Sarah Jane Smith

Part of the Big Finish line of Doctor Who audio tie-ins, Sarah Jane Smith is, naturally, a spin-off focusing on the Doctor's most popular companion. Years after her adventures with the Doctor, with her reporting career in shambles following a botched investigation into a major corporation, Sarah Jane finds herself once again saving the world, this time with the aid of her friend Natalie Redfern and her new acquaintance Josh Townsend.

While considerably darker in tone than its parent series, the nine-episode audio drama, which ran from 2002-2006, draws regularly on previously-established continuity. Of course, given the television spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and other events which have since occurred in Doctor Who continuity, its status as canon is almost certainly negative.

Tropes used in Sarah Jane Smith include:

• Ancient Conspiracy: The Orphans of the Future.
• Anti-Hero: Arguably Sarah Jane herself. She sometimes comes across as a bit of a Jerkass, puts the greater good ahead of her friends' lives, and in "The TAO Connection," she essentially murders the villain of the episode.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: The Orphans of the Future are almost all aristocrats, and both of its dueling factions are pretty nasty.
• Big Bad: Miss Winters, an old enemy of Sarah Jane's from her first adventure with the Doctor. Until she's unceremoniously killed off between seasons.
• Brown Note: What's actually killing people in "Ghost Town".
• Bus Crash: Miss Winters and Harris between season one and two.
• Call Back: The events of the Doctor Who episodes "Robot" and "The Mask of Mandragora" prove to be very important here, and the series picks up years after the original Sarah Jane spin-off, K-9 and Company.
• Creepy Housekeeper: Subverted with Dmitri in "Ghost Town."
• Darker and Edgier: Than both Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• Deadpan Snarker: Josh.
• Depraved Homosexual: Will Butley in "The TAO Connection."
• Downer Ending: The entire series, depending on your interpretation of the ending. Was Sarah Jane abducted by aliens, picked up by the TARDIS, or did she simply die alone in space?
• The Dragon: Harris, to Miss Winters.
• It Gets Easier: Josh, later in the series. It causes problems in his friendships with both Sarah Jane and Nat.
• Kick the Dog: What Miss Winters does to K-9.
• The Man Behind the Man: Miss Winters is behind pretty much everything that happens in season one.
• Mission Control: Nat.
• The Mole: Josh.
• Mundanger: Several episodes have few, if any, sci-fi elements.
• Rapid Aging: How Butley finally dies in "The TAO Connection."
• Scooby-Doo Hoax: "Ghost Town," complete with Lampshade Hanging and a Shout-Out to the Trope Namer.
• Sinister Minister: The Squire in "Comeback."
• Snow Means Death: In "Snow Blind."
• Town with a Dark Secret: Cloots Coombe in "Comeback."