A Review of The Waters of Mars

Been too short on time to write a proper review yet so here's a short one:

• It has freaky as monsters.  Personally I think they've hit the limit of what's acceptable for a 7pm audience.
• It's atmospheric and as thematically dark as I'd like them to go.
• Good plotting.
• Waters of Mars looks like it was made in Hollywood, even though a Dr. Who special has about 1/4 the hourly budget of a b-grade Hollywood film.
• There's just enough humour to break the ice (no pun intended)
• The Ice Warriorssssssss get a mention.  Yay for more Old Who references!
• Good characters.  Adelaide is a great guest character.
• It's a one-note story really, as the whole thing revolves around the "fixed point in history" idea from The Fires of Pompeii, although this takes the idea further and is so much DARKER (as if 20 000 people being buried alive under burning ash wasn't dark enough...).  Even though it's a one-note story, the script is so well put together that it hardly matters.
• The only real detractor is some annoying and intrusive music.

Not quite up there with greats like Human Nature and the Moffat stories but this is one very good episode.

5/5

I Don't Believe You: A Review of The Gift

The Slitheen are back (for about two minutes) before being finished off by the Blathereen, another family from Raxicoricofallipatorious. The Blathereen give Sarah Jane some racqweed as a token of appreciation for her efforts in stopping The Slitheen. The racqweed could potentially end hunger on Earth forever, but can The Blathereen really be trusted?

I could've written this review in seven short words, "Nothing to see here people, move along".

The Gift is an average story if ever there was one. Asides from some very poor plotting and a highly amusing scene involving the Blathereen coming over for dinner nothing about these episodes stands out. The humour is definitely the strongest aspect of this story, but it's nowhere near as amusing as Prisoner of the Judoon.

For a story in which Luke almost dies The Gift falls pretty flat, as the dialogue doesn't have the sparkle or punch to drive home the seriousness of the situation. Liz Sladen and the others give it her best but the script just doesn't provide enough to work with.

The plot has more holes in it than a sieve and even the central premise is hopelessly flawed. The idea of the Blathereen giving Sarah Jane a deadly plant which ends up taking over Earth and killing everyone seems fine until you actually switch your brain on. Firstly, the Blathereen could simply have teleported the racqweed to Earth and it would have spawned anyway, so why send it via Sarah Jane? Which brings up the second major flaw in the plot. Using Sarah Jane to get it to Earth is just plain stupid, because the Blathereen ran the risk of her finding out that it was dangerous, or Sarah Jane going with her instincts and being cautious enough to keep the racqweed quarantined, which would have revealed how dangerous it was. Plus, handing the method by which you plan to conquer Earth to the one person who's saved Earth over and over probably isn't a good idea. Then again, Sarah Jane really doesn't seem to be herself this story.

Which brings me to the third major flaw with the plot. Sarah Jane needs to get shipped off into a retirement home after this episode because many of her actions are just plain stupid. She chooses not to quarantine an alien plant from potentially hostile aliens, then after they've almost killed the entire human race she gives them the benefit of the doubt and almost gets herself killed, again. Oh, and she falls for a trick that's so painfully obvious that I had trouble not screaming "NOOOOOOO!!!!! DON'T BELIEVE THEM!!!!!" at the screen.

The plot resolution is also far too convenient. I can see the scriptwriter Rupert Laight sitting there late at night thinking "I've totally painted myself into a corner. There's no way this plot can be resolved without something completely implausible. I know, "Saved by the bell!" I'll turn that stupid old joke about kids getting out of trouble because of the school bell ringing into a plot resolution!"  Which is exactly what happens.

And if that wasn't enough, the second plot resolution involving the Blathereen is also too convenient. But at least seeing the Blathereen exploding everywhere was disgusting enough to make me laugh.

I know I've spent most of this review trashing the plot (as if the plot wasn't trash to begin with) but The Gift isn't all bad.

There's some nice, flirting between Clyde and Rani (willl they end up together?  I hope so), as perviously mentioned there's enough humour to keep the story afloat and K9 gets in on the action.  Even so, these factors aren't enough to elevate The Gift past the very bottom of mediocrity.

A very average episode to finish off an otherwise excellent series.

3/5

P.S. This week's song is by Pink, or P!nk as she prefers to be known.

Crazy Love: A Review of Mona Lisa's Revenge

Luke, Rani and Clyde's art class wins the rare chance to see the Mona Lisa. However all isn't as it seems and the world's most famous painted lady wants to enact 500 years of pent up vengeance. Oh, and Luke gets in trouble for having a messy room.

Appreciating this story requires the viewer to accept the absurd idea that the Mona Lisa would be transported to London and then stored without a protective glass covering. Then again, this is a show about a trio of teenagers saving the world from alien monsters each week - so believing that the world's most famous painting would be transported in such a way shouldn't be too much trouble.

The strongest aspect of Mona Lisa's Revenge is the plot, which is surprisingly imaginative and holds up to a repeat viewing. The climax is particularly clever and should give fans of K9 a good smile. The revelations about how and why Lisa came to life after 500 years in canvas, as well as her intentions are slowly drawn out and sustain intrerest throughout most of the episode. However towards the end of epsidoe one the story falters as too much running around fills the gaps which really required more plot or character development.

Sarah Jane is almost a minor character in this story, however Liz Sladen gets some good material to work on and it's interesting, if somewhat upsetting, seeing Sarah Jane and Luke fighting.

An aspect that appears to be dividing opinion on this story is the acting. The actors playing Mr, Harding, Miss Trupp and Mona Lisa herself deliberately give over-the-top performances which many viewers found irritating. I wasn't bothered by this approach as a once-off as it helped make the story quite fun, as it did in Revenge of the Slitheen.

Mona Lisa's Revenge is a clever, inventive and funny episode only let down by some hammy acting and a script that falters towards the end of Episode One.

4/5

P.S. This week's song is by Michael Buble. I find it relevant because to me the idea of someone being in love with a painting is taking things a bit far!

Release Me - A review of The Eternity Trap

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BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! The Sarah Jane Adventures imitates Scooby Doo, as Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde try to uncover the truth behind one of Britain's most haunted houses. But there's no such thing as ghosts.

Or is there?

The most noticeable aspect of The Eternity Trap (asides from Luke's complete absence) is the impressively spooky atmosphere, which is really pushing the boundaries for a CBBC programme. We're treated to some chilling scenes of chalkboards writing on themselves, children's toys that move of their own accord and a barely seen monster that haunts the grounds. I can understand some parents having reservations about letting their younger kids watch this story, but the actors play it quite well and their performances should provide a reasonably amount of reassurance for the younger viewers.

The direction, lighting and effects are top notch and asides from a few brief effects shots the majority of the eye candy comes from Alice Troughton's sublime direction.

As usual, Clyde provides most of the humour, which is particularly funny in the parts where he's trying to make fun of the ghosts. The guest characters of Professor Rivers and Toby work exceptionally well, particularly Toby. Although never explicitly stated Toby appears to have Asperger's Syndrome and there is a clever explanation why Toby, with a brilliant scientific mind, is intent on uncovering the truth about the paranormal.

The villain of this story is Erasmus Darkening, a marvelously creepy character who's true motives aren't known until nearly the climax. Which brings me to the next point - the plot. The plot is one of The Eternity Trap's biggest strengths and it's biggest weakness. There's a wonderful, layered mystery that slowly unfolds as the truth behind the ghosts is revealed. Although the climax is reasonably well explained, viewers need to be careful to listen closely otherwise they'll end up wondering what happened, as the explanations to key plot points are contained in a few lines of dialogue. The dénouement also gives a few vague explanations and leaves the viewers wondering about the final fate of all the people whom Erasmus Darkening kidnapped.

The Eternity Trap is a very strong story but a more coherent plot and just a tad more humour would've made a noticeable improvement.

4/5

P.S. This week's song is an unremarkable piece of dance-pop. The title is appropriate and I'm trying to stick to chart material for Sarah Jane stories, which are the only reasons I chose it.

A review of K9 - Regeneration

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Bob Baker never claimed that K9 would be anything more than a children's show. Ten years ago a clip of test shots for an earlier, computer generated cartoon version made an appearance at a Dr.Who convention. The audience sat there embarassed, watching as their favourite metal mutt appeared on screen in a show clearly aimed at five year-olds.

I'm pleased to say that the final, broadcast version of K9 won't elicit a sense of embarassment as the proposed cartoon version did, but this is clearly a show aimed squarely at children. Based on this first episode I expect K9 will be a hit with kids up to the age of ten, but interest will likely diminish as they enter their preteen phase.

The biggest problem with Regeneration is the overly busy script. In only 23 minutes a significant amount of world building takes place, as well as the introduction of five main characters, all of whom have complex backstories. As a result the script is too rushed to develop an adequate sense of drama and engage the audience in this world and its characters, let alone develop a decent storyline, and the ending leaves too many plot threads hanging. As the credits rolled, I sat there thinking, "Is that it?!!"

The acting is is generally adequate but unremarkable, and the Australian actors’ British accents are unconvincing to say the least.

Despite these shortcomings K9 is a slick production as the musical score, direction, set design and visual effects are of a high standard. The only gripe I have in this regard is with the  alien Jixen, which are clearly actors lumbering around in unconvincing rubber suits and could have come straight from Power Rangers.

The world building is handled quite well, as we're introduced to a dystopic future where the government exploits fear of aliens to mimpose draconian laws which keep the population under strict control.  This is pertinent theme in the post September 11, 2001 world and one that I look forward to seeing explored in more detail as the series progresses, along with the backstories of all the characters, which at first glance appear quite interesting.

Professor Gryffen fulfils the Doctorish role in the same way Sarah Jane does in The Sarah Jane Adventures, however he also has a tragic backstory involving his family.  Gryffen's assistant Darius fulfils the role of the anti-hero and there's a love-hate relationship between Starkey and Jorgie, both teenagers out to expose the government but with very different backgrounds.  The pitifully brief introductions to these characters really stops this episode from creating enough dramatic gravity to make the viewer want to see more, which is a shame because the scant backstory and character development is actually quite interesting.

K9 himself almost feels out of place and awkward amongst the human characters but it's clear the writers are trying to make him an actual character and not merely a get out of jail free card.

K9 appears briefly in his original Dr. Who design, but after self destructing in order to destroy several Jixen his remains then "regenerate" into the newer version.  Due to the fact that Bob Baker only owns the rights to K9 and not the Doctor, TARDIS etc this is an unofficial spin-off, and  unlike in Sarah Jane there won't be any crossover or mention of The Doctor.  Nevertheless this is clearly meant to be set in the same fictional universe as Dr. Who and it's up to the fans to speculate as to how it fits in.  

Regeneration is a difficult episode to rate, because as an after school/Saturday morning TV show it's a cut above much of the dross served up in the children's timeslot and deserves 4/5.

But compared to Rose or Invasion of the Bane this really is a poor pilot episode and I can't give it more than 2/5.

I hope the series improves, as there's clearly much potential to be realised and K9 has plenty of appeal as a children's show.

Believe in Love - A review of The Wedding of Sarah Jane

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"You two, with me. Spit spot!"

- David Tennant's final words as The Doctor.

It's the story everyone's been waiting for! After being mentioned for the past three years The Doctor finally makes an appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures. But more on that later. WARNING: Minor spoilers. Read at your own risk...

Sarah Jane has been taking off on some secret errands and Luke, Clyde and Rani are determined to find out what she's up to. Has Sarah Jane been secretly saving the world? Working with U.N.I.T.? Or even something as simple as having tea with The Brigadier? No, it turns out there's a man in her life. But in a world of time travel and alien invasions, is all that it seems? And can Sarah's Prince Charming really be trusted?

This story opens with a pleasant mix of mystery and humour as Luke, Clyde and Rani  use Mr. Smith and K9 to find out what Sarah has been up to. Considering Mr. Smith essentially performed K9's function while the metal mutt was unavailable the attic now feels a bit crowded with two supercomputers competing for attention, which results in some hilarious banter between K9 and a very jealous Mr. Smith! The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith features humour which would've been at home in Prisoner of the Judoon seamlessly mixed with the dramatic intensity of Mad Woman in the Attic and stands as both one of the funnier and more serious Sarah Jane stories.

Despite a being a different spin on the basic plot of The Temptation of Sarah Jane the plot is quite engaging and interesting to watch unfold. The pacing is noticeably slower than average as there's relatively little action, or indeed any clear threat until nearly the end of Episode One. This isn't a flaw however, as Episode One has a genuinely unsettling feel to it because it's clear that only half of what's going on is being portrayed onscreen, leaving the viewer with this constant feeling of unease about the unfolding events. Although this wouldn't work for every story it's an interesting change and in Episode Two the pace picks up and the story rockets towards the conclusion.

The inclusion of The Doctor in this story works quite well, and in many ways this feels like a Dr.Who episode featuring Sarah Jane and the gang, as The Doctor has been trying to thwart The Trickster's plan for some time before he actually appears on screen. David Tennant is brilliant as usual and lights up the screen in every scene, and works wonderfully with Luke, Clyde and Rani. The only criticism I have of this is the teaming up of the Doctor with Clyde for much of Episode Two. Having two of the biggest mouths in the universe competing on screen doesn't quite work and I can't help but feel giving The Doctor and Luke more screen time together would've enriched the story somewhat. There are also some nice references to classic Dr.Who stories, in particular the Key to Time, and some foreboding hints about the impending regeneration.

Anyone familiar with the previous Trickster stories is likely to see the plot resolution coming a mile away, but this is a fitting but heartbreaking resolution in which Sarah Jane loses everything she was hoping for at the start of the story.

The dénouement in the attic is played beautifully, and the scene where Luke, Clyde and Rani are allowed a look inside the TARDIS is a pure magic.

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith isn't the masterpiece, best ever Sarah Jane Adventures story that many people hoped for. But it's nevertheless a thoroughly delightful, yet heartbreaking story.

5/5

P.S. I've gone retro with this week's song, an 80's power ballad by old-school German metal/hard rock band The Scorpions. The film clip is pretty laughable now and has dated considerably due to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe (and the tight leather pants), but it's The Scorpions so the song still rocks!

It's Your Life: A review of The Mad Woman in the Attic.

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"Playtime is beginning."

After a light series opener, The Sarah Jane Adventures serves up this gritty character piece, which is as one of the best stories yet. WARNING: Minor spoilers. Read at your own risk.

The Mad Woman in the Attic opens in the year 2056, when an elderly Rani lives at 13 Bannermen Rd, and is known as "the mad old woman of Bannerman Rd". At some stage a tragedy of her own making took Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde from her and she now spends her days in the attic, mourning their loss and grieving over some terrible mistake she made many years ago. In the present, Rani is contacted by an old friend who asks for her help to find an alien who is trapped in an abandoned theme park and as you can imagine, the present and future plots are separate strands of the same story.

Mad Woman in the Attic is primarily Rani's story as it focuses on her finding her place in the world and more importantly, as a member of Sarah Jane's group. For the first time I feel that she was a fully-fledged member of the team instead of a temporary replacement for Maria and Anjili Mohindra gives a qualified performance that manages to carry the story.

The plot involves a fair bit of timey-whimey goodness, and is the most complex I've seen in a kid's show since Russell T Davies' Century Falls or the final episode of Steven Moffat's Press Gang. The plot twists and turns like a rollercoaster throughout the second episode in particular, as things that seemed sinister turn out to be benign, and others that seemed innocent end up having devastating consequences. The underlying moral story is simple but one that people seldomn follow - saying things you don't mean to the ones you love can cause a massive amount of damage. Words are generally more powerful than people realise, and are not something to be taken lightly. It was also good to see a story that didn't involve the team saving the world. By making the threat more intimate the emotional impact of this story is actually heightened and in my opinion more stories should take this storytelling route.

As well as sporting a dense plot, Mad Woman is also one of the scarier Sarah Jane episodes and writer Joe Lidster effectively builds a sense of menace throughout much of the story. Until three quarters of the way through a genuinely creepy atmosphere permeates in almost every scene but nevertheless, this is neatly balanced out by the upbeat, hopeful and quite frankly beautiful ending.

The alien-of-the-week is Eve, a playful but potentially deadly time sensitive alien who is in fact a refugee of the Dalek's attempted genocide against her people during the Time War. Eve has the ability to see people's pasts and also show them their future and her childlike playfulness and inability to understand the consequences of her actions drives much of the story's middle act. Underneath this part of the story is a subtextual warning about power being handled to people who haven't yet developed the maturity to use it wisely.

And as well as the mention of the Time War there's another scene which will make fans of Classic Who squeal with delight, as Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker appear briefly in a flashback!

In spite of all this story's strengths the plot makes little sense in many parts. Why did Samuel Lloyd leave Luke the note, and assuming he believed that his intentions were benign why was he so sneaky in the first place? It worked as a dramatic device to build the important sense of menace, but once the twists were revealed the entire buildup seemed quite silly. Also, the budget cut is quite obvious in the scenes set inside Eve's ship, as the set is clearly a few pieces of set dressing surrounded by curtains. Even so, these flaws are reasonably well covered up by effective lighting and camerawork so the production team deserve some recognition for stretching the limited budget.

Despite these few flaws, The Mad Woman in the Attic is an excellent piece of drama, even compared to adult television, and it stands as and one of the best Sarah Jane stories yet. This story just makes it into the top spot.

5/5

P.S. This week's song is an upbeat piece of pop-rock by Christian singer Francesca Battistelli.

P.P.S. The upcoming Dr.Who special, The Waters of Mars is also set in 2056 and promises to be one of the scariest stories yet. After seeing the water monsters on set the production team realised they were slightly too scary for kids so they had to be modified. Even so, this trailer was enough to give me the shivers, so any kids who find Dr.Who too scary had best not watch this trailer!

Still Standing: A Review of Prisoner of the Judoon

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Baw ha ha ha!!! Well that was a hoot.

Series Three of The Sarah Jane Adventures hits the ground running with this rollicking adventure as Sarah Jane, Luke, Rani and Clyde try to stop an alien criminal who escaped from The Judoon,from destroying the world with microscopic robots. On top of that, the team has to stop the Judoon from killing anyone who gets in their way as they try to apprehend their escaped prisoner, Androvax.



Without a doubt, the strongest aspect of this story is the comedy. Writer Phil Ford treats the audience to hilarious scenes of a Judoon commandeering a police car, accosting a motorist for having his stereo up too loud and then a madcap chase where Rani has to avoid her parents who are inadvertently brought into the action. Although Haresh and Gita are only included to break the story up and provide a bit of light comedy they're a welcome addition to the story. Prisoner of the Judoon is the most comedic story yet, which makes up for the fact that it’s lighter-than-average on the drama.

Another highlight is Elizabeth Sladen playing the villain for much of the story, as Sarah Jane’s body is taken over by Androvax. Sladen is clearly having fun playing a villain and at times she can be quite creepy.

Visually, Prisoner of the Judoon is up to the high standards we’ve come to expect and I was particularly impressed by some really effective camera work. However, anyone with a little knowledge of television production will spot the budget cuts. For example, scenes shot on the streets have no extras, The Androvax is rarely seen except when possessing someone and the number of effects shots have been reduced slightly, despite the fact that computer generated effects continue to become more cost effective due to cheaper and faster processors and improved software.

Characterisation in this episode is a bit thin, as Luke is reduced to being “the nice kid”, Clyde “the wisecracker” and Rani becomes a generic teenage heroine, although she's finally starting to feell like a member of the team.  Nevertheless it’s clear this story is meant to be little more than a fun romp and at this it succeeds admirably.

The only other criticism I have is they're over egging the pudding with all the "the Universe is an amazing place, you just never know" etc etc.  I know this is a kid's show but it's getting corny and repetitive.

In my opinion, Prisoner of the Judoon ties with The Last Sontaran as the strongest series opener, although Judoon is definitely the most fun.

4/5

P.S. Next week’s story, The Mad Woman in the Attic is a character piece focusing on Rani, and it looks kinda spooky!


P.P.S. This week’s song is by The Hilltop Hoods, an Australian hip-hop group. I can’t stand rap and hip-hop so I don’t like this song at all but the title is fitting, because The Sarah Jane Adventures is doing well to still be going, despite the fact that it’s CBBC’s highest rating programme. Unfortunately the budget at CBBC is quite sick and The Sarah Jane Adventures suffered a significant budget cut. Russell T Davies and company decided that it would be better to not make Series Three at all than turn The Sarah Jane Adventures into a cheap travesty. But thanks to some clever wheeing-and-dealing much of the budget was able to be sourced from other departments and we’ve got 12 more episodes of Sarah Jane this year. Preproduction has started on Series Four but whether or not it actually gets made is dependent on funding.