SJA #22 : The Empty Planet

"Weird alien noise, terrified kid and what do we do? Run to the window and start talking all Star Trek. We must have looked really normal."

Episode #22:        The Empty Planet.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer, and Mr Smith.
Air Date:              1st to 2nd November 2010.

Clyde and Rani are apparently the only survivors of the human race. The whole of Earth is empty – even Sarah Jane has vanished. A deserted London holds terrors of its own, mainly in the form of two mysterious and menacing robots.

The Empty Planet is a Sarah Jane lite story. In fact she only appears at the start and the very end. The story instead focuses upon Rani and Clyde stuck in a world where everyone else has vanished, except for a young school boy. They find themselves pursued by two robots with a mysterious mission. The story itself is nothing special and is simply a hunt for a missing individual. The same sort of story we have seen before in the Sarah Jane Adventures.

For an episode where really, nothing actually happens, this is still a rather good story. Rani and Clyde by themselves make for an excellent pair of adventurers, and it is a refreshing change to have the show focus on just two characters rather than the whole gang. A bigger threat than what is presented might have made it a better story though.