The Man Who Never Was (TV story)

The Man Who Never Was (TV story)

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The Man Who Never Was
Featuring:	Sarah Jane Smith Luke Smith Rani Chandra Clyde Langer Mr Smith Sky Smith
Main enemy:	John Harrison
Main setting:	Ealing, London, 2011
Key crew
Writer:	Gareth Roberts
Director:	Ashley Way
Producer:	Brian Minchin
Release details
Story number:	28
Release number:	Series 5
Premiere broadcast:	17th October 2011 (Part 1) 18th October 2011 (Part 2)
Format:	2x30 minute episodes

The Man Who Never Was was the third and final story of Series 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the final story of the series itself.

Synopsis

Part one

Joseph Serf has launched his new SerfBoard, the must-have computer that no one can resist owning. Intrigued, Sarah Jane takes Luke and Sky to investigate what is so compelling about Serf and his business. Meanwhile Clyde and Rani take a SerfBoard to pieces, suspecting alien technology may be the answer. Everyone wants the brand new SerfBoard - and why not? What could be so dangerous about a computer?

Part two

The truth behind Joseph Serf’s company is out – alien Light Sculptors, slaves kept beneath his office building. As Luke and Sky try to find a way to free them and get them home safely, Sarah Jane needs Clyde and Rani to come and help her – and get married along the way…

Plot

Part One

At the offices

Part Two

to be added

Cast

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
• Sky Smith - Sinead Michael
• Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
• Harrison - James Dreyfus
• Joseph Serf - Mark Aiken
• Adriana Petrescu - Edyta Budnik
• Lionel Carson - Peter Bowles

Crew

Created by Russell T Davies

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies and Nikki Wilson

Written by Phil Ford	Produced by Brian Minchin	Directed by Ashley Way	Director of Photography Mark Waters	Production Designer Keith Dunne	Visual Effects BBC Wales VFX
Make-up Designer Emma Bailey	Casting Director Andy Brierley	Music Sam Watts	Costume Designer Stewart Meachem	Edited by Tim Hodges	Special Effects Real SFX
Original theme music by Murray Gold

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Co-producer - Phil Ford Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Production Co-ordinator - Hannah Simpson Production Accountant - Mark Strainge Script department Script Editor - Gary Russell Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Richard Harris 2nd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies 3rd Assistant Director - Delmi Thomas Script Supervisor - Nicki Coles Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Focus Pullers - Martin Scanlan, Keith Bainton Grip - John Robinson Boom Operator - Jeff Welch Gaffer - Dave Fowler	Art department Standby Props - Phill Shellard Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume department Costume Supervisor - Barbara Harrington	Make-up and prosthetics Prosthetics - Millennium FX General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Nerys Davies Post-production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Assistant Editor - Carmen Sanchez Roberts On-line Editor - Matt Mullins Special and visual effects Colourist - Jon Everett Sound Sound Recordist - Simon Koelmeyer Dubbing Mixer - Mark Ferda Sound Editors - Matthew Cox, Howard Eaves

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.

References

• Clyde mentions the Rakweed (SJA: The Gift).
• Sarah Jane tells Harrison having a gun pointed at her is not a new experience (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak).
• The unusual spelling of "Serf" is a reference to peasants of the middle ages, known as Serfs, who work for the Lord of the Manor. The Light Sculptors are similar to serfs.
• Serf is, arguably, a reference to Steve Jobs. A man who sells highly sought after technology products, known for his stage presence and charisma during press conferences. Steve Jobs died a few weeks before the broadcast of this episode.

Story notes

File:And the story goes on...jpg

And the Story goes on... forever.

• This is the final episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Although three more episodes for the series were planned, production was postponed and later cancelled after Elisabeth Sladen's death from cancer on 19th April 2011.
• A special epilogue was added to the end of Part 2 following the death of Elisabeth Sladen featuring clips from the series, as well as a brief clip of DW: Journey's End with David Tennant (making this the third on-screen appearance of the Tenth Doctor on The Sarah Jane Adventures).
• The character name Joseph Serf may have been inspired by actor Patrick McGoohan, who used this name as a pseudonym while directing episodes of The Prisoner.
• Maria Jackson and K9 Mark IV appeared in archive footage.
• James Dreyfus, who plays Harrison in this story, is known for playing George Monday, the second incarnation of Thermoman in My Hero. His predecessor, Ardal O'Hanlon, played Thomas Kincade Brannigan in Gridlock.

Ratings

to be added

Rumours

It was rumoured that Rani and Clyde would be married in part 2. This was later proven false, however, they did pose as a married couple, and at the end, they were keeping a secret from Sarah Jane, which they said was a "family affair".

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

to be added

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

Continuity

• Clyde tells Rani he "meant to say all that stuff to Ellie". It's most likely that in one of the unfilmed episodes Clyde was still upset over Ellie leaving, and admitted his feelings for Rani. This is backed up by Luke calling them "Clani". (SJA: The Curse of Clyde Langer)

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

See also

to be added

External links

to be added