"The Sarah Jane Adventures" news

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine confirms several details regarding the second series of "The Sarah Jane Adventures". There's a new producer joining the show; Nikki Smith takes over Matthew Bouch's job, as Bouch moves up to occupy the "Series Producer" role.According to Russell T Davies, "The first block consists of four episodes, to be directed by Michael Kerrigan. Michael's an old Doctor Who hand, having directed 1989's Battlefield, and was a brilliant choice to launch Series Two, so it's great to welcome him to Upper Boat."Writers for the 12 part series include Phil Ford, Gareth Roberts and Joseph Lidster.The magazine also has a look behind the scenes of 1975's "The Sontaran Experiment", in the lastest 'Fact of Fiction' feature - to tie in with the return of the Sontarans to the new series, opposite David Tennant's Doctor, in a two part adventure, "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky" which airs on BBC One later this month.Also included (for anybody interested!) is a terrific Steven Moffat interview, a brand new comic strip, and a querstion & answer session with Who's current overlords Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson - which is worth a read in itself because one of my questions got published, and answered by the trio. Result!Doctor Who Magazine issue 394 is out now, priced £3.99.Elsewhere, and SFX Magazine confirms the reason why, ultimately, the BBC chose not to film the second and third seasons of the SJA together in one huge, money saving production block: "It's an easier life," Davies tells the magazine, "If we can make series two and then get a commission for series three next year and make series three." Hmmm... BBC spin, anyone?Finally, the press were granted a preview screening of the first two episodes of Doctor Who's fourth series earlier this week, which concluded with a series long trailer - and numerous journalists have confirmed the presence of Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith!Yep, she's definitely back for the finale!