THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: SECRETS OF THE STARS
Written By: Gareth Roberts
Directed By: Michael Kerrigan
Hello. This week I'm going to be talking about a very different type of story, one of which where the threat does not come from an alien invasion or monsters attacking, but from the secrets of the stars and the mystic forces of a power which has existed before man and the dawn of time.
So, the story all circles around this one man, Martin Truman who is a philosopher and is into reading people's destiny through their star signs, the only catch is he's a fraud. He takes peoples money and tells them what they want to hear, until one night something falls from the sky and consumes him, suddenly he's everywhere, filling theatres and getting the public attention, everyone wants to know about Martin Truman and his connection with the stars. And the spooky thing is he knows everything about everyone? how does he do it? This is what raises concern to Sarah Jane who isn't so sure of Truman and his ability to read people through their star signs, and that's why she plans on getting to the bottom of this whole escapade.
As the story goes on Truman's power grows and soon he uses his power to make others join him, in order to stop his plan Sarah Jane needs to work out how such power can be defeated and to get through to Truman's inner physic before he brainwashes everyone on earth into accepting the ancient lights.
So yes, it's the midway point through the second series now and this one is about people's star signs and a possible alien connection with that. A subject on which, I think is very interesting to explore, especially for a children's programme. There maybe some viewers watching who know nothing about the stars, or star signs or the philosophy behind it so what better way to introduce it to people than through a popular television show like The Sarah Jane Adventures.
This task does prove to be a challenge for Sarah Jane, Truman proves to be a sinister menace when he knows everything about Sarah Jane, so much so that he says that she's going to lose a battle. Something which plays on the viewers mind.
The threat in this is an interesting one because it doesn't come from an alien invasion or bug ugly monsters but comes from a power from beyond the dawn of time, one wonders, how do you beat an acclaimed unstoppable force? The answer to that is Luke Smith. There is very little background given into what the ancient lights actually are and where they originate from. Whether it just adds to the mystery of it all, I'm not sure but that much can be said for the credibility behind the idea of this ancient force which has come from out of space, and the whole thing of nothing existing and example of this being when Mr Smith scans Rani's jacket which has a burn mark on it and the results come back as "Nothing burnt the jacket". The cliffhanger is a bit mad and chaotic as well.
Basically, the whole world would be pretty screwed to the ancient lights if it wasn't for Luke. This is another Luke story where this time Luke struggles to understand where he fits into in society and his identity. He worries that because he hasn't got a star sign or a birthday that makes him different from the other people in the world and that that's a bad thing, but it is actually what ends up saving the world and by the end of the story Luke learns a very valuable lesson about who he is, and that's very rewarding to see as a viewer.
Time wise, both episodes cover a lot in the two twenty five minute parts. Part One is all about the build up and investigative strategies and Part Two is all about leading up to the climax at the end.
There's lots of good continuity in this story as well, such as
I did like the idea behind the whole star sign thing and the ancient lights storyline, I think that it adds to the diversity and complexity of stories shown throughout what is essentially a pretty strong series of adventures. Series Two at this point is really really good so far and you can't wait to see what happens next.
7/10
Next Week: Mark of the Berserker.
