The fourth series is generally regarded as "danger year" for a TV show. Only successful shows last this long, and any successful show is built around a good concept and a dynamic group of characters. This describes The Sarah Jane Adventures quite succinctly.
However after a few years the show's central concept has often been explored in every obvious way and the characters have also been fleshed out reasonably well. It's at this point that the writers and producers start scratching their heads, wondering how they can keep making the programme without retreading previous ground and starting to look repetitive.
If The Nightmare Man is any indicator of the quality of stories to expect this year then it appears that The Sarah Jane Adventures is avoiding the dreaded Fourth Year Syndrome remarkably well.
The story opens with Luke recording a monologue on a video camera, leaving a warning about someone called The Nightmare Man. This sets the tone for the story perfectly, and in true non-linear fashion the story then flashes back one month and shows events leading up to the fearful moment when Luke records his warning.
Joe Lidster has scripted a story that unfolds perfectly, with a clear sense of danger from the outset nicely wrapped in a mystery. Who is The Nightmare Man? Why is Luke so convinced the world is about to end? And why is it his fault? As the story unfolds the answers to all these questions are answered one by one.
The biggest strength of this story is the way the characters of Luke, Clyde and Rani are explored via their nightmares. In these dream sequences their darkest fears brought to life. Luke is terrified of being rejected by his Mum and friends. Four years after being adopted by Sarah Jane, he still feels like an outsider to the rest of humanity. Rani is desperate to make a successful career as a journalist but fears having to compromise her principles to attain success. And it turns out that the seemingly over confident Clyde is most afraid of growing up to become a nobody who works a dead end job. It's Series Four, and are the writers are having trouble finding something new to say about the characters? Not at all! This is one of the strongest character pieces in Sarah Jane Adventures yet.
The Nightmare Man himself is an wonderfully spooky character and I'm sure plenty of the six year-olds watching will have trouble sleeping after watching this story. Mr Smith explains The Nightmare Man's origin however I'd have preferred this left unexplained, or at least remain more mysterious than it was. Sometimes keeping the villains origins and nature ambiguous makes them even more usettling. The superb Dr. Who story Midnight springs to mind as an excellent example of this.
My only other gripe with this otherwise brilliant story is with the plot resolution. Yes, it makes sense and but it's not clearly explained just how The Nightmare Man is defeated. Scroll down past the spoiler warning at the end of this review to see an explanation.
The Nightmare Man is an outstanding start to Series Four and features a very clever plot, excellent villain, to notch characterisation and performances and flawless production values.
Don't miss this one.
5/5
P.S. This week's song is by New Zealand band The Naked and Famous. It has a very distinctive sound.
SPOILER WARNING!
What isn't made completely clear is that Luke realises that in a nightmare there's nothing to be afraid of except for fear itself. Once he realises this and builds up the confidence to face his fear the power of The Nightmare Man is broken.
