J is for... Jackson, Maria

Maria Jackson was a schoolgirl who moved into a house on Bannerman Road, Ealing, with her father after her parents - Alan and Chrissie - had split up. The house was across the road from the home of Sarah Jane Smith. One night Maria saw strange lights coming from Sarah's garden, and witnessed her meeting with an alien being. Sarah had initially been reluctant to engage with the Jacksons, but their paths crossed when Maria and her friend Kelsey visited the new Bubble Shock! soft drinks factory, which Sarah was investigating. The factory was cover for an alien species called the Bane, who were planning to use their drink to take over everyone who drank it. Maria did not like it, so was immune to its effects. To refine the drink's effects, the leader of the Bane - Miss Wormwood - had created a human boy. Sarah and Maria rescued him, and he would become Sarah's adopted son Luke. After the Bane attacked Sarah's home, Sarah had no choice but to include Maria in her work. After the factory had been blown up, Maria and Luke started their new school - Park Vale. Here they met and befriended fellow pupil Clyde Langer. They discovered that the Headmaster and some of the teachers were disguised Slitheen, out for revenge after the destruction of their kin in the Downing Street explosion. The Slitheen planned to shut down the sun. Maria helped Sarah defeat them, along with Clyde and Luke.

Some time later Maria befriended an old lady named Bea at the Lavender Lawns retirement home, and learned that she had encountered aliens in her youth. She possessed an amulet which the alien Gorgons were seeking, in order to invade the Earth. At one point Maria's father was turned to stone by the Gorgon, but the amulet cured him.

Maria then helped Sarah defeat General Kudlak's plan to abduct children from gaming arcades to fight an interplanetary war - an adventure which allowed her to visit outer space and see the Earth from above.

Sarah gifted Maria an alien box, which - during the night - protected her from the Trickster removing Sarah from time and replacing her with an old school friend, Andrea Yates. As schoolchildren, Andrea had died in an accident, and the Trickster allowed her to swap with Sarah. Only Maria could remember Sarah, and know that time had been changed. Later the Trickster had Maria removed from time, but this time her father had been protected by the alien box. He forced the Trickster's Graske servant to return Maria, and later Sarah was able to convince Andrea to swap back before the Earth was destroyed by a meteorite. It was during this adventure that Alan found out about his daughter's dealings with aliens, and he threatened to move them away from the area. 

However, Alan was on hand to help his daughter when they had another encounter with the Slitheen - this time attempting to crash the Moon into the Earth.

Maria and Alan were on holiday in Cornwall when the Daleks and Davros moved the Earth out of its orbit to the Medusa Cascade.

Alan then announced that he had been offered a new job in the United States, and Maria had to inform Sarah she would be leaving. Unhappy at her departure, Sarah at first shunned Maria when they were called upon to investigate strange happenings at the Goblins Copse space research station. This proved to be the work of a lone Sontaran survivor of their recent failed attempt to turn Earth into a clone breeding planet. Sarah later apologised for her attitude towards her, as she had come to admire her and did not want to lose her.

Maria continued to stay in contact with Luke, Sarah and Clyde, and their new friend Rani, who had moved into her old home - including assisting with tracing Clyde when his father was taken over by a Berserker artefact. They were unable to attend Sarah's wedding, but Maria remained in touch with Luke for years afterwards.

Played by: Yasmin Paige. Appearances: SJA Pilot - Invasion of the Bane (2007), SJA Series 1 (2007), SJA 2.1 The Last Sontaran (2008), SJA 2.4 The Mark of the Berserker (2008).

• Paige left the series after one season as she wished to concentrate on her education.
• She was reunited with Tommy Knight (Luke) in 2014 when they both appeared in the E4 rural crime drama Glue.
• Paige was also heard, but not seen, as Maria in the Series 2 story Day of the Clown, when she was heard on a phone call with her old gang.