Teignmouth Folk Festival + Death of Caroline John

Just a short post about the Teignmouth Folk Festival which runs from today, Friday (22nd), to Sunday (24th). The festival takes place at venues across Teignmouth and includes Morris Dancers in the Triangle & outside the East Cliff Cafe, a Ceilidh at the Community College, free performances at the Ship Inn, and headliners Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman at the Carlton Theatre. The full programme for the weekend is shown here on the Festival Website.

Performers on the Ship Inn stage at the 2006 Festival

This is always a popular event - especially if the weather permits outside performances. Weekend tickets have been available via the website for a while and concert tickets can be obtained from the Carlton theatre box office.

Caroline John

Caroline John 1940 - 2012

The death of Caroline John, who played companion Liz Shaw to Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who in the 1970s, was sadly reported recently. For a short appreciation, pictures from the period, and a link to an earlier piece on all the Dr Who companions see the Miss Peelpants blog. See also Jez Winship's excellent fuller appreciation on the blog Sparks in Electrical Jelly and a great selection of pictures on the Not Tonight Dalek blog.

So farewell then ... Elisabeth Sladen

Elisabeth Sladen, the iconic and most popular Dr Who companion, sadly died earlier this year at the hard-to-believe age of 63. She appeared as a regular in 18 stories over 4 seasons of the classic series, and in 4 episodes of the revived series, as well as in the spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures. The Sparks in Electrical Jelly blog carried an excellent appreciation of her work with the Doctor.

The Sarah Jane Adventures, which was written for Sladen, is back for the final series of 3 two part stories on CBBC. The series is about half way through, but you can still catch up on BBC iPlayer. Also coming up on 14th October, on the Sky Watch channel, is the episode where Sladen first reprised her role - School Reunion - featuring K-9 and David Tennant.

You can see some interviews with Elisabeth Sladen from 2006 on the BBC Norfolk website and her autobiography will be released on 7th November. Here is a selection of pictures of her with various Doctors over the years:

All Photos © BBC TV

And finally, here on the Emmapeelpants blog, is a nostalgic piece about Dr Who companions in miniskirts - Sara Jane would have had none of that!

Elisabeth Sladen 1948 - 2011