"Analysing Sarah Jane"

Was how the Doctor Who Club of Australia advertised the meeting I attended yesterday at Drummoyne RSL (seemingly about to be abandoned for its Burwood counterpart). I deliberately arrived late because I knew the organisers would commence with older material and, frankly, Mr Shankly, I was only interested in seeing fresh episodes of the "The Sarah Jane Adventures". This turned out to be the right call. Waltzing in during lunch meant not having to rewatch "T/S/J/A" pilot "Invasion Of The Bane" (it was enjoyable the *first* time) or sit through the horrific "K-9 And Company", a 1981 Elisabeth Sladen vehicle that misfired on all cylinders.

Despite recurring technical difficulties, quizzes that degenerated into farce due to the contestants being too evenly matched to separate (requiring committee members to invent tie-breaker questions on the spot!), and the unfortunate positioning of the merchandise table (ever the focal point for chatterboxes) at the rear of the screening room, the DWCA did a fine job of bringing demanding sods like myself up to date with the exploits of SJ and her teen sidekicks Luke, Maria and Clyde.

[spoilerettes]

In the periods when the lights were dimmed and the rowdies shushed, we were treated to the first six episodes of the series, which took the form of three two-parters, viz. "Revenge Of The Slitheen" (the fraudulent, flatulent, hunt-loving "Who" villains return at the kids' high school), "Eye Of The Gorgon" (sinister nuns and the Greek myth is explained :-)) and "Warriors Of Kudlak" (Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" on a smaller scale). This sextet only confirmed what I'd concluded after watching "Bane": "The Sarah Jane Adventures" is a zippier, more brightly coloured version of "Doctor Who" that retains its soapie smarts.

The remark was made by one of my fellow attendees that the show really needs to break out of the alien-invasion-of-the-week mould. That's a fair point. Judging by the preview, the next two-parter, "Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?" (nice pun, Gareth Roberts), may bring things down to a personal level.

Sources say the ABC will broadcast "T/S/J/A" in 2008.


Reading: "Troy: Fall Of Kings" by David and Stella Gemmell. (The novel DG was working on when he succumbed to heart disease, since completed by his wife. How apt the title - he was peerless.)

Listening: "Doctor Who - The Harvest" by Dan Abnett (Big Finish audiobook #58. Doc Seven, Ace and new companion Hex investigate a secret experiment in a London hospital in 2021.)