Meet Sarah Jane's new sidekick

Doctor Who may be off air until Christmas, but The Sarah Jane Adventures will be back in short order to help tide us over. The second series, airing on BBC One from later this month, promises to offer more action, more monsters and at least one familiar face from Doctor Who history. Sarah Jane's team is also changing, as Maria Jackson departs and feisty new girl Rani Chandra arrives. Tube Talk grabbed a quick chat with young actress Anjli Mohindra to find out more about the new arrival.

How have you found working on Sarah Jane?
"It's been really great. Sometimes when you come into a show, everybody has already formed a little tight group and you feel a bit intimidated, but not at all. Everyone's been really welcoming."

When does your character join the group?
"Fairly near the start, after bidding farewell to [Maria]. I have a bit of a nosey into the lives of the world-saving team and plot my way in!"

What's Rani like?
"I'd say she's pretty keen. She shadows Sarah Jane a lot. If there's a moment where she doesn't quite know how to deal with the situation - whether to be quiet, scared or worried - she will always watch Sarah Jane. If Sarah Jane goes in being really bolshy, you'll see Rani up there a few seconds later as well. She's also a girl between two guys at times, which is nice!"

How does Sarah Jane feel about having a new apprentice?
"It does take some getting used to for Sarah Jane, because at first she's not that interested in taking on another child. But she does, and it turns out to be a nice relationship."

Are there any similarities between Rani and Maria?
"I'm not here to play the next Maria Jackson. It's a completely different character, which is lovely. The only similarity that she has is that she's a girl and she lives in the same house. In personality terms, I don't think they're that similar. They're both quite strong-willed, though."

Did you watch the first series?
"Yes. It was a lot younger than my age range - I'm eighteen - but I saw it a few times. Obviously I got more into it after I'd found out I had the audition! I thought it was great because normally children's TV is patronising, but not with this. There's no morals at the end of every story. It's completely the same as Doctor Who. Adults can watch it as well, which is great."

Even more so, with Doctor Who not being on the air as much next year.
"I just finished sixth form and more of my teachers were excited [about my new job] than the pupils! A lot of the teachers don't actually have kids that are young enough to justify them watching it. So I think adults are already interested in it and hopefully that's going to go up this series."

Series two of The Sarah Jane Adventures airs on BBC One and the CBBC Channel from later this month.

Later this week I'll be running a Sarah Jane Q&A special, so if you have any questions about the new series - is the Doctor appearing? which monsters are coming back? - click on my face at the top of the page and ask away!

Meantime, add your comments on this particular entry below!