Sarah Jane Adventures: Episode 2.11/2.12

Nice first episode, but really spins its wheels in the second.

Wormwood is back, and with many surprises! Didn't expect her to be on the run, but its a slightly nice change from the usual. I say 'slightly' as the final revelation of part one kind of slips back into normal alien 'destroy all' mode. Although the surprise guest appearance at the end made up for it.

The second half then sits down and spends a lot of time with Wormwood blathering on and on about being a mother. And I mean really takes up a lot of time on the topic. Is there nothing else going on here? Okay, some minor stuff with the Sontarans, but ultimately it is just Samantha Bond espousing huge chunks of dialog.

Which she does well. Not her fault the script she got saddled with. The rest of the crew, aside from Tommy Knight, doesn't get a lot to do, with just one of them with Elizabeth Sladen to make sure she doesn't come across as a mad woman espousing her own dialog, but otherwise just standing there. Not that Tommy has a huge workload either, but at least he's on screen for longer. And, hey, nice to see Nicholas Courtney back, although the Brig is clearly getting on a bit. (And yes, the great Simon Chadwick twist was immensely forseeable.)

Hardly a brilliant moment to end series two on, and I am surprised Maria didn't return for it, but no doubt there will be a series three and we shall see what that brings.

Next time: There is no next time! But there is just two weeks away...

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