"I saw amazing things, out there in space--but there is strangeness to be found, wherever you turn. Life on Earth can be an adventure too... you just need to know where to look!"
Episode #1: Invasion of the Bane.
Companions: Sarah Jane Smith, K9, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, and Mr Smith.
Air Date: 1st January 2007
Investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith teams up with her new, thirteen-year-old neighbour, Maria Jackson, to face the scheming Mrs Wormwood, the head of a company producing a popular and addictive soft drink called "Bubble Shock!"
This was the pilot episode for a new spin off series featuring Sarah Jane Smith following from her popular appearance in School Reunion. Where Doctor Who is family viewing and Torchwood was directed for adults, the Sarah Jane Adventures was firmly pointed at children and young teens. You can tell that easily just by the much weaker scripts and cheap special effects. The show starts off weak in my opinion but does build up as it goes along to be quite entertaining.
The concept of the show is simply that Sarah Jane and her teenage neighbours save the world or investigate mysterious happenings around London. As the show goes along we see many new monsters and a few old favourites from Doctor Who. There are also many references throughout to the Doctor and the shows history. Something that Torchwood could have done more with.
In this story the world is being slowly invaded by a race of tentacled monsters called the Bane who try to transform everyone by selling them a new fizzy drink containing their own juices. Once again you can tell this is a children's program. Sarah Janes' new neighbour becomes involved and together they rescue the "archetype" (later to be Sarah's adopted son Luke), find a means to stop the bane and save the world.
The Bane might have been more of a threat had some thought gone into the CGI for them which just has them looking like animated 80's plastic toys. Maybe it's the idea of them taking over the world via fizzy drinks that I find most awkward to deal with. You have to keep reminding yourself that it is a children's show and try not to worry. Don't get me started on sonic lipstick!
Nearly all TV pilots are weak compared to their actual show so I can understand why this doesn't grab me as well as the later episodes. However, I find it a poorly written story and it feels cheap. Having Sarah Jane back is great though. Shame that K9 and the new alien computer Mr Smith don't get enough screen time at this stage.
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