SJA #12 : Enemy of the Bane

"In my day UNIT battled Daleks, Cybermen, Autons and Zygons and all manner of space-thuggery."

Episode #12:        Enemy of the Bane.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer.
Air Date:              1st to 8th December  2008.

Gita Chandra is kidnapped by Mrs Wormwood. This turns out to be a snare for Sarah Jane. Mrs Wormwood has joined forces with another of Sarah Jane's enemies, Kaagh. As they prepare to settle old scores, Sarah Jane turns to an old friend.

The final adventure of this season brings back Kaagh and Mrs. Wormwood, this time working together for their own nefarious schemes. They pretend to be allies and then as expected, stab the team in the back. As stories go it isn't very original and I think even the young audience this was aimed at worked it out within the first few minutes. It is the problem with these short episodes that the writers cannot put enough content into the show and keep it good. I know it is kid's television but I am sure CBBC can do better than this.

This episode features the final "proper" appearance in the Whoniverse of fan favourite Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This was Nicholas Courtney's final appearance before he died in 2011. It's rather heart warming to see him back as the Brigadier and it brought back many fine memories of his time on the show.

Enemy of the Bane introduces us to the Black Archive, which we see later on in Day of the Doctor. I was genuinely surprised by this as I didn't know it existed before that episode. Things have changed though as in this story the Archive is a fortified building outside London so I guess everything gets moved to the Tower of London following the events of this story.

Sitting here writing this review I am having trouble thinking of anything really positive to say for this episode. To repeat myself, I understand that the Sarah Jane Adventures are children's programming so I can't expect the same level of awesomeness as I feel for Doctor Who and Torchwood. But still I find episodes like this are dumbed down somewhat. There just isn't anything to them and it is very frustrating because I know that the writers and everyone behind the show can do so much better.

SJA #1 : Invasion of the Bane

"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.