THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES REVIEW: INVASION OF THE BANE
Written By: Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts
Directed By: Colin Teague
Welcome to a new type of review. In this series of reviews I will be talking about the Doctor Who spin-off series "The Sarah Jane Adventures" from the makers of Doctor Who. The whole point of SJA was Russell T Davies's idea to reintroduce the character of Sarah Jane Smith to a whole new generation of children and younger audiences. After the success of "School Reunion", it came upon the idea that Sarah Jane was going to have her own spin-off after having returned to Doctor Who in 2006 as a guest appearance.
Invasion of the Bane was the first story of the series, and the one which got the ball rolling for the series, and once the series had started it was almost as if it was like "ready, set, GO!" and we were off.
Invasion of the Bane stands out for me as being my favourite episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures and I don't think the series got any better after that. It was a one-hour special which premiered onto our screens on BBC One, on New Year's Day 2007.
The story in short, is set up in the way in which the first ever episode of Doctor Who was set up "An Unearthly Child" in the context of a young girl who has just moved in over the road "Maria Jackson" (Yasmin Paige) gets caught up and fascinated in to the mysterious and weird world of her neighbour over the road, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). In the way in which, Ian and Barbera get caught up the Doctor's world of the TARDIS and time travel out of their concern for their pupil Susan.
Maria can't sleep one night, and she sees a strange light in the sky, so she goes outside to investigate to find that there is an alien in her neighbour's garden. After that, Maria's life takes a dramatic change. She befriends a local girl called Kelsey Hooper (Porsha Lawerence Mavour) who is mad on this new soft drink called "Bubble Shock" she and Maria go out into town to take the free Bubble Shock bus which takes them to the Bubble Shock factory where they a group of people are given a grand tour of the factory where the manufacturers make the drink. But there's more to it than meets the eye, as the manufacturer of Bubble Shock are actually squid, octopoidal type aliens known as the Bane. Sarah Jane is investigating into Bubble Shock herself and is caught snooping around the factory, it then we are introduced to the main villain of the story "Mrs Wormwood" (Samantha Bond).
Sarah Jane manages to evade Mrs Wormwood and in doing so she bumps into Maria and a young boy with no identity (Tommy Knight) They manage to escape. But Mrs Wormwood is hot on their tail as she gets Kelsey, who is left behind at the factory, to tell them where they are. She then sends her brother to deal with them.
Under attack from the Bane, Sarah Jane, Maria, Boy and Kelsey go up into the attic where it is there, where all of the action happens, and where Sarah Jane keeps all her alien technology including a super computer in the wall, Mr Smith. (Voiced by Alexander Armstrong)
So all in all, you watch it, you enjoy and think that it's a pretty good story. To reintroduce a character to a whole new generation of children, to kick start a brand new series is no easy task but the story telling is so effortless, the pace of it is great, there is no dull moment throughout, it's very well acted, there's good character development, good storyline, good monsters, compelling villains. This story has everything you could want to expect from a brand new science fiction series.
Elisabeth Sladen, may she rest in peace, gives her all as Sarah Jane, containing the main characteristics in what makes her character so brilliant, but also investing a new sort of doctor-ish fighting spirit being the main character in the series. She's become more adventurous and bad ass with the fact that she acts like a spy in breaking into the bubble shock factory, she has a sonic lipstick, she has moved on so much from the last time we saw her in Doctor Who and she you feel that Sarah has developed more in life as she's got older. Her experience with the doctor has taught her to be more fearless and not to give up without a fight. She is basically the "Doctor" role in this series.
Yasmin Paige is also very good, giving a confident performance as Maria. The inquisitive young new girl from over the road, she's just moved, so everything is new to her, she plays the role of 'the companion' in the sense that she is the one that has the effect of all the things in the story that happen to her, she experiences aliens, she experience a new kind of adventure, one which is wonderful and dangerous at the same time, something you can't just turn your back on now that you've seen it, you're in it for the long run whether she likes it or not. I thought Maria was a good character to show all that off and Yasmin played it very well.
Samantha Bond as Mrs Wormwood is phenomenal. Bond is up there as being one of my favourite actresses anyway, so to get her to play of Elisabeth Sladen in this episode is just like the perfect "Doctor vs Master" ish stand off you can get. I also think that because Bond was so good, she made Sladen raise her game, and you can see it, in all the scenes that they're in together, it's like they're playing a compelling tennis match against each other where you're not quite sure who will win. They both make interesting arguments. I could actually understand Mrs Wormwood's reasoning for wanting the Bane to succeed in taking over the earth, she basically implies that the human race are filthy pigs who just stuff their faces with food and drink all the time, and there is some truth in that. But yes, I thought Samantha Bond was excellent. And I think without Bond and a different actress playing it, a big chunk of the story would be very weak. So Bond for me was the best performance in this story.
I liked the look of the Bane as alien, they looked like this curious, bug-eyed, squid monster. I'm always a fan of monsters with tentacles. They're very slimy, unpleasant creatures. I remember when a Bane is attacking the house and chases Sarah Jane and co up the stairs, it's quite a nervous moment to think that it actually might get them, and it's climbing up all over the place. The CGI is a bit out of place in places with the Bane, but apart from that, I think they work well.
In terms of story, I think that for a first story, it takes to launch a new series, and the first episodes can mean the beginning or the end of a series before its even started. It was a simple invasion of earth plot storyline. Not that difficult to follow, I liked how easy an episode it is, it's easy to watch, and easy to get drawn into the context of the plot and everything makes sense, it's not overly complicated. It appeals to young children without being too scary, there's a great sense of thrill and danger in the story which keeps audiences on their toes and it shows off a new side to Sarah Jane of what she can do without the doctor.
I also liked Sarah Jane's little monologue at the beginning and end of the episode. It just rounds everything off nicely as a kind of all-rounder.
The music and soundtrack to this episode by Sam Watts mixes in all the mysterious, excitement and stimulus to match the thrill of what's going on in the story. I also enjoy the more sentimental scenes which are much more quiet and tender and how the music and soundtrack responds to that. Some of the music in this is the best in the whole series and plays a big part in the way in which the episode is received.
I loved Sarah Jane's house, this is the first time we get to see an insight into where she lives, and she owns such a big, lovely looking home which has a lot of sophistication and gravitas to it which says a lot about Sarah Jane's personality. She is very tidy and likes a lot of space.
The Attic setting and I thought everything up in the Attic looked amazing, it was authentic, it was strange, it was scientific, it reminds you a bit like the TARDIS is some ways, not that you are entering a room which is bigger on the inside, that much is obvious with any room, I mean in the sense that you are stepping into a brand new world which you know little of, but want to know more. It makes the audience feel as if they've come along for the ride and that they're in for a good time.
Another thing I liked as well as all that was Sarah Jane's car, I thought that matched her personality well. As well as that it's the just the fact that we as an audience have just about caught up with Sarah in her life as it is now. We have had "School Reunion" she's met the doctor again, and this is Sarah in her own real life, in how she gets on without the doctor and how all that time away had changed her to become a more independent person but she's got all the experience of aliens under her belt so she knows what to do in a crisis. She has sort of become like her own doctor in a way.
It is a bit of a shame that it didn't get a bigger audience figure as it deserved, but it did set up the foundations for the new series and made everyone fall in love with Sarah Jane Smith all over again.
9/10.
Next Week: Revenge of the Slitheen.
