Lost in Time (TV story)

Lost in Time
Featuring:	Sarah Jane Smith Clyde Langer Rani Chandra
Main enemy:	Nazis Koenig Miss Wyckham Lady Matilda Mary I of England (unseen)
Main setting:	Ealing, Tuesday 23rd November 2010 1889 London, 19th July 1553 South English Coast 7th June 1941
Key crew
Writer:	Rupert Laight
Director:	Joss Agnew
Producer:	Brian Minchin
Release details
Story number:	24
Release number:	Series 4
Premiere broadcast:	8th November, 2010 (Part 1) 9th November, 2010 (Part 2)
Format:	2 30-minute episodes

Lost in Time is the fifth story of Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Synopsis

Part 1

A harmless investigation turns into an epic quest across time and space. Sarah Jane and the gang are separated by the enigmatic Shopkeeper, and find themselves in three different time-zones throughout history – doing battle against ghost hunters, Nazis, Tudors and a mysterious parrot called Captain!

Part 2

While Sarah Jane tries to prevent a future tragedy, Clyde has to take on the Third Reich single-handed! But Rani discovers to her horror that the march of history cannot be stopped, as a greater danger from the Time Vortex threatens to consume them all.

Plot

Part One

Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde look at a newspaper article about someone who claims to have seen an alien. They go into the mans shop to search for any traces of aliens. Rani finds a music box and Clyde finds a bloodstained arrow. The shopkeeper comes out of a side room. He knows Sarah Janes name, as well as a "great many things", and only did the newspaper article to gain her attention. He explains that three pieces of chronosteel, a metal forged within the time vortex, are lodged in Earths history and have the power to reshape it's destiny. He opens a time window, tells them to find the disguised pieces to get home, and pushes it towards them. Talking to his parrot, Captain, he reveals that the gang only have until an hourglass runs out to save the world.

Clyde, Sarah Jane and Rani all wake up alone, with no idea where they are- or when. Rani meets a maid, who tells her she is in the Tower of London's royal chambers and that Queen Jane wants to meet her. The maid, whose name is Mistress Ellen, thinks Rani is a visitor from the far east come to be the Queens new lady-in-waiting. Clyde meets a boy called George Woods, who is watching Germans land on a beach and tells him it is 1941. Sarah Jane is trapped in a box, which is opened by a girl who thinks she is a ghost. The girl touches her to find that she is real, then explains that it is 1889 and no-one lives in the house they're in, she was just investigating stories of ghosts. The girls name is Emily Morris.

Clyde and George confirm the men are Nazis and go to warn the Home Guard. Meanwhile, Rani is being introduced to LadyJane Grey. Rani makes a good first impression on the young Queen, who likes her as she speaks to her as a friend rather than royalty. The Shopkeeper watches them in his crystal ball. Sarah Jane asks Emily why she is obsessed with ghosts. Emily explains that she lost her mother nine weeks ago and doesn't want to believe that she's gone. The clock strikes eight, which is when the haunting is supposed to begin.

Lady Jane recieves a warning that Lady Mary and her army have come to claim the throne. This makes Jane an 'unlawful claimant' and a traitor; the punishment is death. Clyde and George reach St Michaels church, but the telephone is dead and the Nazis have come to the church as well, and capture them. The Nazis have a piece of metal that Clyde realises is the chronosteel. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane discovers that the 'ghost' is actually the voice of someone from the future. She shows Emily that she is also from the future, and they hear children giggling from behind a door. They enter the room, which is hot because in the future, it is on fire.

Rani over hears Lady Matilda plotting to kill Jane, Clyde and George escape the church and Sarah Jane and Emily decide to save the children trapped in the burning room. The Shopkeeper, watching them, says they are taking too long and if they do not get back soon, they will be trapped in the past forever...

Part Two

Rani saves Lady Jane from Lady Matilda, who tried to kill her so she would die a martyr rather than a common traitor. The knife Matilda was going to use is the piece of chronosteel. Sarah Jane and Emily talk about the children, which distressed Emily as this is how her mother died. They turn the clock hands to eight and can now see the young woman who was talking before. Clyde and George run into the local schoolteacher Miss Wyckham, who tells them the village is surrounded by Germans, so they go back to St Michaels. Lady Jane gives Rani permission to return home, but Rani wants to stay and comfort her. The hourglass runs out, but the Shopkeeper cannot close the time window; if it is left open, the whole planet will be sucked in and destroyed.

Cast

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Rani Chandra -Anjli Mohindra
• Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
• The Shopkeeper - Cyril Nri
• Queen Jane Grey - Amber Beattie
• Mistress Ellen - Elizabeth Rider
• Lady Matilda - Fiona Hampton
• George Woods - Richard Wisker
• Koenig - Tom Wlaschiha
• Emily Morris - Gwyneth Keyworth
• Gemma - Lucie Jones
• Katy - Morgan-Faith Hughes
• Ben - Llewcus Oaten
• Miss Wyckham - Catherine Bailey
• Angela Price - Rowena Cooper

Crew

to be added

References

British organisations

• Home Guard

Story notes

• The Time Windows resemble the Anomalies from the ITV series Primeval.
• The newspaper gives the date as 23rd November 2010, the 47th anniversary of the date that the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast.

Ratings

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Myths

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Filming locations

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Production errors

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Continuity

• The newspaper the team look at is the Ealing Echo. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, Day of the Clown)
• Rani is sent to 19th July, 1553 and meets Lady Jane Grey. The brief queen would later meet the First Doctor right before her execution. (VD: The Nine-Day Queen)
• On hearing that the "alien" sighted was twelve feet tall, with huge claws and red eyes, Clyde jokingly asks if they are going up against the Gruffalo. Mo Northover read his son Elliot this book. (DW: The Hungry Earth)

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

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See also

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External links

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