‘Look what you can do, Mother Christmas.’ Coming off the back of an unloved Series Six, I think I was sniffy about this at the time. Seen again, a lot of it is perfect Christmas Special material: a refreshingly straightforward plot, filled with magic and with a happy ending that rounds off the year’s story arc on a positive note.
Continue reading‘I expected high class industrial spies, not Mumsnet.’ With this episode, The Sarah Jane Adventures overtakes Blake’s 7 to be the third-longest-running UK science fiction TV show. This wasn’t designed as the final episode, but its messages – that teamwork, tolerance and equality will triumph over greed, oppression and self-orientation – are as good as any final statements. Stopping a people-smuggling operation, freeing enslaved aliens and bringing down an evil corporation are all in a day’s work.
‘Finally, face to face. It’s the clash of the nerds.’ Luke returns to Bannerman Road in time to meet his new “sister” and join his mum investigating the mysterious Joseph Serf, a Steve Jobs type responsible for the new wonder-computer the ‘SerfBoard’. In her final story, Sarah Jane’s journalist credentials are reforged – she’s one of the country’s best, and, as she reminds Clyde and Rani, it’s this that pays for her lavish lifestyle. We even get to meet her first editor, the lascivious Lionel Carson (Peter Bowles, bringing more “gentleman of a certain age” stylishness to the show in the wake of Nigel Havers).
‘The most alien world of all is right here. And no-one knows. Because they don’t want to.’ After bumping my gums about a perceived infantilisation of the show in Sky, I’m eating my words. This is as pointed as anything in Series Four, with a clear message about attitudes towards the homeless and an ending that shrugs off the Native American curse plot to focus on the fate of Ellie. It’s downbeat, suggesting that Sarah Jane’s magic computer and sonic lipstick aren’t enough to fix all injustices or social problems. And, although it’s pitched as a second chance for Ellie, I’m not sure how much Phil Ford intended the idea of a young woman being taken by a mystery man in a lorry to be a comforting fate.
‘Every one of my friends has been turning against me.’ This is more like it: as dark and disturbing as anything this show has done, as a curse turns Clyde’s friends and family against him, until he has nothing left. What’s impressive is how brutal it is – none of it’s played for laughs, there’s a real viciousness in Sarah Jane and Rani’s hatred of Clyde, and resigned, determined disappointment from his mother. Clyde can’t joke his way out of it, or appeal to his friends.
‘It was supposed to make her laugh. Boy, does this feel familiar.’ Everyone has to explain things to Sky in a very simple way, which has the effect of making this feel much more simplistic than the previous series. And knowing that Sky’s adventures will end in four episodes’ time makes it hard to invest much in her as a character. As a result, this is only mildly entertaining as we wait, once again, for the Bannerman Road gang to reconvene at a factory and get everyone to play nice.
‘She is no child. She is a weapon.’ The Sarah Jane Adventures return for a final, curtailed season that was broadcast after the death of Elisabeth Sladen. This casts a shadow across these episodes, although none of that’s evident either in the script, which sets this up as a fresh start for the team, or in Sladen’s performance, which is as energetic as ever. She’s joined again by Rani and Clyde, and Mr Smith.
‘A genius like me needs better than this old trash.’ A four-minute children’s scriptwriting competition winner starring Matt Smith and Nickolas Grace. Seen as a story it barely makes sense – the Doctor drops a fez through a time window (very Day of the Doctor, that) and Albert Einstein picks it up and appears in the TARDIS, turns into an Ood with a terrifying message (‘Death is the only answer’), then turns back when he walks into a squiggly energy field. Meanwhile, a green slime creature crawls towards the console like the Master’s jellied snake from the TV Movie. Baffling, although still more coherent than most of Series Six (I jest).
‘Hell. In high heels.’ So, here it is, the grand finale to the series-long arc. Focusing on the positives: the idea of history collapsing into a single minute is neatly done, making the most of returning cameos and existing CGI (the Torchwood pterodactyl, presumably), plus including references to Rose Tyler, Captain Jack and the Brigadier to make this feel genuinely big tent. Some of the other big ideas are equally audacious, particularly the Silence referring specifically to the Doctor’s silence. Steampunk London looks great. Amy’s final confrontation with Kovarian is overdue but needed. ‘Pond, Amelia Pond’ is superb.
‘You blew them up with love.’ The 11th Doctor is on his End of Time stye farewell tour, dropping in on old friends before his inescapable fate at Lake Silencio. No wonder it’s called Closing Time. I like how Roberts handles this, largely avoiding maudlin introspection, but never letting the audience forget that this is the Doctor’s last adventure. Fittingly, it riffs on the first episode of the revived show – this isn’t Henriks, but it might as well be. Even the open is the same – as Shona stays behind in the shop while her colleagues dash off, to finish up. Like Rose, she’s confronted in the dark by something frightening and alien – but the Doctor isn’t there to take her hand and tell her to run. It’s a taster of what the world will soon be like without him, and a perfect scene setting.
Next Time... 