"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Top (Three) Big Damn Hero Moments: Sara Kingdom (Doctor Who)



Like Katarina, Sara doesn’t get enough time on the show to build up a full Big Damn Hero moments repertoire.  She’s also a particularly tough one because, while she’s a formidable companion physically – a la, say, Leela or River – most of her episodes are lost, so there’s not much actual video footage of her fighting.  Just still telesnaps and someone on the audio recordings narrating, “Sara takes out all the guards in a tremendous show of force,” while you hear vague punching sounds in the background.  So, not a whole lot to work with (spoilers.)


Escaping the Egyptians (Series 3, Episode 18 – “The Daleks’ Master Plan:  Volcano”)

Smart companion for the win!  While she and Steven are tied up by the Egyptians, Sara sees her moment and snags a piece of broken pottery so they can cut their bonds when the Egyptians aren’t looking.  I realize that a big part of any companion’s job is getting captured, so I enjoy it whenever they figure out how to get themselves out of it.


Fighting the Egyptians (Series 3, Episode 18 – “The Daleks’ Master Plan:  Volcano”)

And after she frees herself and Steven, what does she do?  She lays the smackdown!  Sara doesn’t play.  I hope this episode is found someday, or even clips of it; I’d like to see her in action.


Going Back to Help the Doctor (Series 3, Episode 21 – “The Daleks’ Master Plan:  The Destruction of Time”)

And of course, where Sara is concerned, her biggest moment is her last.  First of all, given how anti-team-TARDIS she is when she first joins the show, it’s significant how far she comes in just a handful of episodes, getting to the point where she’ll put her life on the line without a second thought to help the Doctor stop the Daleks.  She pays for it, sadly, with her life, aging to death from being in close proximity to the Time Destructor.

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