures ran between 3 October 2011 and 18 October 2011. It starred Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Tommy Knight as Luke Smith, Daniel Anthony as Clyde Langer, Anjli Mohindra as Rani Chandra, Alexander Armstrong as Mr Smith and Sinead Michael as Sky Smith. The series opened with Sky and concluded with The Man Who Never Was.

Overview
It consisted of three stories and six episodes. On 4 March 2010, the BBC announced that it had officially commissioned both a fourth and fifth series of the spin-off. Part of the series was planned to film in 2010 alongside Series 4 and it was later announced that half the series had been completed as planned.

With the death of Elisabeth Sladen in April 2011, the BBC announced that no new episodes will be made. Three stories (six episodes) of series 5 were completed. The final episodes aired between 3 October 2011 and 18 October 2011.

Three stories, however, were left unproduced: Meet Mr Smith, The Thirteenth Floor, The Battle for Bannerman Road. Also planned, but unproduced, were four Halloween specials: Full Moon, The Station, an unnamed story and Night of the Spectre. (DWMSE 32)

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Sky Smith - Sinead Michael
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti

Recurring

 * Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
 * Professor Rivers - Floella Benjamin
 * Carla Langer - Jocelyn Jee Esien
 * Steve Wallace - Elijah Baker

Guest

 * Miss Myers - Christine Stephen-Daly
 * Ellie Faber - Lily Loveless
 * Lionel Carson - Peter Bowles
 * John Harrison - James Dreyfus
 * Plark - Dan Starkey

Stories
The series consisted of 3 two-part serials. The series began on the 3 October. Luke Smith made appearances in the first and third stories, but this was the only SJA season in which K9 Mark IV did not appear. A new ongoing character, Sky Smith, was introduced for the season.

Rumours
Shortly after Elisabeth Sladen's passing, reports began to circulate that production on the series' three remaining serials would continue without Sladen, with the scripts rewritten to explain her absence. Series writer Gareth Roberts confirmed that these reports were false.

DVD and Blu-ray releases

 * DVD and Blu-ray release occurred in the UK on 6 February 2012 in a single-disc edition that includes the featurette "Goodbye Bannerman Road: Remembering Elisabeth Sladen". A North American release, on DVD only, occurred on 12th June 2012 with the same bonus feature.