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The Sarah Jane Adventures: Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith (Sept 2007). Photograph: BBC
The Sarah Jane Adventures: stars Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Photograph: BBC
The Sarah Jane Adventures: stars Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Photograph: BBC

BBC signs up for more of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures

This article is more than 15 years old

CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist has commissioned a third series of children's Doctor Who sci-fi spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The 12 episodes of the teatime show has been ordered before series two, which began in September, has finished its run.

An average of 1.25 million viewers watched each episode of the first series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which stars Elisabeth Sladen as the former Doctor Who assistant. The BBC Wales-produced show aired on weekdays at 5.05pm last year.

The current run is averaging 700,000 viewers - albeit in an earlier 4.35pm slot.
Russell T Davies, the show's executive producer, said it was "an honour and a delight to get a third commission".

"It's brilliant to see Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane becoming a hero for a whole new generation of kids," Davies added.

Earlier this week, the controller of BBC Children's, Richard Deverell, told MediaGuardian that the series passed the test of competition against glossy and high concept US imports "with flying colours".

In addition, BBC kids' digital channel Cbeebies has commissioned its first web-only programme, a show called Alphabox based around letters that come to life.

Aimed at four- to six-year-olds, Alphabox features wordplay, short comedy clips and a world that children can create by joining letters together. The web show will be made by independent producer Magic Lantern.

According to the BBC, the CBeebies website is the fourth most popular part of the corporation's web operation, after news, sport and weather. The Cbeebies site averages around 1 million unique users a week.

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