Invasion of the Bane Revenge of the Slitheen Eye of the Gorgon Warriors of Kudlak Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane Smith? The Lost Boy

BBC The Sarah Jane Adventures Season One

• Sarah Jane's back! by Joe Ford

Sarah Jane's back! by Joe Ford 8/12/08

Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. Wowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow... How much did that series rock? Not just "that was better than I was expecting" and more like "fan-bloody-tastic". Why on Earth couldn't Torchwood be written by the same people? It's proven that old Doctor Who adage that if you have limitations - here being to provide top-notch entertainment for children, i.e. without all the gore, sex and violence of the other Doctor Who spinoff - you can produce better results. What is so shocking is that, despite being geared at a family audience, there are times when The Sarah Jane Adventures seem far more mature and intelligent than Torchwood. Turns out that the sex and gore and swearing simply get in the way of sophisticated storytelling. Who knew?

I have no problem with admitting I am a fan. Some of the ideas and visuals this year top even Doctor Who at its best. The Bane smashing his way through Sarah Jane's house. The sun having its energy sucked away. Terrifying nuns kidnapping children in a hearse. Clyde and Luke being stalked through a spaceship by blank-faced guards. The Trickster performing his magic in the evening light of Bannerman road. Sarah Jane stealing the telekinetic enhancer being surrounded by red security lasers. This was a show that threw one surprise after another at its audience and pulled off every one of them. Simon, my fiance, tried to resist, he really did, he watched the Slitheen two-parter pretending to shrug his shoulders. He was making the tea when we watched Eye of Gorgon and he said, "It's okay for what it is." He deemed to lower his standards and watch Warriors of Kudlak and was clapping with excitement at the end. Watching his progress through the series was very amusing; come the Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? two parter he was gripped, desperate to see the second episode. When the final story aired he admitted he was a fan and was keeping his fingers crossed for a second series. Brilliantly, he tried to resist Torchwood in the same fashion and fell in love with that too.

I should comment on the casting, which was inspired. This really wouldn't have worked had they cast a bunch of wanabee child actors who flunked every scene. That's why they got rid of Kelsey and introduced Clyde. She was rubbish and he's great. Central to the show is, of course, Elisabeth Sladen who shockingly seems to be ageing backwards. Honestly, how glorious does she look? Whilst some might have been reluctant to put an almost-60 year old (I don't actually know Lis Sladen's age but I have heard this rumour bandied about) at the head of a children's show, but it proves to be the reason it works so well. She plays the part as she did in Doctor Who a few years ago, heartfelt, intelligent, quick witted and emotional; there is never a moment where you feel Elisabeth Sladen is talking down to her audience, quite the reverse, it feels as though she is deliberately trying to give the kids as much as possible. She provides a rock for the series to revolve around and with all of her past history being hinted at, the kids must have been lapping it up. The other sparkling piece of casting was Yasmin Paige as Maria who provides an excellent foil for Sarah Jane. Enjoying a cup of tea over anything fizzy and reading a good book over the telly, Maria's lust for adventure is engagingly brought to life by Ms Paige who acts more like an adult than the entire Torchwood cast put together. Maria's emotional journey throughout the series is treated sensitively, trying to handle her feelings towards her mum and dad's divorce, especially with a mother like that. Paige is so good she handles the first episode of Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? on her own and pulls it off spectacularly. Finishing off this trio of fabulous female characters is the underused but impossibly brilliant Juliet Cowan as Chrissie Jackson, Maria's flighty and wonderfully self-centred mother. She pretty much steals every scene she appears in and provides some great comedy throughout the run. We need more hopelessly one-track characters like Chrissie on telly. Everyone seems to have depth these days; sometimes it is nice to bask in the astonishing vanity of women like Chrissie.

But wait... let's hear it for the boys. More terrific performances are in store. Thomas Knight has the hardest job of all. He is a boy genius. Argh! Seriously he is written like a cross between Wesley Crusher and Data from Star Trek: impossible brains and trying to learns what it is to be human. Knight is extremely convincing as a blank slate and I mean in the most positive sense. Throughout the years, Luke's education includes humour, insults, fun, girls... and Knight grabs hold of these "new" experiences with a real sense of wonder. How Star Trek got it so wrong with Wil Wheaton I have no idea but The Sarah Jane Adventures has grabbed hold of all those boy geek clichés and made them work. I'Ys his relationship with Clyde that makes Luke rounded. Clyde is everything that Kelsey wasn't in Invasion of the Bane. Genuinely street smart, cute, warm and funny. It was right to choose an older actor and Daniel Anthony is more than up to the task. Completing this set of cheeky chaps is Joseph Milson who gets to enjoy the role of what is rarity on telly, the single dad. He's so perceptive and affectionate it's a surprise that he isn't outed in the series (gee I wish he was, he is really hot) but thankfully Milson plays the role on the right side of twee. He's often very sweet but occasionally aggressive and it is a delight to see him grapple with Chrissie.

Invasion of the Bane is where it all begins and what New Years treat that was last year. I settled down with a glass of mulled wine left over from Christmas not really expecting much and was blown away with how close this felt to a really good, classic Doctor Who story. It felt more like Doctor Who than Doctor Who! The delights were manifold; discovering all the phenomenal casting choices, the witty and clever dialogue, the flashy production values (who else was expecting this to be shot on video?), the quality re-introduction of Sarah Jane. Mrs Wormwood proved a great foil - half Ms Winters, half The Rani - cool and collected, and icily brought to life by Samantha Bond. Choose your favourite scene, where Sarah Jane and company hides in the women's lav, the first sight of the attic, the whole world being taken over by fizzy pop or Sarah Jane smashing the Bubbleshock bus through the wall. It was almost too good for children's television if you were the sort person who would say that but I was an extremely demanding child (Warriors' Gate? of course I understood it!) so I won't. The idea of Sarah adopting this boy with no past feels so right you wonder why it never occurred before. Simply marvellous.

And then we waited, our appetites whetted...

...and Revenge of the Slitheen burst onto our screens nine odd months later. Boy did we wait. In my opinion, this was the weakest story of the lot and it was still great. It is the only time during the entire run where silliness threatened to tip the story the wrong way into embarrassment. The actors playing the Slitheen are so hyper and silly they are impossible to take seriously. However, there is still much to enjoy. Clyde is obviously a great new addition but the actual plot itself is a lovely piece of work which also re-introduces the Slitheen with considerable panache. The pace is utterly relentless and once the Slitheen have been unleashed it has many exciting moments. I love the second episode, especially when the show goes global and that US newsreader who keeps cropping gets a great moment when the lights go out. The sense of a team gelling when Sarah Jane and company take to the streets with squeezy bottles full of vinegar is great. And the scene where Sarah discusses the Doctor with Clyde is magic.

Much more traditional Doctor Who is Eye of the Gorgon, which features the creepiest nuns this side of Sister Act. Its such an obvious idea, freaky nuns but I can't remember it ever being done before. It was here where I was surprised at how much emotion they could inject into this series. The awkwardness of the Maria/Alan/Chrissie dynamics is brought to the boil as Chrissie returns home without permission. Not content with that writer Phil Ford takes the brave step of dealing with Alzheimer's in a very moving fashion, introducing us to Bea who used to be married to a time traveller. With her mind in pieces thanks to the illness and desperately missing her husband, Phyllida Law gives a touching performance, especially in the last scene where they are reunited thanks to the Talisman. Gorgeous production values give this a boost and several Blink steals (the Gorgon turns its victim to stone) ensure this is a quality adventure. The only thing it needs is a brilliant cliff-hanger. Oh wait it does. "Dad no!" indeed.

Someone said that Warriors of Kudlak is the Sarah Jane Adventures doing a tribute to The Tomorrow People. Rubbish. The Tomorrow People is universally dreadful and this story is well paced, dynamically written and directed with a severe touch of cool. I liked the touches of maturity here, stressing the horrors of war without jumping on a soapbox and mentioning Iraq without everyone getting in a tizz. Add another top-notch villain to the season, no not Kudlak himself (who sports a fantastic mask) but Grantham who is the sort of snidey, nasty coward that used to turn up all the time in Doctor Who. He gets the best line of the season ("A conscience is like a stone in your shoe. You cannot believe the relief when you get rid of it.") and takes the piss out of Sarah beautifully (and her lipstick). When the action moves over to the spaceship things get more predictable but even more electrifying. Seeing the Earth from orbit proves to be magical for both Luke and Maria but even more so for Sarah who stares out in awe as if she belongs there. A slightly disappointing ending (and they almost dared to do one of those "hahahahaha!" everything's all right because we're laughing like idiots) cannot dispel what has been a great outer space experience.

Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? is by far the best story and easily matches the best of Doctor Who and Torchwood. It is a risky format breaker (how can a show have a format only four stories in? But they have hit their stride so well!), which features the obvious but unthinkable idea of "what would happen if Sarah Jane never met the Doctor?" Graeme Harper takes the reigns and directs his best story since he returned to Doctor Who. It is a dark and adult tale, which features a powerhouse performance from Yasmin Paige desperately trying to prove that Sarah Jane was real. Jane Asher proves an inspired choice of replacement for Sarah because Lis Sladen and her couldn't be more different. She portrays Anthea with a real sense of danger, regret that she made a deal that has ruined a life but desperate not to go back to how things were. The flashback scenes to Sarah's death are shot with astonishing frankness; the show never shies away from the terrifying implication that one of these girls knows they are going to die. A story which involves a hyperactive Graske, a trip back to the 1960's, The Trickster, a monster so goosepimply it defies description, a threat to the Doctor's life and even a development for the series as Alan discovers his daughter's secret life. It's powerful and funny and dramatic. Superb television.

Somehow The Lost Boy manages to follow this and not disappoint. Possibly because it is full of surprises, or possibly because it is directed with a lovely sense of real-life drama. You genuinely believe Luke is just a regular human boy who has lost his memory and it is devastating to see Sarah's new family pulled apart. The ruse is kept going for long and we are re-introduced to an old enemy and (brilliantly) introduced to an enemy who has been under our noses the whole time. It is the best cliffhanger of the series and it leads into a hyperactive episode wit loads of great scenes. The face-off in the attic is really exciting, especially due to the reappearance of an old friend (I am trying to be ambiguous here but you all know who I mean) but the scenes in the forest and Clyde's psychedelic trip through Mr Smith's innards also rank amongst the finest this year. Any flaws? Probably but you'll be so wrapped up in the series at this point you'll forget that you have already reached puberty and switch your critical faculties off.

At the end of the frst season, we are left with six incredible adventures that prove that life on Earth can be an adventure too. And that a season can be made without a single duffer.

The Sarah Jane Adventures is the nuts. Sorry...