Episode #220: A Christmas Carol

"Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing. You know that in nine hundred years of time and space and I've never met anybody who wasn't important before."

Episode #220:      A Christmas Carol.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Air Date:              25th December 2010.

Amy Pond and Rory Williams are trapped on a crashing space liner, and the only way the Eleventh Doctor can rescue them is to save the soul of a lonely old miser. But is Kazran Sardick, the richest man in Sardicktown, beyond redemption? And what is lurking in the fogs of Christmas Eve?

The 2010 Christmas special is rather a let down to me. The story, as given away by the title, is based very loosely upon Dicken's classic A Christmas Carol. By it's self this isn't a bad idea but the implementation and the all to silly fairy tale elements spoil it. Flying fish and a giant flying shark? Good grief!

Even the time travel elements of the story contradict everything we've been told over the previous four decades. Once part of established events you can't go back and make changes but yet this is exactly what this episode consists of. The Doctor rewrites Sardick's memories by altering the events of his past. The Blinovich Limitation Effect is also ignored when the older and younger Sardick's interact with one another. I know that sometimes you have to let things slide in order to make a story work but these are big no no's in my mind.

Some elements, such as on board the space liner, do feel reminiscent of classic era sets and uniforms. In that regard I get some enjoyment out of the episode but the story is a real let down. Especially the reference to being Christmas. A Christmas special doesn't need to be set at Christmas, as I have said before. Attempting to do A Christmas Carol though does give it some bonus points though.

There isn't a lot to like in this episode to be fair. The pacing is wrong and the inclusion of the fairy tale elements, plus that it just ends, just leaves me disappointed with what could have been a good episode. My apologies for this being a rather negative review (and I would love to read your opinions) but this is probably the worst of the worst for Christmas specials.

SJA #24 : Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith

"That's my stomach and it's hungry for your soul!"

Episode #24:        Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Mister Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer and Luke Smith.
Air Date:              15th to 16th November 2010.

Sarah Jane has begun developing a form of dementia, and she realises that her ability to defend the Earth is diminishing. She must now hand over the task to surer hands. A seemingly suitable replacement, Ruby White, has arrived on Bannerman Road, but can she be trusted?

The end of the current series and it is one of the more disappointing episodes. Essentially it revolves around Sarah Jane becoming unwell and having to hand her responsibilities over to another who turns out to be a alien masquerading as another "Sarah Jane" in order to devour the Earth. Had the character of Ruby made appearances previously in the season it might have worked but just coming in one story doesn't make her believable. The story also doesn't feature any real action and it's absence makes the story just seem to drag.

The problem is that recently there have been some good episodes and this is another, that yet again, could have been better just be adding Ruby into some prior episodes this season. Laying the groundwork as it were. 

SJA #23 : Lost in Time

"The tapestry of time is a fragile thing. Apply the slightest pressure, and the threads of history can unravel. But you understand that, don't you, Sarah Jane?"

Episode #23:        Lost in Time.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer.
Air Date:              8th to 9th November 2010.

A harmless investigation turns into an epic quest across time and space. Sarah Jane and the gang are separated by the enigmatic Shopkeeper to find themselves in three different time-zones throughout history – doing battle against ghost hunters, Nazis, Tudors and a mysterious parrot called Captain!

Along comes another Sarah Jane Adventures episode that I thoroughly enjoyed. Recruited my a mysterious shopkeeper and his parent, the adventurers are split up and sent into different time zones to recover pieces of a temporal artifact, the chronosteel. Clyde arrives during the second world war, and helps thwart a Nazi invasion. Rani finds herself in service to Lady Jane Gray in her last hours and Sarah Jane helps a 19th century ghost hunter save the lives of two children in the 21st century.

I like this story because it brings home the time traveling historical stories of the early days of Doctor Who. Although I wasn't a fan of them the modern stories can be done so much better even in just a brief hours worth of television. In particular the life and death of Lady Jane Gray, an historical figure I had never heard of prior to watching this episode when televised. Having watched it, I was moved to read up on the actual events.

As for the mysterious shopkeeper we never learn who he or his parrot companion are but according to The Brilliant Book 2012, and a blog post from Neil Gaiman, Gaiman and Russell T Davies were both of the personal opinion that the Shopkeeper was in fact the Corsair, a swashbuckling Time Lord friend of the Doctor's mentioned in the television story The Doctor's Wife.

I do like this particular adventure a lot and it shows what the show could do when the writers put their minds to it. More like this would have been preferable to the overly basic children's stories.

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.

SJA #21: Death of the Doctor

"Because your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet. Just think of it. Remember it. But properly. Properly. Give the Memory Weave everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

Episode #21:        Death of the Doctor.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer, Mr Smith, the 11th Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:              25th to 26th October 2010.

When the Doctor is declared dead, old companions Sarah Jane and Jo Grant meet for the first time and join forces to discover the truth. As an interstellar conspiracy gathers around UNIT HQ, Clyde finds he holds the fate of the Time Lord in his hand – quite literally!

They are not many adventures among the Sarah Jane Adventures that get me as excited as many Doctor Who ones do, but Death of the Doctor hits nearly all my buttons. Any story that brings in so many references, and a former companion, from the classic show is bound to do it. Throw in the Doctor and we're away! This story unites Sarah Jane with the 11th Doctor and her predecessor Jo Grant, and together this adventure works so well for both younger fans and us grognards who remember the good old days.

The story itself revolves around a group of renegade aliens, the Shansheeth, a sort of space vultures who also serve as the galaxy's undertakers (I guess Necros puts them out of business one day?) who come up with a plan to stop death all together and for that they need the TARDIS. Stealing the time machine and trying to use his former companions to create a psychic version of the key kicks things off. The bannerman road gang are joined by Jo Grant and the 11th Doctor to stop them and recover the TARDIS. It is a simple enough plot hook but as I have mentioned it is the frequent references both in dialogue and in screen snippets to the classic show that really make it so enjoyable.

However, it isn't all just fun and games. Although used perhaps as a throwaway filler section of dialogue there is some wonderful exposition between Clyde, Rani and Rani's father about how people handle the death of a loved one which is really quite moving.

CLYDE: Luke says Sarah Jane's gone mad. 
HARESH: Don't be so rude. He wouldn't say mad about his own mother. 
CLYDE: No. He said, nutty, fruity, loop the loop, tonto, barmy, bonkers. Be fair, though, sir, he's worried. 
HARESH: It's like your mum. Remember when Grandad died? 
RANI: She washed everything. Curtains, furniture, me. She even washed the walls. Who washes walls? It went on for days, and then she just started crying. 
HARESH: It takes time, because when someone dies it's so massive, it's like you can't fit it all inside your head. That's what Sarah Jane's doing. She's denying it. 
CLYDE: So, what do we do? 
HARESH: Wait. That's all you can do. Friends just wait. 

Death of the Doctor was written by Russel T Davis and oddly I find that he does a better job in this episode of writing the 11th Doctor than was done for the 10th Doctor in The Wedding of Sarah Jane. Maybe that's just me though but it certainly sounded a lot better.

This adventure is one I certainly would consider watching if you want the best of the Doctor's adventures.

SJA #20 : The Vault of Secrets

"But we're going to save your mum now, so if it's the Universe against Clyde Langer, then the Universe had better bring some mates!"

Episode #20:        The Vault of Secrets.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer.
Air Date:              18th to 19th October 2010.

When an old enemy, Androvax the Veil, returns to Earth asking for help, the gang face a dilemma — should they trust him? Or does the legendary Vault hold an even greater terror? A second threat arises, when android guardians threaten to destroy anyone who uncovers their secrets. As the battle between Sarah Jane, Androvax and the androids reaches its climax, Rani has to save her mother from being caught in the crossfire. The Vault opens and the destiny of the entire Veil species is at stake. Is it too late to save them?

A rather typical Sarah Jane adventure but one that fits squarely where I expect the show's target stories should go. Androvax returns but not necessarily as the villain. Sometimes while being the bad guy a recurring character can have a bit more depth and this time Androvax feels more like an individual who has a goal and reasons for doing what he does. SJA doesn't always accomplish this very well but this time they do. We also have the return of the mysterious Men in Black who we last saw in the animated adventure Dreamland, including the lead MiB Dr Dread although different actor unfortunately. Nice to see some cross jumping between shows here.

In this story we get more background on the mysterious Men in Black. It turns out that they are androids tasked in the 20th century (up until the early 70's) with preventing the human race from learning about aliens and their technology. They served something called the Alliance of Shades, an alien organisation that wanted to either protect humanity from alien influence or keep them clueless. Since the Men in Black were retired in 1972 does that mean the Alliance of Shades decided to leave things in the hands of UNIT and/or Torchwood? We may never know although I'd like to see them make an appearance in Doctor Who some time.

Like many Sarah Jane adventures this one suffers from being directed too much at a child audience but also at being dragged out over two episodes when one might have sufficed. The more SJA that I watch the more I come to that latter conclusion. Some work just fine but others not so much and in this story that shows all too well in the later half.

SJA #19 : The Nightmare Man

"Our world has always been full of nightmares. Creatures and aliens who want to destroy us. But we've always been protected. The Doctor. His friends. My mum. But tonight... Tonight I don't think anyone can save us. The world's going to end, and it's my fault, because he's coming for me, you see? He's been waiting for me for years."

Episode #19:        The Nightmare Man.
Companions:        Sarah Jane Smith, K9, Luke Smith, Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer.
Air Date:              11th to 12th October 2010.

Luke faces life-changing events, and Bannerman Road will never be the same again. But when Sarah Jane's son has his first nightmare, he's haunted by a dark figure from his dreams: the Nightmare Man. A strange entity is reaching out to our world through Luke, with terrible consequences for the whole human race. With Luke, Clyde and Rani trapped in a bizarre dreamscape, Sarah Jane must fight alone. As the Nightmare Man grows stronger, only K9 might hold the key. But can Luke summon the courage to face his adult life before the whole world is trapped in an endless nightmare?

The new season of the Sarah Jane Adventures starts with a fairly bland adventure. It exists simply to serve as a vehicle for Tommy Knight (Luke Smith) to depart the series while he focuses on his real life school studies. The story itself, like so many under the SJA banner it seems, is just uninspired and doesn't really go anywhere. It is a story where nothing really happens, the villain is two dimensional (barely) and the whole thing feels like a bore to watch.

At the culmination Luke leaves to go to Oxford and takes K9 with him. He makes occasional webcam appearances throughout the rest of the season but for now isn't a major character. Shame about K9 about his creator was (as I understand it) more interested in an unofficial K9 spin off made in Australia and didn't want to continue with the Sarah Jane Adventures.

Frankly this adventure could have been so much better with a more interesting villain and less time wasted on the angst of Luke Smith and the others.