The Sarah Jane Adventures:
The series consists of 5 2-Part episodes; not including the pilot episode
("Invasion of the Bane") which aired New Year's Day 2007.
As of late July 2007, the series had wrapped filming, and though the series hadn't
aired yet, one of the show's producers (Julie Gardner) was hoping for a second season.
Though I've also read veiled references to trouble behind the scenes that might imply
that the series will not be renewed for another season.
Air Date: The series began airing Monday September 24, 2007.
"we want to do more Sarah Jane, and we're very much hoping that Elisabeth Sladen
will come back for more and we'll start developing season two very soon." - Julie Gardner
"We're talking about a second series now, although, as with anything in this day
and age, it depends on how it performs with the audience - and rightly so. There
are many other stories out there that we want to tell..." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
It's been said that there will be no major references to Torchwood in the main series, but
there will be several more references to Doctor Who themed material, including but not
limited to The Brig (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) & UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence
Taskforce).
Here's a breakdown of what we know about the episodes
that comprise The Sarah Jane Adventures:
01 Invasion of the Bane
Pilot episode that aired on New Year's Day 2007.
The pilot set up the new series well, introducing new characters
while referencing older ones, and clearly setting itself within the
known Whoniverse, with references to Doctor Who & Torchwood.
It's been revealed that though K-9 appears in the pilot episode, he will not be returning
during the series run, except for a rumored minor appearance. This is because the owner
of the K-9 character is creating a spin-off series for the character, that won't be directly
related to the previous shows.
It's also been revealed that the character of Kelsey will not return in the series, but will
be replaced by a character named Clyde.
01 Revenge of the Slitheen, Part I
02 Revenge of the Slitheen, Part II
Written by Gareth Roberts
Directed by Alice Troughton
Filming took place in & around Cardiff in April / May 2007.
Both parts of this story aired on September 24, 2007.
A 14 year old boy named Clyde will be introduced;
he serves as a replacement for Kelsey (from "Invasion of
the Bane"), who will not be returning for the main series.
Maria, Luke & Clyde realize that all is not as it seems on
their first day at their new school. The food keeps going off,
there's a funny smell and the new technology block is hiding
some dark secrets. They soon find out that the Slitheen have
disguised themselves as teachers as part of their deadly plan
which threatens the future of Earth. Will Sarah Jane and the
gang be able to stop them all before it's too late?
There were many references to past Doctor Who episodes,
including "Aliens of London", "World War Three", "Boom Town",
"School Reunion", "The Satan Pit", & "Love & Monsters". There
was also a computer graphic that recalled "Invasion of the Bane"
and the Torchwood episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts".
03 Eye of the Gorgon, Part I
04 Eye of the Gorgon, Part II
Written by Phil Ford
Directed by Alice Troughton
Filming took place in & around Cardiff in April / May 2007.
Part I aired on October 1, 2007.
Part II aired on October 8, 2007.
Involves a group of mysterious nuns.
And obviously a Gorgon. ;-0)
"It features a slightly bizarre group of women who go around dressed
as nuns but it's much campier and more overblown - it's less rooted in
everyday life. It's probably the most effects-heavy of all the episodes,
because it's quite out there." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
Part I features references to The Sontarans; aliens that were introduced in
the same episodes of Doctor Who that introduced Sarah Jane as well. The
Sontarans are set to return in Doctor Who Season 4.
Also in Part I, Clyde mentions that won't be growing old; that he will instead
have his brain put inside a metal suit, which sounds like a vague reference to
the Cybermen. Clyde would have most likely seen the the Cybermen at this
point as they invaded our world in 2007 ("Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday"),
and this series takes place in 2009.
Yet again, in Part I, the explanation given to Clyde by Sarah Jane & Mr. Smith
concerning hauntings is the same given by Jack in the Torchwood episode:
"The Ghost Machine".
05 Warriors of the Kudlax, Part I
06 Warriors of the Kudlax, Part II
Written by Phil Gladwin
Directed by Charles Harper
Filming took place in & around Cardiff in June / July 2007.
Said to involve Sarah Jane "fighting the villainous Mr. Grantham,
and his boss Kudlack, and his boss The Mistress" - Russell T. Davies.
Stomping militaristic monsters? "Yeah, you've got it," Sladen confirms.
"And they weren't green screen. It's a new monster and we're off into
space in that one. The boys loved that one, they really did."
"That is more of a classic Sci-Fi story, in the sense that there's laser
gunfire and running around and being pursued by dark suited guards
and things. It's more in the mould of Star Wars." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
07 Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane? Part I
08 Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane? Part II
Written by Gareth Roberts
Directed by Graeme Harper
Filming took place in & around Cardiff during June 2007.
"There is one villainous character that does come back in episode seven.
Doctor Who fans will recognize this character, but it is not a particularly
big feature." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
It's possible that the character that Matt is referring to is the Graske, who
appeared in a special interactive mini-episode on Christmas day, 2005. You
can still experience this episode online here. The Graske WILL be appearing
on the Sarah Jane Adventures; it's just not confirmed to appear in this episode.
We learn the secrets of Sarah's pre-Doctor past, discovering what made
her into a journalist, and one with an interest in the bizarre. There is
however one significant omission: Sarah Jane's aunt and guardian Lavinia,
played by the late Mary Wimbush in K-9 & Company.
"It does touch upon Sarah's childhood and one childhood friend in particular
and a tragedy that has taken place in her past that comes up from the meddling
of a particular evil alien character called The Trickster. He sort of exists to create
chaos. We hope it has a flavor of 'Back to the Future', the idea that you can have
alternate realities where you see how characters could have developed with
different influences." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
09 The Lost Boy, Part I
10 The Lost Boy, Part II
Written by Phil Ford
Directed by Charles Martin
"That is a fitting and surprising climax to the series where various twists
happen." - SJA producer Matthew Bouch
The season finale takes us back to Luke's origins as an artificial creation,
and you shouldn't think we learnt all about it in "Invasion of the Bane".
"Yes, there's a lot more," Sladen reveals, "a lot more than that. It's quite
multi-dimensional that one. You've got a lot to think of, his past life, this life,
things like that."
The Slitheen & K-9 return in these episodes.
Beyond Season 1:
Season 1 broke ratings records, and it's been said that the writers have begun
writing season 2, and want the show to happen, but the series has NOT been
confirmed yet.
"I could not be more pleased by the success of The Sarah Jane Adventures,
because frankly it's marvelous, isn't it? We hope it's coming back, we don't
know for definite. We're preparing for it. We're writing scripts. Liz Sladen
is very excited, we're raring to go. So hope and pray that it does return,
because I love that show and I think it should run and run." - Russell T. Davies
There have however been rumors that Sarah Jane might pop up in Season 4
of Doctor Who. I had thought these rumors, which also paired her with
Captain Jack, Rose, Martha, Donna & K-9, to be too over the top. Well it's since
been confirmed that Jack, Martha & Rose will appear - so maybe Sarah Jane
& K-9 will as well!
"Yes, we're doing 24 episodes; I think we star end of March." - Lis Sladen on SEASON 2!!!
It was later revealed that the original intent was to do 2 12 episode seasons back to back,
but they decided to just go with 1 season at a time - but we'll still be getting 12 more episodes.
She will also be appearing in Season 4 of Doctor Who!!! ;-0)
Sarah Jane, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson & Clyde Langer are all mentioned in Doctor Who 4x11:
"Turn Left". Sarah Jane, Luke Smith & Mr. Smith all appear in Doctor Who 4x12: "The Stolen
Earth". Sarah Jane appears in Doctor Who 4x13: "Journey's End".