SJA Reviews: Enemy of the Bane

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: ENEMY OF THE BANE

Written By Phil Ford

Directed By Graeme Harper

So, here we are. Enemy of the Bane. The finale of Series Two. I can remember this story getting recognised a lot in the press and being the big thing in terms of children's television to watch. I saw in things such as the Radio Times, they made a big deal out of the whole Sarah Jane and Brigadier alliance and they went into detail about the monsters and the makeup behind the monsters, interviews with the cast. No other story got this kind of big publicity treatment apart from Invasion of the Bane. 

I guess this story stands out amongst the others for several reasons, one in which it's got the Brigadier in it. Nicholas Courtney makes a triumphant return to the role, and it's so nice for people who have grown up watching Doctor Who back in the seventies to get something back, it makes a nice treat to see the Brig and Sarah Jane reunited, and for a cracking story too.

Basically, it all starts when Gita, Rani's mother is kidnapped by Mrs Wormwood, who leaves a cheque with her name on it for Sarah Jane and her friends to find so that Sarah Jane can track her down to find where she's holding Gita. It was a tactical way of Mrs Wormwood attracting Sarah Jane's attention so she can ask for her help. She says that since the Bane's plan to take over the Earth failed, she has been exiled and is being hunted. The Bane attacks, but they manage to escape.

Sarah Jane takes Mrs. Wormwood back to her house. Mrs. Wormwood says that an ancient immortal, Horath, tried to take over the galaxy, but was defeated three thousand years previously. Unable to destroy him, Horath's body and consciousness were separated and placed at opposite ends of the galaxy. Mrs. Wormwood says that the Bane have discovered Horath's consciousness, and are trying to find his body, which is located on Earth. Once united, she says the Bane will be able to conquer the galaxy. The only clue to the body's location is in the Tunguska Scroll, which is kept in UNIT's Black Archive, a secure storehouse of alien artifacts.

Sarah Jane visits her old friend, retired Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, to get his help to enter the Archive. Sarah Jane and Rani obtain the Tunguska Scroll, which has information on the location of the body of Horath. UNIT personnel stop her, but she uses her sonic lipstick and escapes with Rani and the Brigadier. Meanwhile, Luke is talking to Mrs. Wormwood about his creation (against Sarah Jane's and Clyde's wishes) when the Bane attack the house. Mrs Wormwood is about to escape when a Bane tries to eat her. Sontaran Commander Kaagh blasts it with his laser gun and reveals himself to be her agent. This for me was a real super shock moment because I didn't see it coming. 

I think for me and this story, Part One sets up a really great sense of thrill and momentum and Part Two doesn't live up to the expectations of Part One which for me is disappointing. I guess it concentrated too much on being about the whole Mrs Wormwood vs Sarah Jane for Luke's trust. It was an inevitable choice, we all knew all along that Luke was going to pick Sarah Jane, and there is no sense of real danger or treat you know that Luke is going to be fine, because Mrs Wormwood needs Luke alive as he's her only bargaining chip. 

I also thought it was a little disappointing that the Brigadier didn't do enough in the story, we didn't get to see much of him. On a plus side, Clyde was brilliant in this story, however with that being said, he didn't do very much either, it seemed to me Rani had much more to do in this and yet she as a character didn't do much to earn that scene time, she gets to go to the warehouse to help Sarah Jane save Gita, she gets to break into the vault with Sarah Jane, she gets to do all these cool things without really doing much at all to add to the progression of the plot. 

I'm sorry if this looks as if I'm poking holes and trying to find fault with this story because I'm not. I just think that you've got all these characters not doing enough, the only characters that are active are Sarah Jane, Mrs Wormwood and Luke as the main ones, with Mrs Wormwood supported by Kaagh the Sontaran. 

The ending I thought was given the dramatic climax it deserved, with a nice sentimental finish in which the series one finale had to round off the whole series for the past twelve weeks it's been on. 

In short, there are some lovely moments of great acting from Elisabeth Sladen and Tommy Knight, exceptional performance from Samantha Bond as Mrs Wormwood and Nicholas Courtney in the moments that we did see him were great, the Brigadier made a nice contribution. 

I liked how The Brigadier referenced several of his previous adventures including Day of the Daleks, The Invasion, Terror of the Autons and Terror of the Zygons. Clyde also made a reference about the events about what happened his dad in The Mark of the Berserker.

It is a good story, I don't think it's terrible or anything and there isn't another story which is dramatically exciting or engaging as this one I don't think, apart from Invasion of the Bane. It's just a pity that the second half doesn't raise the bar that it needed to from the first half.

Very well directed by an experienced director, who knew what he was doing, called all the shots, made all the right cuts for the right reasons and is key to the success of this being so well choreographed in a sense of the word. The pace of this story moves like a dance. It's very elegant and graceful, daring, dangerous with a few miss steps in between. 

Great monsters and aliens coming in, it was very exciting to see the Bane back, Kaagh made a surprise return which drove the story into new directs adding him to the mix. 

Another thing that I liked was when Mrs Wormwood introduced herself as "Wormwood, Mrs Wormwood", a play on the line "Bond, James Bond" used in the eponymous series of films. Samantha Bond, who plays Mrs Wormwood, played the iconic Miss Moneypenny in the four Bond films which starred Pierce Brosnan, I thought it was nice touch on Bond's acting career and made a nice outside reference, I laughed at that first time I watched it, and that reference still makes me smile.

Lots of good continuty and clever reference used, great acting from pertiuclar members of the cast, wonderful direction and lots of nice story.

8/10.

Next: Prisoner of the Judoon.