Warmly received by audiences and critics alike late last year, it’s interesting to note that of the three programs currently flying the flag in the Doctor Who franchise it is The Sarah Jane Adventures which appears to have undergone the least ‘retooling’ for its’ second series. One of the most flat-out enjoyable aspects of the Doctor Who renaissance, Sarah and her team of teen investigators returned on Monday, kicking off with part one of Phil Ford’s The Last Sontaran, and it really is a fabulous doozy of an episode.
The new series begins with a truly beautiful little scene in which Sarah Jane and Maria gaze up at the night sky and wax lyrical about their wonderful adventures, before cutting to a radio telescope where scientist Professor Skinner and his daughter Lucy are visited by strange extraterrestrial lights. The main plot then unfolds quickly as Sarah and the gang investigate said lights, discover Skinner and Lucy (temporarily) missing, discover a distraught Lucy, search for her father, find he has become a hypnotised drone, discover a Sontaran ship in the nearby forest, and run for their lives from an angry Mr Potato Head.
The regulars are all re-introduced quickly and with the minimum of fuss, and all are absolutely fantastic – it’s genuinely difficult to single out a regular as particularly good, because they all are. There is a genuine emotional depth to this show, and the first episode is brimming over with examples – Maria is upset and conflicted by the possibility of moving to America and leaving Sarah’s world behind, Clyde and Luke’s friendship is obviously stronger than ever though Clyde’s ability to entice Luke into dangerous situations remains intact, and on a more subtle level we have Sarah’s obvious affection and concern for her young charges conflicting with her need to ‘use’ (and even manipulate) them in dangerous situations. Meanwhile Sarah’s abrupt hostility towards Maria upon hearing the news that they might be parting ways is both deeply shocking and completely understandable, and is a great example of how this show regularly and with casual ease does things beyond anything you would usually find in “childrens” television.
One small area of improvement on series one seems to have been in the show’s humour, which is a little more sophisticated and a little less crap here than in the past – and occasionally (gasp!) even funny. In particular, Clyde repeatedly baiting and insulting the Sontaran, whilst apparently oblivious to any danger this might be putting him in, is a real highlight.
The Sontaran himself, Kaagh, is a bit of an odd fish. On the one hand, the costume and prosthetics are every bit as wonderful as they appeared on-screen during series four of Doctor Who, and the characterisation is entirely authentic with Phil Ford’s scripts providing the archetypal Robert Holmes Sontaran, and actor Anthony O’Donnell giving a wonderful performance to match. On the other, O’Donnell does very little with the voice, resulting in a fearsome alien foe who sounds a lot like that nice bloke in the newsagents, or something. I mean, in this respect even Derek Deadman’s hissy cockney version was better!
One particularly noteworthy aspect is that this is very much a Sontaran whose motives and methods Sarah would recognise from her earlier experiences – a stranded survivor trying to find a way home is very much The Time Warrior’s Lynx, whilst Kaagh’s threats to use Clyde as test subject undoubtedly echoes The Sontaran Experiment. It’s little things like this which remind me of how fortunate we are to have the involvement of writers as exceptional and thoughtful as Phil Ford. So many moments in this episode show he is capable of great things – that pre-titles sequence, for instance, which not only reminds us of the close relationship between the two female leads ahead of their apparent falling out later in the episode, but also (by deliberately reflecting that relationship in the Skinner/Lucy scenes) makes us care about two guest characters who get barely three minutes of screen time. Plus of course, the idea that a children’s show should spend five minutes doing a slightly mental pisstake of Predator is wonderful.
Whilst it may be a budgetary requirement to borrow alien creatures from Doctor Who, it’s a little suprising to find the series riffing on emotional beats from the its’ parent. The scenes in which Sarah Jane realises she is dealing with a Sontaran (and then encounters one) are just a little too close in sentiment and tone to her scenes with Davros or Daleks earlier in the year, though the episode is so damn enjoyable and Elisabeth Sladen’s performance so good that it genuinely didn’t matter that’d I’d seen something so similar already.
There is really very little to criticise in the episode, though the fantastic breakneck pace of the first 15-20 minutes does sadly crash to a halt, in favour of Sarah Jane and Sontaran Commander Kaagh standing very still whilst laying out the basics of the plot in very slow and simple terms, and info-dumping for all they’re worth. Even here though the show is an absolute delight, as Clyde trades petty insults with a clearly exasperated Kaagh.
Far and away the least-best aspect in this episode is the somewhat perfunctory cliffhanger, which really seems like Ford had written 25 minutes and then remembered it was supposed to stop, but hey, we have to get to episode two somehow. And it has to be said that given the word ‘Sontaran’ is in the episode’s title, we spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to build up tension over what might be lurking in the woods. Erm…possibly a Sontaran, right?
An all-round great start to series two. It’s a shame those rumours of an appearance by David Tennant’s Doctor seem to be unfounded (mostly based around a shot in the trailer of someone’s vaguely Tennant-ish hair which is actually Professor Skinner actor Ronan Vibert) but nevermind. This show doesn’t need him anyway. It is that good.
Now, do I watch part two straight away on the CBBC channel, or be a good boy and wait? Hmmm…
Regards,
Marwood.
