The Sarah Jane Adventures

The Sarah Jane Adventures is a spin-off series, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC, starring Elisabeth Sladen and created by Russell T Davies. The programme focuses on the adventures of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith. The series debuted on BBC One with a 60-minute special on 1st January 2007. A full series of ten 30-minute episodes followed later in the year. A second season aired in the fall of 2008, followed by a third in late 2009. A mini-episode for charity also aired in early 2009. In January 2010 the BBC announced it was looking for a new producer for the series, with season 4 expected to go into production in March 2010.

Premise

The series is set in present-day West London and features the adventures of Sarah Jane and adopted son Luke (Grown by the Bane in SJA: Invasion of the Bane), with friends Maria Jackson (Series One), Clyde Langer, and Rani Chandra (Series Two and Three), assisted by the super-computer Mr. Smith (which is also a Xylok), as well as K-9 (a robot dog given to her by the Doctor).

Background

Production Team

The executive producers for The Sarah Jane Adventures are Davies and Julie Gardner. Susie Liggat produced Invasion of the Bane, but Matthew Bouch produced the series; Phil Collinson held the title of Series Producer. Gareth Roberts, writing in Doctor Who Magazine, said, "We're all determined that this will be a big, full-blooded drama; that nobody should ever think of it as 'just' a children's programme."

Development

In 2006, Children's BBC expressed an interest in producing a Doctor Who spin-off. Their initial idea was "a drama based on the idea of a young Doctor Who", but Russell T. Davies vetoed this. "Somehow, the idea of a fourteen-year-old Doctor, on Gallifrey inventing sonic screwdrivers, takes away from the mystery and intrigue of who he is and where he came from," said Davies. He suggested instead a series based on the Doctor's former companion Sarah Jane Smith.

The character of Sarah Jane, played by Sladen, appeared in Doctor Who from 1973 to 1976, alongside Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, and later Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. A pilot for another Doctor Who spin-off series, K-9 and Company, made in 1981, featured Sarah Jane and the robot dog K-9; however, the option to make a series was not picked up. Sarah Jane and K-9 returned to Doctor Who in various media many times over the years, most notably in the 20th anniversary special DW: The Five Doctors (1983) and in the 2006 episode DW: School Reunion -- both of which acknowledged the existence of K-9 and Company within the canon of the Whoniverse by showing Sarah Jane in possession of K-9 as established in the 1981 pilot episode. Reports of a spin-off series first appeared around the time of DW: School Reunion original airing, with the series having the working title of Sarah Jane Investigates.

K-9 now K-9 Mark IV, appeared only twice in the first season: during the pilot episode, and again briefly during the season finale, The Lost Boy (as well as a brief appearance in DW: Journey's End). The decision not to feature K-9 was due to the concurrent development of the television series K-9, which is not associated with the BBC and will not feature any Doctor Who connections beyond K-9 himself. However it has been announced that, despite the competing spinoff scheduled to debut in 2009, K-9 will appear in the upcoming third season.

In February 2009 the BBC announced that a mini-episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures would air on 13 March 2009 as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day appeal. This makes SJA the first of the franchise spin-offs to spawn a mini-episode; to date there have been three produced for Doctor Who itself.

In a speech to members of BAFTA in March 2009, Davies revealed that production of Series 3 had nearly been cancelled on three occasions due to budget cuts to children's programming at the BBC.[1]

Series 3 debuted on 15 October 2009[2], and aired over a period of six weeks (due to the BBC deciding to air two episodes a week). The series received a major ratings boost with a guest appearance by David Tennant as the Doctor, and maintained its momentum throughout the season, consistently scoring higher-than-average viewership for the time period and also scoring high Appreciation Index numbers.

According to Doctor Who Magazine #412, a fourth season is in pre-production as of August 2009. In January 2010 the BBC all but confirmed production of a fourth season by announcing it was seeking a new producer for the series for a March 2010 production start date. Whether this is an indication that Russell T. Davies is no longer involved has yet to be confirmed as of 18 January. Other than this announcement the BBC has, so far, not released any information about the proposed new season, though it is assumed that Elisabeth Sladen, at least, will be returning.

Cast

Main Cast

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
• Mr. Smith - Alexander Armstrong

Regular Cast

• Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
• Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
• K-9 Mark IV - John Leeson

Former Cast

• Maria Jackson - Yasmin Paige (Invasion of the Bane to The Last Sontaran plus The Mark of the Berserker)
• Alan Jackson - Joseph Millson (Invasion of the Bane to The Last Sontaran plus The Mark of the Berserker)
• Chrissie Jackson - Juliet Cowan (Invasion of the Bane to The Last Sontaran)
• Kelsey Hooper - Porsha Lawrence-Mavour (Invasion of the Bane only)

Television Stories

Specials

• Invasion of the Bane Pilot episode - New Year's Day 2007
• From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love Comic Relief Red Nose Day mini-episode - 2009

Series 1 - 2007

Main article: Series 1 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Series 2 - 2008

Main article: Series 2 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Series 3 - 2009

Main article: Series 3 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Series 4 - 2010

Main article: Series 4 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Series 5 - 2011

Main article: Series 5 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Continuity

Connections with Doctor Who

• As noted above, Sarah Jane Smith has a long history with the parent series, having travelled with the Third Doctor and Fourth Doctor from 1973 to 1976, and having made reunion appearances in DW: The Five Doctors, and DW: School Reunion (this latter lead to the spin-off series). She also appeared in A Girl's Best Friend, the pilot episode for a aborted 1980s spin-off, K-9 and Company.
• K-9 also has a long history with Doctor Who, although strictly speaking the model seen in this series was only introduced in School Reunion.
• Sarah Jane's sonic lipstick is a similar device to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and was in fact given to her by him.
• The Sontarans are referenced in Eye of the Gorgon, and appeared in The Last Sontaran
• UNIT are referenced a lot, including when Sarah Jane is on the phone, she says "love to the Brig" Also, a picture of him is pinned onto Sarah Jane's attic wall. (Invasion of the Bane)(Revenge of the Slitheen), a book called UNIT in Sarah Jane's attic (Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?) and a police officer says "you have some very powerful friends" to Sarah Jane when she is in custody. (The Lost Boy)
• The Brigadier and the Sontarans appeared in Series Two in 2008.
• Sarah Jane Smith made an appearance with Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Jackie Tyler, the Doctor and the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who Series 4 The Stolen Earth and Journey's End. K-9 also appears in Journey's End. Sarah Jane also makes a brief appearance in The End of Time.
• Luke Smith also made an appearance in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and The End of Time.
• The Tenth Doctor appears in flashback footage in Secrets of the Stars, and in a flash-forward in The Mad Woman in the Attic.
• Martin Trueman was thought to have a bio damper in Secrets of the Stars, which was also seen in The Runaway Bride.
• The Brigadier mentions fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Autons, and Zygons in Enemy of the Bane.
• UNIT makes their first on-screen apperance in the spin-off in Enemy of the Bane.
• David Tennant guest starred as the Doctor in Series Three's two-part The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
• Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee appeared in flashbacks during The Mad Woman in the Attic
• Matt Smith will play his Eleventh Doctor and Katy Manning will reprise her role as Jo Grant in an episode of Series 4 along with Sarah Jane.

Crossover Monsters

From Doctor Who

• The Slitheen (Aliens of London/World War Three, Boom Town and The End of Time)
• A Graske (Attack of the Graske, Music of the Spheres and The End of Time)
• A Sontaran (The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, The Invasion of Time, The Two Doctors, The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky and The End of Time)
• Slabs (Smith and Jones)
• The Judoon (Smith and Jones, The Stolen Earth and The End of Time)

From Torchwood

• Star Poet similar to Mary (Greeks Bearing Gifts)

Novelisations

Series 1

• Revenge of the Slitheen
• Eye of the Gorgon
• Warriors of Kudlak
• Whatever happened to Sarah Jane?
• The Lost Boy

Series 2
Only two of the six television stories were turned into novels

• The Last Sontaran
• The Day of the Clown

Series 3
Only one of the six television stories was turned into a novel

• The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith

Audiobooks

2007

• The Glittering Storm by Stephen Cole
• The Thirteenth Stone by Justin Richards

2008

• The Time Capsule by Peter Anghelides
• The Ghost House by Stephen Cole

2009

• The White Wolf by Gary Russell
• The Shadow People by Scott Handcock

Notes

• All stories were read by Elisabeth Sladen

DVD Release

Series 1

Unusually, the first series of Sarah Jane Adventures saw release to DVD in Region 1 (North America) a full month prior to the announced release in the UK. The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete First Season was released in Region 1 on 7 October 2008; Region 2 (UK) was released on the 10th November 2008.
Special features in the four-disc set include:

• Outtakes (accessible after completing a quiz)
• Audio clips from The Glittering Storm and The Thirteenth Stone
• Behind the scenes photo gallery
• A 30-minute retrospective of Sarah Jane's life and career, featuring clips dating back to DW: The Time Warrior in 1973.
• Character, alien and gadget files.
• Interviews
• Blue Peter set visits.

Series 2

BBC Video released Series 2 to DVD in the UK on 9th November 2009, followed by a Region 1/North American release on 10th November. Extra features include:

• Cast and crew interviews
• Season synopses
• Investigating Tools – a gadget glossary
• Another quiz with a "special footage prize
• Character and alien profiles
• Photo gallery
• Audio clips
• UK TV spots
• Trailers

The North American DVD release of Series 2 occurred without it having first been broadcast in either Canada or the US; this is the first time a complete season of a Doctor Who-franchise programme has been made available on DVD without prior broadcast.

Series 3

DVD release of Series 3 is expected in 2010, but as of early December 2009 BBC Video has yet to announce a release. Precedent has established a gap of up to a year between broadcast and release, but whether this holds true for Series 3 remains to be seen.

International Broadcasts

Series 1 aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the US and BBC Kids in Canada in 2007. In January 2010, Series 2 began airing on BBC Kids. No American broadcast of Series 2 has yet occurred, and there has been no announcement regarding broadcast of Series 3 in North America.

External Links

• Watch Elisabeth Sladen interview - October 2006
• The Sarah Jane Adventures Official BBC site Videos available UK users only.
• A Brief History of Time (Travel): The Sarah Jane Adventures - News and information page concerning the new series
• sarahjane.tv: The Sarah Jane Adventures - blog focusing on the new Sarah Jane Smith series