The Lost Boy (TV story)

The Lost Boy
Main character(s):	Sarah Jane SmithMaria JacksonLuke SmithClyde LangerMr SmithK9 Mark IV (cameo)
Main enemy:	SlitheenKorst Gogg ThekDax Fex FizeBloorm Vungah BartMr Smith (redeems himself)
Main setting:	Ealing, London, 2008Pharos Institute, 2008Hammersmith, London, 2008
Key crew
Writer:	Phil Ford
Director:	Charles Martin
Producer:	Matthew Bouch
Release details
Story number:	6
Release number:	1
Premiere broadcast:	12-19 November 2007
Format:	2x30 minute episodes

The Lost Boy was the sixth and final story of Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was comprised of episodes 9 & 10 of the regular series and saw the reappearance of the Slitheen.

Synopsis

A missing child turns out to be, both visually and genetically, Luke. Sarah Jane is forced to hand him over to the 'parents', only to find that they are not what they seem.

Plot

Part 1

Having discovered what Sarah Jane, Maria, Clyde and Luke do together, Alan Jackson threatens to move house again, only to have a change of heart when he sees how upset Maria is. His condition for not moving away, however, is that he is kept up to date with their battles against aliens.

A BBC news report on a family searching for their son, Ashley, who has been missing for five months, brings a shock, for Ashley looks exactly like Luke. Mr Smith compares their DNA, and confirms that Luke and Ashley are genetic matches. Apparently Luke was not 'grown' by the Bane, but was a kidnapped boy. His lack of a navel is explained as the result of its removal by the Bane, who are eggborn and find navels offensive. Chrissie Jackson calls the police and reports Sarah Jane as a child abductor. Sarah Jane is arrested and the police put Luke into the charge of Ashley's parents, Jay and Heidi. Sarah Jane is detained by the police, only for UNIT to intervene and have her released. Depressed, Sarah Jane decides she was wrong to involve children and tells Maria to stay away from her. Mr. Smith suggests she take on a case to take her mind off things, and she visits the Pharos Institute, a research centre where alien technology is being used to conduct experiments into telekinesis. Here she meets the annoying child prodigy Nathan Goss. That night, Luke's new parents watch television and switch over to a channel that glows green. They announce to the Xylok that they have the boy in their possession.

Luke's new parents are extremely abusive towards him, keeping him locked up in his room at all times. Clyde Langer cuts school to visit Luke, but Heidi does not let them see each other. Heidi claims that her son is a keen skateboarder, which worries Clyde; he knows Luke has a poor sense of balance and is a dreadful skateboarder. He decides to bring a photo of Jay and Heidi to Mr Smith. Luke becomes frantic upon seeing Clyde leave the house, and desperately attempts to escape. Mr. Smith, meanwhile, sends Sarah Jane back to the lab to steal one of the headsets there, which he needs to analyse to work out Nathan's plans. Clyde gets to the house only seconds after Sarah Jane has left, but takes the photo to Mr Smith anyway, only for Mr Smith to confess that he faked the photo. It turns out that Mr. Smith is the Xylok, and he fires a bolt of energy at Clyde, causing him to vanish.

Back at Luke's new home, his 'parents' are meeting with Nathan, just as Luke is breaking out of his room. He fails to escape, but finds his parents are actually Slitheen using improved compression technology, and Nathan Goss is in fact Korst Gogg Thek Lutiven-Day Slitheen, a child Slitheen Luke met before, now in a new disguise and looking for revenge.

Part 2

Clyde wakes to find himself inside Mr. Smith as Sarah Jane Smith returns from the Pharos Institute, having stolen a telekinetic headset. Elsewhere, Maria and Alan go to Ashley's house, where they find a skinsuit. Maria realises the Slitheen have Luke. Alan gets a message on his computer from Clyde, who states Mr. Smith has turned evil. The Jacksons and Sarah Jane confront Mr. Smith and are nearly killed as it fires a bolt of energy from a built-in gun.

File:K9DefendsSJS.jpg

K9 takes a break from black holes long enough to protect Sarah Jane from Mr. Smith.

The Slitheen take Luke to the Pharos Institute where they test his abilities. Luke overcomes the Slitheen and escapes, as Maria, Alan and Sarah Jane arrive. Working together, they discover Mr. Smith's intentions and Alan adapts a computer virus to destroy Mr. Smith. Using the Slitheen teleporter, Sarah Jane arrives in her attic, where Mr. Smith is using Luke to awaken other Xylok from the Earth's core. He plans to crash the moon into the planet, cracking it open like an egg and freeing the other Xylok. Clyde returns when Mr. Smith states he is merciful, but threatens the humans with its gun. Sarah Jane unlocks a safe and calls on K9. The robots battle and Sarah Jane inserts the virus, which makes Mr. Smith forget its purpose. As the Moon grows closer to the Earth, Sarah Jane tells Mr. Smith it has a new purpose: to safeguard planet Earth.

The Moon returns to its original position, K9 goes back to the safe to safeguard the black hole and the Slitheen return to Raxacoricofallapatorius. As Sarah Jane, Maria, Luke, Clyde, Alan and Chrissie watch the ship leave, Sarah Jane reflects how she never thought she could be part of a family.

Cast

• Sarah Jane Smith — Elisabeth Sladen
• Maria Jackson — Yasmin Paige
• Luke Smith — Tommy Knight
• Clyde Langer — Daniel Anthony
• Voice of Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
• Alan Jackson — Joseph Millson
• Chrissie Jackson — Juliet Cowan
• Professor Rivers — Floella Benjamin
• Jay Stafford — Jay Simpson
• Heidi Stafford — Holly Atkins
• Nathan Goss — Ryan Watson
• Chief Inspector - Julian Dutton
• Jay Slitheen — Paul Kasey
• Nathan Slitheen — Jimmy Vee
• Heidi Slitheen — Ruari Mears
• Newsreader - Jason Mohammad
• Voice of K9 — John Leeson

Production Crew

Created by Russell T Davies

Executive Producers   Phil Collinson, Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner

Written by Phil Ford	Produced by Matthew Bouch	Directed by Charles Martin	Director of Photography Sian Elin Palfrey Ernie Vincze BSC	Production Designer Tim Dickel Edward Thomas	Visual Effects The Mill
Make-up Designer Emma Bailey	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG	Music Sam Watts	Costume Designer Stewart Meacham	Edited by Matthew Tabern	Special Effects Any Effects
Original theme music by Murray Gold  K9 created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Manager - Debbi Slater Location Manager - Jonathan Allott Production Accountant - Dyfed Thomas Script department Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Dan Mumford Script Supervisor - Nicki Coles Lighting - Steve Slocombe	Art department Costume department	Make-up and prosthetics Prosthetics - Millennium FX Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Abbi Collins General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Nerys Davies Special and visual effects Colourist - Jon Everett Sound Sound - Brian Milliken Dubbing Mixer - Mark Ferda Audio Post-production - Doug Sinclair

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.
K9's creator credit in part 2 only.

References

• Mr. Smith claims that "Without purpose, we do not exist." This is almost a direct quote from Agent Smith, the similarly-named antagonist of the film The Matrix Reloaded.
• Mr. Smith asks, "Am I not merciful?", also said by the villain of the film Gladiator.
• Maria likens the Slitheen to the TV show, Only Fools and Horses.
• Telekinetic control is valuable in some parts of the galaxy.
• A telekinesis experiment conducted by the Pharos Institute involves levitating a basketball.
• Mr. Smith mentions the Metrabelan Cosmic Cluster.

Story notes

• This episode ends with Sarah Jane narrating. This closes the first series, just as a narration by her opened the series in Invasion of the Bane.
• Both episodes were aired on the CBBC channel, and were broadcast a week later on BBC 1.

Ratings

• Episode 1 - 465,000 (CBBC)
• Episode 2- 659,000 (CBBC)

Myths

To be added

Filming locations

To be added

Production errors

• At one point, it says 21 on Sarah Jane's door.

Continuity

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.

• The Slitheen previously appeared in DW: Aliens of London, World War Three, and Boom Town, SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, NSA: The Monsters Inside, and Attack of the Graske, and the family have had many references in other episodes.
• When the inspector questions Sarah Jane, a page of her confidential UNIT file is visible on screen. The text is taken from the BBC's UNIT website and includes the in-joke that UNIT's activities span "the sixties, the seventies, and some would say the eighties." This is the first on-screen reference in SJA (and indeed the entire Doctor Who TV franchise) to the UNIT dating controversy. It was later followed by a similar in-joke spoken by the Tenth Doctor, as he reminisces about working for UNIT in the '70s, "or was it the 80s?" (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem)
• K9 returns briefly and reference is made to his work on containing the black hole. Clyde does not know of him as he was not present when K9 met Maria and Luke. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) As such, K9 calls him "young master".
• The Slitheen are now using an improved version of their skin suit, which allows them to pass for skinnier humans and no longer causes the gas exchange problem which previously caused inconvenience. (SJA:Revenge of the Slitheen, et. al.)
• The Pharos Institute may have some connection to the Pharos Project. (DW: Logopolis)
• Sarah Jane says she never thought she could be part of a family. She would later tell the Tenth Doctor that he had the biggest family on Earth, herself being a part of it. (DW: Journey's End)
• Professor Rivers says that all humans have the ability to perform telekinesis. The Doctor would later use telekinesis whilst using the thoughts of the human race psychically linked together. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Home video releases

The Lost Boy, along with Invasion of the Bane, Revenge of the Slitheen, Eye of the Gorgon, Warriors of Kudlak and Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, is available in the Series 1 box set.

Novelisation

File:Miscbooks-1878.jpg

Novelisation cover

Main article: The Lost Boy (novelisation)

• A novelisation, written by Gary Russell, was published on 3 November 2008, marking the first time since the early 1990s that a complete season of a Doctor Who-related series has been completely novelised.

Footnotes