DOCTOR Who star Elisabeth Sladen has died aged 63 after a battle with cancer.

Sladen joined the BBC series in 1973 as the Time Lord's pretty assistant Sarah Jane Smith.

The actress, known as Lis, worked with four different Time Lords and was given her own CBBC spin-off – the BAFTA-nominated Sarah Jane Adventures – in 2007.

A new series is due to be screened this year.

Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies said: "Lis was funny and cheeky and clever and wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith; the world was lucky to have Lis."

Series writer Steven Moffat described Lis as "kind and gentle and clever" and "ferociously talented."

Liverpool-born Sladen was also in Z-Cars and Coronation Street. Her husband Brian Miller and daughter Sadie Miller, 26, are also actors – and Brian, 70, appears in the latest Sarah Jane series.