Friday, 6 July 2018

Beyond The TARDIS SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, part 2 by Andrew Allen


With the second part of this season one opener (yes, we should just come out and call it the ‘second episode’, but there’s a reason for our tautology, promise – we’ll explain next time), Clyde earns his stripes as a member of team SJ. He’s clearly the one who Gareth Roberts has most fun writing for at this point in the series, which makes sense: Maria Jackson’s homelife means that she’s not yet wide eyed and filled with wanderlust, and Luke suffers the same challenges as any starchild: you can only have your naïve genius stay naïve for so long, before they stop being a genius (‘Is that good?’)

In the meantime though, it’s all fun and games. The episode’s mostly broad style allows for some very decent jokes (the idea that a spray can of Lynx or Axe might be pungent enough to deflect an alien invasion might ring very true for anyone who has a teenage boy around the house), and despite the fact that there’s a passing hint that the Slitheen have no problem killing human children, we’re still some way from exploring the darker themes that SJA will mediate on, which is ironic, since this episode largely concerns itself with the Slitheen plunging the Earth into darkness. For instance, the fact that Maria kills an intelligent life form in cold blood (albeit in self defence) is played for laughs rather than pathos – as indeed you might expect in an episode of a kids show. But SJA isn’t going to stay this broad for long. By the way, it’s worth acknowledging that this is one of those rare ‘Revenge Of’ stories that is actually about revenge – the actions of the monsters in this episode are a direct result of the Doctor Who episode World War Three, meaning that this episode’s villains already have a rich history, even if the show itself doesn’t yet. 

Daniel Anthony’s charm sells his lines as he demands to be part of the gang (‘We blow up the school?!’), deducing the Slitheen’s major weakness because it couldn’t cope with the contents of his rucksack, while Sarah Jane is allowed a more brittle edge than we’ve been led to expect (‘Another life in my hands – just what I needed!’). There’s a couple of cute side swipes at the parent show, in particular Russell T Davies’ fondness for memorable names (‘You’re making that up,’), but this is in many ways where The Sarah Jane Adventures first stakes its claim that it’s the most adult of the three Whoniverse shows – borrowing a knowingly ridiculous monster from Doctor Who that immediately underestimates the hero – ‘She’s an old woman with a funny lipstick! End of!’

There’s poetry in the dialogue as well – much play is made of the mirroring of losing the sun / losing one’s son – and by the time the episode comes to an end, the death of more aliens is played a lot more tragically by Elisabeth Sladen’s horrified response. The closing scene, between Sarah Jane and Clyde, seems at first mildly diluted, presented as it is as a love letter to The Doctor, but once Sarah begins to talk about a legacy passed on, it’s clear that SJA can stand alone, and Sarah is the wonderful traveller who can save the world. Almost immediately, Clyde finally earns his place as the heart of the show – not through fighting aliens or witty banter, or even his effortless puncturing of one of Tom Baker’s most iconic scenes, but by suggesting that Luke should refer to Sarah Jane as mum, and also being the first character to get a hint at what this season’s Big Bad is. Oh, yes, The Sarah Jane Adventures has a Big Bad.

You’re playing with the grown ups now.




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