Written by Phil Ford
Directed by Joss Agnew
The Sarah Jane Adventures returns with its weakest opener to date. At times you get the distinct impression that the writer, the producer and the director are trying too hard to be hip and cool, for the sake of the younger end of the Doctor Who fandom pool. Nevertheless, there’s still a great deal of fun to be had.
First of all, we have the Judoon, those wacky, grunting-and-rhyming space Rhinos first introduced in 2007. In this instance, the Judoon commanding officer is given FAR more personality than the faceless goons to which we were introduced in the Doctor Who episode Smith and Jones. He gets some good jokes (many of the highlights are Judoon-language arguments), and manages to create an interesting dynamic with the kids.
Secondly, Elisabeth Sladen is having a ridiculous amount of fun playing evil & possessed, skirting the fine line between malevolence and campiness with just the right amount of icy moustache-twirling…or, in this case, snake-tongue twitching. It’s not in the same league as her memorable turn as the Eldrad-possessed stone-cold killer of 1976’s The Hand of Fear, but for a show aimed at the younger set, it’s suitably creepy…and for the adults, its suitably entertaining.
Unfortunately, too many irritations crop up to make this a less-than-stellar season opener. The new repetitive prologue simply takes up air time (though Sarah’s opening narration is nicely done…proving yet again that brevity is the soul of wit), and there was an odd & clunky attempt to re-establish the series, in a way that season two managed to avoid. Throw in too many chases, and too many farcical antics with Rani’s parents (which manages to diminish their dignity somewhat), and the end result is a story that is less than the sum of its parts.
Still, in a Doctor Who gap year, even an average return to the Whoniverse is more than welcome. I just wish there had been more substance to this opening blast of style.
