This story fulfils what should be the brief for Sarah Jane. Not the pathetic nature of Invasion of the Bane, or the rubbish and pointless sillyness and comedy in Revenge of the Slitheen, but this story! The Empty Planet! Combining humans and kids, with a real sci-fi feel to it. This is not a spin-off from Doctor Who, but the fantastic series that is Sarah Jane.
This series really has pushed itself in new directions. With the wonderful creepy-ness that we saw in The Nightmare Man, and the… all right…. the Androvax one was a bit rubbish. But the brilliant story telling of Death of the Doctor, and now the Empty Planet. The Empty Planet is a science fiction story. Wake up one morning and everyone is gone. Robots searching for a son and heir to the throne. It was creepy, it was clever, it was mysterious. And we saw the relationship for Yes It Is Clyde and Rani (need a nickname for her) develop.
Sarah Jane Adventures. A kids science fiction show. This is what it should be. It has the science-fiction feel of a classic movie, or a silent movie, or a black and white movie. A world that is empty. It takes this science fiction idea and makes it watchable, makes it condensed, makes it good. Ok, the robots aren’t very good, I think their designs don’t really fit in with the story idea, but the concept of the robots and their purpose is good. I was worried the reason the planet was empty might be really boring and obvious, but it was clever, and one of the most clever storylines we’ve had in SJA. A clever storyline and ending, a classic science-fiction plot, and of course we get the wonderful characters really showing what they can do. This is how it should be.
Clyde is on usual top form in this story, thinking of ideas such as Adam and Eve (an idea he seemed quite pleased with for a while) and being his usual self really. Rani is brilliant, proving to be more than the character who is always trying to impress. While Clyde and Rani call themselves “hangers-on” or whatever they describe themselves as, they are certainly not. They are vital characters, and this series needs them. In fact, it makes it seem like Sarah Jane is a hanger-on, and maybe she is. This idea I expect will be touched upon in the series finale, which focuses on Sarah and the fact she’s getting too old for alien hunting. It shows that Clyde and Rani are important.
Last series, I would’ve insulted SJA big time. It was poor, not very exciting and the same old, same old. But this series is different, and I really enjoy watching it! We can’t forget Luke, who has also made himself seem like a worthy character in this series, rather than just a mommy’s boy. Luke, Clyde and Rani are the best thing about this series. They make it entertaining, watchable. And then they go back to Sarah Jane who still has the dodgy voiceovers and the “oh we’ve saved the world, let’s speak a 1000 word essay on what we think we’ve done!” Luke, Clyde and Rani ARE this series, and an episode starring mainly just Clyde and Rani really shows this. Of course, I was actually quite disappointed when Sarah Jane came back at the end.
So this episode was brilliant. Proper sci-fi, proper storyline and for kids. It didn’t need to be gross or funny or anything else stereotypically kid like to be good. It had the sci-fi idea, it had the clever storyline, and it had the kids idea in Clyde and Rani. Proof that the kids make the show suitable for kids! Not putting in gross or pointless stereotypical kid things.
Well done on a fantastic episode everybody!
Roll on Lost In Time….
James
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