Sarah Jane Adventures Review - Series 3

So here we are at series 3. In my opinion, its the best so far as it stops repeating what the previous 2 series' have done and focus on the action and character development which this show is known for. With another appearance of another Doctor Who monster (this time, one that isn't a villain but rather one that just wants to get the job done) and a special appearance of the Doctor himself, this is series 3:

From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love (Comic Relief 2009 Special)

In this very short Comic Relief special starring Robbie Corbett (and just to be clear, that is the only time you will hear me say the Slitheen's home planet), the team are spending time with Mr Smith when all of a sudden, a breach in the attic is discovered. This turns out to be a supposed member of the Galactic Alliance (no, not the one with Buzz Lightyear, but if that name is copyrighted, expect to be sued Russell T Davis) who wants to give gifts to the gang for defending the Earth. But who is he really? As a short special, I didn't really like it that much. It was just far too short with nothing going on, except what the special title suggests. 7/10

Prisoner of the Judoon

In the first official episode of the series, a pod carrying a Judoon and its prisoner, crashes into a building and Sarah-Jane and Co go to investigate. The prisoner is a alien that is known as a Veil and is called Androvax (played by Mark Goldthorp) who has the ability to possess any living being. He escapes the building and before you know, he decides to try and destroy Earth which the team must stop from happening, making an ally of the Judoon who has charged the prisoner of destroying 12 planets (and should he destroy Earth, it would make 13). I honestly thought that this episode was a pretty good start to the series. Yes it does continue that tradition of having a Doctor Who monster appearing in the first episode of the series (although this time, its not an enemy), but its done in a way that makes it all the worthwhile. 9/10

The Mad Woman in the Attic

This episode begins in the year 2059 where we come across a very old Rani (played by Souad Faress. should also mention that all the regular cast, reprise their roles in this series) who is considered by many to be a mad woman in an attic (hence the name of the episode). Sarah-Jane, Luke and Mr. Smith are all long gone (which gets explained in the second half of this episode) where its not really explained where Clyde is in all this, but we can assume that he's long gone as well. The old woman gets greeted by a teenage boy named Adam (played by Gregg Sulkin) and she explains to him how it all happened. We then cut to the present day where Rani is ignored by Sarah-Jane after wanting to check out the lightning storm at the BT tower, so she decides to meet up with an old friend of hers near a beach in her hometown. According to her friend, people have been disappearing inside an abandoned funfair and not coming out. But when Rani goes to investigate, she gets more than she bargained for. I thought that this was another good episode that gives a lot of character development for Rani, which looks pretty strong and don't worry, it ends on a happy note for everyone. 9/10

The Wedding of Sarah-Jane Smith

Sarah-Jane has been sneaking out of her house to meet a man and has gone on a few dates with him (that's how it was described to me but anyway). She attempts to hide all evidence of her extraterrestrial adventures from him, which is handled well by the combined forces of Luke, Rani, Clyde, Mr Smith and K-9 (who recently was allowed out of the area of space that he was in that needed protection and is voiced by John Leeson). Two days later, the man (known as Peter Dalton who is played by Nigel Havers) proposes to Sarah-Jane, which she accepts. However as wedding preparations are underway, Luke, Clyde and Rani hear noises of the Tardis engines and soon enough, The Doctor (the 10th incarnation, played by David Tennant whom is in his last scenes as the Doctor, after filming of The End of Time which chronologically is his last, its too complicated to explain so just go with it). The Trickster arrives, kidnaps Sarah-Jane and they along with Peter, disappear. Its now up to The Doctor and the remainder of Sarah-Jane's team (whom apart from Luke and K-9, is their first time seeing him) to bring them back and finish the Trickster once and for all.Its good to see a ongoing story arc come to a close, but its also good to see The Doctor in a show outside of his own show but within the same universe. Its a good episode which I personally like a lot, despite there being a few cringe worthy moments.

The Eternity Trip

In some sense, I could describe this episode as one that pays tribute to ghost busters and similar shows. The episode begins with Professor Rivers (a recurring character which before you jump to any conclusions is not River Song, played by Floella Benjamin) explaining about a manor that is said to be haunted. Its said that the manor was home to a man, his caretaker (as it were) and his son and daughter. The caretaker one day discovers the 2 children spying on him and makes them vanish by some kind of sorcery (which back in those days, could've been described as witchcraft). She is telling this story to Sarah-Jane, Clyde and Rani at the manor itself where she and her assistant Toby (played by the very cringe worthy and awkward, Adam Gillen) are making a scientific investigation with some assistance from Sarah-Jane and Co (Luke isn't present because of his disinterest in ghost hunting). Sooner or later, they come across a ghostly presence and its then up to the team to stop the caretaker before he gives them the same fate as the children. This was another good episode that pays tribute to the ghost hunting genre, but I'm not entirely sure if this is just a filler episode because that's pretty much what it is for the most part. Still good though. 8/10

Mona Lisa's Revenge

Luke secretly enters one of Luke's artwork into a competition and it turns out that he won first prize which is to see his painting at the museum and also see the famous Leonardo Di Vinci painting, the Mona Lisa. However, upon discovering it, it turns out to be (as Blathers in Animal Crossing would call) a forgery. But this forgery as everyone believes it to be, is actually the Mona Lisa, but without the lady herself, who has managed to free herself from the painting in the hopes to free her brother. As she has the ability to make a being in a painting come to life, its up to Sarah-Jane and Co to stop her before all hell breaks lose. Now despite the ambition that the episode is trying to be, it's good, but not great. The painting idea may be original, but it's not really that great of an episode in my opinion as its another filler one. 7/10

The Gift

In the series finale, the Slitheen are once again, trying to destroy the world for profit with Sarah-Jane and Co on pursuit of them. But it seems that a new family from the same planet as the Slitheens, called the Blathereen, come to take them away. The Blathereen are orange and unlike the Slitheen, they follow the law and have made it their lifes' work to track down any member of the Slitheen that has fallen out of line and have them be put on trail. Thanking the team, they join Sarah-Jane and Co for a meal which they enjoy very much and as a token of gratitude, they give the team a plant from their planet that can grow anywhere, even in the harshest conditions and ask Sarah-Jane to be their ambassador as they believe that Earth can become suspicious if the plant came directly from them. However, despite their intentions, the plant that the Blathereen give them, mutates overnight, causing those who inhale its spores to become ill and the spores would gradually drain the individuals energy putting them in a coma that they will never recover from. Now I know that some of you would think that this is nothing more than another filler episode, to which I agree. But it does show how Luke copes with being ill for the very first time and it does have some funny moments. I just wish that we can call the aliens of that planet with a long and complicated name, their species name and not refer to them as their family name which is very annoying for some of us. 8/10

So for this series, it started off well, but I would think that the last few episodes were just filler episodes and really the final episodes should just wrap up the series' storyline and this one doesn't do any of that, but despite that, it's still a good series nevertheless and a big improvement on the last series. 8/10