Episode #193-A : Time Crash

"Hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable!"

Episode #193-A:       Time Crash.
Companions:            10th Doctor and 5th Doctor.
Air Date:                  16th November 2007.

After saying his goodbyes to Martha Jones at the end of Last of the Time Lords, the Tenth Doctor accidentally pilots his TARDIS into the path of... the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS! As the current Doctor muses over aspects of the Fifth, the Fifth Doctor becomes increasingly worried as their combined TARDISes threaten to rip a hole in space and time the size of Belgium! 

This was a short sketch shown during the November 2007 Children in Need night on the BBC. It fits in exactly between Last of the Time Lords and Voyage of the Damned. Time Crash was the first incidence in new Who where we had a crossover between the old and new shows, as well as being the first new multi-Doctor story. Largely played for laughs, Time Crash is however, considered canonical.

The interaction between the 5th and 10th Doctors is extremely clever with plenty of references thrown in such as LINDA (from Love and Monsters), as well as references back to the adventures of the 5th Doctor. This was Steven Moffat writing at some of his best. I always get a giggle out of it. There's a nice sense of nostalgia too once the 5th Doctor recognizes his older self. 

If you haven't seen it, here is the short clip. 

SJA #6 : The Lost Boy

"The Xylok are a crystalline lifeform. We crashed here as what you would call a meteorite, beneath the Earth our crystals have regrown and become strong again, but nevertheless remain trapped. The release of the Xylok is my purpose. You gave me the chance to fulfill it, the chance to plan."

Episode #6:       The Lost Boy.
Companions:     Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer, K9 and Mr Smith.
Air Date:            12th to 19th November 2007.

A missing child turns out to be, both visually and genetically, Luke. Sarah Jane is forced to hand him over to the "parents". Heartbroken, Sarah Jane rejects Maria and Clyde, and with Maria's dad threatening to sell the house to keep his daughter out of danger, it seems the gang's adventures have come to an end, whilst Luke discovers his new "parents" are not all they seem — an old enemy has returned, and this time, they are in league with a member of Sarah Jane's faithful team in a plot to bring the moon crashing to Earth.

Although not the best episode The Lost Boy is a fitting end to the first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The plot itself isn't much but it is more the revelation that the genius super computer in Sarah Jane's attic, Mr Smith, is in fact an evil computer seeking to free a malevolent crystalline race, the Xylok, from their confinement within the Earth makes up for it.

Unfortunately the story continues the irritating family issues from the Jackson family. Now that Maria's father knows about aliens and what the team get up to he steps in to a both save the day and wanting to move away to protect his daughter. We'll get that in the start of the next season.

We do get the return of the Slitheen from the start of the season. The youngest is seeking revenge for the death of his father but has been manipulated by Mr Smith. This time they seem to have solved the farting problem in their skin suits.

The Lost Boy isn't a terrible story but it just didn't grab my interest at all. Uninteresting story and the addition of the Slitheen really didn't serve any purpose. At least we get a cameo from K9 again.

SJA #5 : Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?

"You were never forgotten, never! What I saw that day, it changed me forever. I saw how precious life is, and it made me fight to defend it across all these years, because of you, Andrea! It was all because of you! My best friend."

Episode #5:       Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?.
Companions:     Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer and Mr Smith.
Air Date:            29th October to 5th November 2007.

One day, Sarah Jane Smith exists. The next, only Maria Jackson knows of her. Andrea Yates takes her place, but Maria knows that Andrea has done something to remove Sarah Jane from the space/time continuum. It is up to Maria to uncover the identity of the "Trickster" if the human race is to survive. But with Sarah Jane and Luke wiped from existence and Clyde having lost all knowledge of his former adventures, Maria must save the world single-handedly. But she finds it may be time to tell her father about her secret life with Sarah Jane if the whole world is to survive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It was, for children's television a little darker than expected which made it much better in my eyes. Essentially some strange alien device protects Maria from alterations in the time line when a mysterious figure called the Trickster decides to alter the past so that thirteen year old Sarah Jane is killed and her best friend, who should have died, survives in her place. Maria has to resolve things in time to prevent an asteroid from striking the Earth and killing everyone.

It is a good story but suffers from the usual time alteration story line issue... ignoring what went before. The Trickster removes Sarah Jane so she wasn't around to help the Doctor and UNIT during the 1970's defeat all those alien invasions.We know the Doctor is good but there doesn't appear to be any real changes to the time line and since Sarah Jane was important to those events, surely something should have been referenced? However, there is a nice reference where the Trickster decides to see what things would have been like without the Doctor about to stop them, which leads into the upcoming Turn Left story.

The Trickster is an interesting villain though I can't help feeling that he is superfluous when you have an almost identical figure in the Black Guardian. Perhaps it was decided that it would require too much of an introduction for children? Either way, it gives the show it's own nasty otherworldly recurring villain so I can't complain. Alongside the Trickster the episode introduces a creature called a Grask which serves the Trickster in some way. I'm sure he'll make an appearance as well in the future.

SJA #4 : Warriors of Kudlak

"Oh, please don’t be offended, but this isn’t the first time I’ve had a gun pointed at me. And guns from other planets – ooh, afraid I’ve rather lost count!"

Episode #4:       Warriors of Kudlak.
Companions:     Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer and Mr Smith.
Air Date:            15th to 22nd October 2007.

Children have gone missing, but how? Will Luke and Clyde win Combat 3000? And who is the mysterious Mr. Kudlak?

Not an original story but entertaining all the same. While trying to teach Luke the hows and whys of being human, they decide to play a game of laser tag at a nearby venue called Combat 3000. This laser tag outfit is a cover for an alien general, Kudlak, who is looking for worthy would-be soldiers to fight in his people's war against someone called Malakh. Children with the right skills are abducted, crated and sent off to fight in the war. Unfortunately the war ended ten years ago and his battle computer fearing having nothing to do in peace time doesn't bother informing him. Kudlak turns out to be not such a bad individual after all and vows to find the children and return them home.

The story focuses more on Luke and Clyde than Sarah Jane. It is nice to see the companions getting their own story so soon into the show. Already Clyde is becoming more likeable than when he first appeared but the "learning humanity" elements of Luke's story are already a bit annoying.

The effects aren't bad and I especially like how well the production team managed to pull off a fully insectoid face and mask for Kudlak. Worthy of proper Doctor Who if you ask me. What I like most about this particular villain is that at the end of the day he isn't the villain. The human minion, Mr Grantham, on Earth is far worse in my opinion than the alien. Kudlak was doing what he thought he needed to but when the truth of the situation comes out he realises the error of things and sets out to correct them. Not something that you normally see in science fiction shows like this.

SJA #3: Eye of the Gorgon

"Sarah Jane was right, wasn’t she? I thought meetin’ creatures from other planets was gonna be excitin’ and cool, but she told me, she said it wasn’t anythin’ like that. In the end it just messes you up. Your whole life, and the people you love…. That’s why Sarah Jane’s always been on her own. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it, Bea? With no one in the world who really knows you or cares. This is how we all end up, isn’t it?"

Episode #3:       Eye of the Gorgon.
Companions:     Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer and Mr Smith.
Air Date:            1st to 8th October 2007.

A haunted nursing home leads Sarah Jane to a mysterious order of nuns with an ancient - and alien - secret.

Eye of the Gorgon is a story revolving around the existence of a secret order of women who protect, serve and host, a monstrous alien entity called in Earth lore as a Gorgon. In order to allow the Gorgon race to invade the Earth they need an alien talisman which has been hidden from them for three thousand years. When the team investigate supposed haunting of an old peoples home by a phantom nun they sent in motion events that could end the world.

If this was a Doctor Who episode it would fit nicely in during the early Tom Baker years when there was more of a horror element. Although written with children in mind this adventure has some nice creepy story elements. It may seem strange to say this, but it is nice to see horror featuring in children's television rather than the usual nicey nicey programming that normally appears. 

This time we see more of the interaction around the Jackson family, Maria's mother and father having split up before the start of the series but still irritating one another. You do need a family element, again, because of it being children's television but only two episodes in and I hate the pair of them. The family element doesn't add anything interesting except to play the secondary plot lines. At this time I haven't seen all the SJA episodes but already I am hoping that the family elements, which have been awkward in Doctor Who, drop to the wayside a little bit more.

Eye of the Gorgon is a nice episode but I'm hoping for better as the show goes along.

SJA #2 : Revenge of the Slitheen

"Let’s have a High School Musical moment! A group hug will sort everything out."

Episode #2:       Revenge of the Slitheen.
Companions:     Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer and Mr Smith.
Air Date:            24th September to 1st October 2007.

First days at school are always difficult. For Maria Jackson and Luke Smith, the task of blending in is made all the more difficult when their teachers turn out to be aliens from outer space, back for revenge!

The Sarah Jane Adventures kicks off properly with this entertaining adventure. Luke Smith has to start school for the first time and with his friends he uncovers a plot by members of the Slitheen family to destroy the Earth in revenge for the loss of their family during Aliens of London/World War Three. First off, it is nice to see that they are including events from Doctor Who into the show. This doesn't happen enough between the three shows in my opinion. Secondly, it is still just as silly as that first Slitheen episode was what with farting and appropriate childish humour. Given that SJA is a children's show, it does work well here.

Thankfully the writers dropped the character of Kelsey Hooper in favour of a new one, Clyde Langer. Clyde is a typical teenager boy who thinks he's better than he is and has his world turned around when he learns that aliens are real - despite Earth and London in particular, being invaded quite clearly in recent years. Now that he has seen aliens he becomes apart of the regular gang and becomes more likable as the show goes along.

This adventure features a young Slitheen boy of about 12 years old which adds a nice dilemma as to whether he should be left to die with the rest of his kind. Obviously with this being child friendly the Slitheen boy escapes perhaps to come back and bother the team in the future? 

Revenge of the Slitheen is a good start to the show and a lot better than the awful Invasion of the Bane. Reusing a well liked monster race, making references to those Doctor Who episodes and maintaining a hint of a dark plot with some fun moments makes it watchable. Plus it has Sarah Jane too.

Episode #192: The Sound of Drums / The Last of the Time Lords

"They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords. The oldest and most mighty race in the universe. Looking down on the galaxies below, sworn never to interfere, only to watch. Children of Gallifrey were taken from their families at the age of eight, to enter the Academy. Some say that's where it all began, when he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. We stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of Time and Space, just a child. Some would be inspired. Some would run away. And some would go mad."


Episode #192:   The Sounds of Drums / The Last of the Time Lords.
Companions:     The 10th Doctor, Jack Harkness and Martha Jones.
Air Date:            23rd to 30th June 2007.

The Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness return to present day London, horrified to discover that Prime Minister Harold Saxon is the Master. "Saxon" informs the world about receiving contact from an alien race called the Toclafane. Framed as fugitives, the Doctor, Martha and Jack try to sneak in and stop the Master before he unleashes a wave of terror. But his dark ambitions reach beyond the stars.

Wrapping the events of Utopia this storyline brings out time travellers back to Earth to stop the newly regenerated Master from unleashing a dark future on the Earth. Unfortunately, at least for me, it is a very dissapointing story which doesn't fire the enthusiasm nor does it really feel like Doctor Who. It isn't because it is badly written or too dark. It feels too much like Daleks in Manhatten in that it is just a little too surreal for Doctor Who.

Jon Simm was a great choice for the Master. He carries the evil madman personna off perfectly and you do get a slight hope that he'll win out at the end of the day. The introduction or retcon of some sort of drumming in his head which is what has driven him mad was an interesting move. Nothing like this had ever come up before in the show to explain why the Master was as insane as he was. It would be some time however before we learn the cause of it.

We get some more of Martha's family in this story but by this time I am sick of them. A disfunctional family with no redeeming qualities does not make for good background if you ask me. I especially dislike the mother but that may be because none of this would have probably happened had she had any common sense throughout this season.

I'm not a fan of the villains of this piece, the Toclafane either. They tie in nicely to the events of Utopia but we learn nothing else about them other than who they ultimately are. I'd have liked some more info. The whole paradox creation issue doesn't sit well for me either. It works for the story but doesn't really do anything at the same time even as desperate as they are it seems a self-defeating thing to do.

The story has another issue that never bothered me but at the time seemed to cause a stir among fans. Ever since the Runaway Bride there has been a bit of "the lonely god" written into the 10th Doctor's character and it seemed to rub many the wrong way. The Archangel network of this story and how it plays out at the end certainly played into that point of view.

Ultimately I am not a fan of this adventure. It doesn't seem very well worked out and much like the rest of the current season before it just wasn't very good. I think a better ending could have been made for this season.