The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 1-5 (2007-2011) - Review

Starring: Elisabeth Sladen, Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony & Anjli Mohindra

Written By: Phil Ford & Gareth Roberts (Head Writers)

Directed By: (Various)

Certificate: PG

 

It had to happen at some point. There's simply no way you can bring back a character as iconic and timeless as Sarah Jane Smith, and still keep her as second to the Doctor. In 2006, Russell T Davies nearly had the TV audience spectrum covered: families could sit and enjoy Doctor Who in the Spring, while spin-off Torchwood was aimed at a more adult audience in Winter. There was just one market left to dominate: a show aimed more exclusively at kids. Starting in 2007, and broadcast in Autumn to help soften the wait between different series of Doctor Who, who better to front a show than Sarah Jane? The Sarah Jane Adventures was born...

 

13 Bannerman Road is the Ealing home of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, who once travelled through time and space with a man known as the Doctor. In her attic is a collection of all manner of alien artefacts and relics gathered from her travels, as well as a supercomputer in the wall, and a robot dog called K-9. When an encounter with a hostile alien race leaves a young boy, a human archetype, in her care, Sarah Jane becomes his adopted mother, giving him the name Luke. The two begin having to fight off new alien threats on an almost daily basis, but soon find help from schoolboy Clyde and neighbours Maria and Rani.

 

Just from the premise alone, The Sarah Jane Adventures has everything working in its favour. The legendary Sarah Jane defending the world from alien threats with the help of friends, a sonic lipstick, her robot dog, and a sentient supercomputer in the wall, voiced by the brilliant Alexander Armstrong? Sign me up! In all seriousness, it's the kind of spin-off that a character like Sarah Jane deserves, and I think you actively have to try to mess it up. Of course we've had K-9 & Company in the past, but unlike that frankly poor attempt at branching into a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures has a bigger budget, a better framework and stronger writing on its side. The result is an entertaining children's show by its own right, one that simultaneously helps to bridge the gap between series of Doctor Who.

 

While The Sarah Jane Adventures is going to be watched by many Doctor Who fans, the show undoubtedly knows its own audience and caters for them admirably. But don't mistake that as the show just pandering to a children's audience with bright colours and loud noise. Yes it entertains, but it also treats them respectfully and deals with themes that will resonate with them. When originally watching the show, I was slightly younger than characters like Luke, Clyde and Rani, but I remember being able to relate with them. Luke in particular was a character I could relate to – someone who started the show regularly feeling out of place and unable to fit in, even with friends. As the series progressed, Luke and other characters would become more confident and go on to do greater things, and it felt rewarding to see this happen. It's a solid depiction of life at a young age, and children will feel right at home watching the show.

 

However, I'm getting a bit too serious, so let's not forget that the show balances its mature side out by being wholly entertaining and fun at the same time. It's always cheerful, action-packed and with its heart in the right place. This applies to Elisabeth Sladen too, who returns to the role of Sarah Jane Smith effortlessly. In the first series alone, there's a moment where Sarah Jane has just pulled off a heist, but is being pursued by a security guard on a motorbike. Using the sonic lipstick, she destroys the bike, throwing the rider off, and tells him “Hope that didn't sting too much...”. Is it any wonder why Sarah Jane is the quintessential companion? As fun and energetic the show is in general, there's also the occasional time where it likes to get a bit spooky and creepy, especially with stories like The Day Of The Clown, The Eternity Trap and The Nightmare Man. One way or another, these stories play around with childhood fears, be it creepy clowns, creepy haunted houses, or in the case of The Nightmare Man, creepy nightmares. The result is a very effective fifty minutes of child-friendly horror. Now obviously The Sarah Jane Adventures isn't working off as big a budget as its parent show, but it still looks pretty good. The CGI work is solid, the prosthetics work on aliens like the Trickster or General Kudlak looks really good, as does the direction, and even the music impresses (though I suppose that's to be expected with Murray Gold as the composer). For a show aimed at children, it manages to attract some reasonably big names as well, including actors such as Jane Asher, Bradley Walsh, Russ Abbot, Samantha Bond, Nigel Havers and more showing up in guest roles.

 

Compared to its fellow spin-off, the more adult Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures is understandably able to establish effective and stronger links with its parent show, even at times dealing with some of its unresolved plot threads. For example, the show makes a recurring villain out of the 8ft farting green aliens, the Slitheen, and needless to say they are far more suited to a CBBC show then they were on Doctor Who. They are further joined by familiar faces such as the Alliance of Shades, the Judoon, the Graske, as well as a Sontaran. Friendly faces put in an appearance too and are here to defend the Earth, including everyone's favourite robot dog K-9. Series 3 sees an appearance from David Tennant's Doctor, while Matt Smith shows up in the next series. Here it was surprising to see just how well Russell T Davies could write for Matt Smith's Doctor. At the age of about ten, trust me when I say it was a total fanboy moment to see the Doctors appear in the show. But looking back now, what surprises me most about the show's links to Doctor Who, is that it also pays tribute to the classic era of the show. Enemy Of The Bane saw Nicholas Courtney's last televised appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, while Death Of The Doctor saw the return of Katy Manning as Jo Grant. Both were beautiful tributes to two of Doctor Who's best characters. It also lets us know just how important the producers of The Sarah Jane Adventures regarded the show to be, if they were willing to use such iconic characters.

 

Although the show clearly respects its Doctor Who origins, it's still certainly able to stand on its own two feet and become self-sustaining. With time, the show even develops and relies on some of its own recurring features and faces, such as Androvax or the Bane. By far the most noteworthy is the Trickster, who while mentioned in Doctor Who, had never been seen on screen before. The Trickster makes for quite a powerful and imposing adversary, who could probably even get away with appearing in an episode of Torchwood. I suppose it goes to show that Sarah Jane isn't just left on Earth with the easy tasks. But not only is The Sarah Jane Adventures self-sustaining, it even creates some absolute gems of stories along the way. Instalments such as The Last Sontaran, The Temptation and Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith, as well as Death Of The Doctor are not just great children's entertainment, they're some of the best recent things to come out of the Whoniverse. For me, the Series 4 finale Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith, is the absolute standout. It's the best story the show produced, some of the best children's entertainment in recent times, and easily trumps plenty of Doctor Who stories that came out in that same year.

 

The last thing left to discuss is the sad demise of the show. Following a long battle with cancer, in April 2011, Elisabeth Sladen tragically passed away. Her death was mourned by many (I clearly remember being heartbroken by the news), and the producers of the show knew full well that it was the end for The Sarah Jane Adventures. The fifth series of the show was never completed, and only half of it had been filmed. However, the last three stories were released some months later, and even introduced a new character that would become Sarah Jane's adopted daughter, Sky. I've become aware that Sky didn't prove popular with viewers, but I can't help thinking that it isn't exactly fair to judge the character. Sky only appeared in three stories and never had the intended time to develop. It's also testament to the popularity of the show that it had reached its fifth series, and such a new, important character was introduced – that decision isn't made unless producers are confident that the show has a decent future. Series 5 is noticeably incomplete, and the stories we get aren't some of the show's best. However, I can't exactly criticize it for that when such a situation was unavoidable. If anything, we as viewers should be grateful they were ever released, and regardless of opinion, the last scene of The Man Who Never Was is a beautiful and fitting tribute to the amazing woman that was Elisabeth Sladen. For as long as there's a Doctor Who fan in the world, she will never be forgotten.

 

To summarize, The Sarah Jane Adventures is an underrated television series that will appeal to the new, young generation, and raise a smile among those who grew up watching her adventures with the Doctor in the 70s. It peaks around its third and fourth series, and proves that children's TV shouldn't be just pandering loud noises, but should balance fun with intelligence and relate to its audience. There may be occasional duds (The Mark Of The Beserker and The Mad Woman In The Attic aren't particularly great), but generally speaking, this is Doctor Who's most consistent spin-off. Torchwood may have been more popular, and with a bigger audience, but there were times where Torchwood's quality could be all over the place, whereas The Sarah Jane Adventures rarely disappoints. This is a colourful, joyful and adventurous series that ensures Elisabeth Sladen's legacy will never be forgotten.

The Sarah Jane Adventures



9/10