SJA: Whatever happened to Sarah Jane?

It's good to see the Sarah Jane and Maria show in full swing!

Certainly not the Luke and Clyde show. Just how quickly did Gareth Roberts get rid of Luke? And, frankly, when he came back and delivered that awful line of technobabble, just made you all the more glad he had been missing.

No, not the most original storyline (someone's missing and no-one can remember them), but the inclusion of Ashley Yates made it more interesting. And was it just me or did Jane Asher look a lot like a blonder Elisabeth Sladen? There were moments when I thought it was simply ES in a different make-up job. Anyways, the point is, pinning everything on letting one particular thirteen year old girl die over another is a horrific image for children and will scar them mentally for years to come. Nice one, Gareth!
(Really, when you think about it, the Trickster had to go to a lot of work in order to erase Sarah Jane but still keep the timeline safe enough for the earth to be the same as before. Not only the current SJA adventures but also all her past episodes with the Doctor, as well as arrange for the earth being unable to defend itself in other ways, e.g. the Torchwood laser cannon as in The Christmas Invasion. One wonders if there wasn't a simpler way...maybe just short circuit Mr. Smith at an inopportune moment?)

In this episode, the acting plaudits go to Yasmin Page for, as usual, her brilliant turn as Maria, but also Joseph Millson for his brilliant turn as her dad. He's especially great in the second episode when he has to pull off the "I know your secret" moments.

This story does make one wonder if the series would have been better without Luke or even Clyde. Unfortunately, the next set of episodes is all about Luke, so we won't find out.

[END]