Elisabeth Sladen’s Daughter Condemns AI Doctor Who Fan Series

Morning News · Monday 2 November 2026

Elisabeth Sladen’s daughter, Sadie Miller, has condemned an unofficial Doctor Who fan series that used AI to recreate her late mother as Sarah Jane Smith. Also this morning: Zach Cregger opens up about the Resident Evil backlash, Andy Weir sets his condition for a Project Hail Mary sequel, Kane Parsons says he knows how Backrooms ends, a Halloween costume may have leaked The Batman Part II’s villains, the new Storm starts training for X-Men, and Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter hero gets his own books.

The News That Matters

Elisabeth Sladen’s daughter condemns AI recreation of Sarah Jane Smith

• What happened: Sadie Miller, daughter of the late Elisabeth Sladen, has criticised Resistance to the Daleks, a four-part fan-made series that used AI-generated images and sound to recreate her mother as Sarah Jane Smith, The Telegraph reported. The unofficial, non-commercial production bills itself as an AI-assisted recreation of the Jon Pertwee era, with the Doctor and Sarah Jane arriving on Skaro
• What she said: “This video uses AI images of my mother, making her say and do things she has not agreed to do because she is dead,” Miller wrote. “My mum would HATE this, as would Jon.” She added: “If this was done with good intentions, then why were we, as a family, never told?”
• Actor or algorithm: Miller, who has played Sarah in audio drama since 2021, drew a line between the two: “I do not play my mum, I play Sarah, a fictional character.” An actor reading a script, she said, is not the same as a person being recreated with “no option to consent”
• The makers’ response: A spokesman for DigitalogMedia said the series first went online on 10 October, that he apologised to Miller and took it down on 12 October at her request, and that actress Caroline Whitmore now plays Sarah Jane. More than 55 shots of Part One were reworked to remove Sladen’s likeness before it was re-released on 31 October
• UK availability: Resistance to the Daleks is an unofficial fan production, not affiliated with or endorsed by the BBC. The next official series of Doctor Who is planned for 2028/29 on the BBC; UK date not yet confirmed

AI is opening doors for fan filmmakers, and Movieversalfilm makes AI films of its own, but this is where the line sits: original characters and willing performers, never the faces and voices of people who can no longer say yes. Replacing Sladen’s likeness was the right call, and asking the family first would have been better still. Sarah Jane remains one of the show’s most loved companions, as our look at The Two Pillars of British Entertainment explains, and the wider debate about the show’s future is in yesterday’s Morning News.

Zach Cregger says the Resident Evil debate ‘didn’t have anything to do with the movie’

• What he said: On The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cregger said: “I think I was frustrated at the conversation around Resident Evil and how much of the conversation really didn’t have anything to do with the movie.” He added: “I’m proud of the movie. I really love the movie”
• The numbers: After a $10 million seventh weekend, the film stands at about $400 million worldwide, Deadline reports: $157.3 million from North America and $242.7 million overseas. That makes it the biggest film in the franchise, ahead of Sinners and The Nun, and within about $600,000 of A24’s Backrooms. The UK is its second-biggest overseas market at $19.4 million
• What next: IGN says Cregger is likely to step away from established franchises, although he hasn’t ruled out a sequel. His next film is the original sci-fi thriller The Flood, starring Jennifer Lawrence, due on 11 August 2028
• UK availability: In UK cinemas now; UK home release date not yet confirmed

Watch the featurette

Box office has settled the argument for him: a game adaptation that fans fretted over has become one of the year’s biggest horror hits. Last night’s Evening News has the full weekend box office.

Andy Weir will only write a Project Hail Mary sequel for a really good idea

• What he said: With the Ryan Gosling film at $684 million worldwide, Weir told /Film: “I would be happy to do a sequel for Project Hail Mary if I got a good idea for one, and I feel like I’ve had some okay ideas, but not a real good one. I’d rather do no sequel at all than have one that’s middling”
• No rush: He won’t hurry one out in case Gosling doesn’t want to make another film in a few years, and said “the book I’m working on now is another standalone novel, not a sequel to anything”
• UK availability: No sequel announced; UK date not yet confirmed

Watch the trailer

It is a refreshingly honest answer from an author who could easily cash in. Ryland Grace and Rocky earned their ending, and a middling return would only dent it.

Backrooms director Kane Parsons says he already knows how the franchise ends

• What he said: The 21-year-old told The Kyle Buchanan Show that he has an endgame in mind and will stop when there is nothing left to say: “There will be a point where the final hump of everything that has kind of been said with everything prior kind of all comes together, and then what’s left after that?”
• The sequel: He wouldn’t name characters but said there are specific ones he is excited about, and that the next films will be “different branches on the tree” rather than running from point A to point B. He also wants to revisit parts of the first film he felt missed the core of the Backrooms idea
• The numbers: Backrooms is A24’s highest-grossing film, at $400.6 million worldwide according to Deadline
• UK availability: No sequel date announced; UK date not yet confirmed

Knowing the ending is a good sign for a franchise built from a YouTube series, where the mystery is the whole point. Our Backrooms Super Review explains why the first film works.

The Batman Part II prop leak points to Brian Tyree Henry as Two-Face

• What happened: Fans spotted what appear to be props from the sequel in a behind-the-scenes video of Heidi Klum’s Halloween costume, made by Mike Marino, The Batman’s makeup artist, who is back for the sequel, /Film reported
• What was seen: What looks like a cast of Brian Tyree Henry’s face with a disfigured lip, suggesting Two-Face, a box labelled “Zsasz” and another labelled “Owl 3”, a possible nod to the Court of Owls. That would fit Jeff Sneider’s June report that Henry plays Harvey Dent and Sebastian Stan plays the serial killer Victor Zsasz
• Not confirmed: Warner Bros has not confirmed any of the new cast’s roles. Filming continues, with Steven Soderbergh helping Matt Reeves on set
• UK availability: Due in cinemas on 18 February 2028 (US date); UK date not yet confirmed

Leaks from a celebrity Halloween costume are a very 2026 kind of spoiler. Treat it as a strong hint rather than a reveal. The production’s twists so far are in our Evening News of 26 October.

X-Men’s new Storm, Maya Boyd, starts training with Daredevil’s trainer

• What happened: Maya Boyd, cast as Storm in Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot, has begun training for the role with Naqam Washington, who also trains Charlie Cox for Daredevil, DiscussingFilm reported
• The cast: Boyd joins Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X and Inde Navarrette as Rogue
• UK availability: Due on 5 May 2028 (US date); UK date not yet confirmed

Training this early suggests Marvel wants its mutants physically ready well ahead of cameras rolling. The latest from the wider Marvel slate is in our Weekly Superhero Round-up.

Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter hero gets three children’s books before the film

• What happened: Penguin Random House has listed three children’s books starring Kade Auberon, Gosling’s character in Star Wars: Starfighter, all due on 20 April 2027: Rumble with the Rock Pirate (ages 2 to 5), Risk and Reward (ages 3 to 7) and Rock Pirate Adventures (ages 5 to 8), The Direct reported
• And: A reader, Outer Rim Outcasts, arrives the same day, after a colouring book, Art of Coloring: Star Wars: Starfighter, on 23 March 2027
• UK availability: US publication dates; UK book dates not yet confirmed. Starfighter is due in cinemas on 28 May 2027 (US date); UK date not yet confirmed

A month of books before release is the first real look at Kade’s story, and a sign Lucasfilm sees him as a hero for younger fans. More on the cast in our Morning News of 28 October.

Should AI ever be used to bring back actors who have died, even in fan films? Tell us below.

Back tonight at 6pm with the Evening News.