The Gift (TV story)

The Gift was the sixth and final story in The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3.

Synopsis

When the Slitheen's latest scheme is foiled, the Blathereen arrive - can they be trusted? The gang recieve a gift, which could save millions. But, when the gift runs wild Sarah Jane faces the battle of her life to save Luke.

Plot

Part One

Sarah Jane and the gang chase a child Slitheen into a warehouse, where a disguised Slitheen sets up the countdown for a matter compresser that forms a web around the Earth's orbit to squash it into a very large diamond. However, two orange-skinned Blathereen arrive and teleport the Slitheen onto their ship. They reveal that they hunt Slitheen without profit. They reveal their names as Tree and Leef Blathereen, and invite themselves to tea at Rani's house.

The Slitheen's plan begins.

Whilst there, the Blathereen reveal that Raxacoricofallapatorius was once the most admired planet in the Raxas Alliance, governed by the Blathereen, until the Slitheen came into power. Their economy was destroyed, and eventually the Raxacoricofallapatorians revolted against the Slitheen; some where brought to justice, but some escaped into distant planets to gain money. The Blathereen returned to power and started to capture the various Slitheen.

Tree presents the gang with the Rakweed.

The Blathereen then give Earth a gift the Rakweed. They reveal that it can survive in even the harshest conditions, and would end Earth's famine. With Sarah Jane as their ambassador, the Blathereen could begin an alliance with Earth. Clyde is suspicious. After the Blathereen leave, Mr Smith says that the Rakweed is harmless. Clyde, Rani and Luke have a biology test tomorrow, and with Mr Smith's help, Clyde is able to smuggle K-9 into school.

Whilst getting dressed, Luke can't find his tie and goes into the attic to look for it. The Rakweed had mutated and released harmful spores into the atmosphere. Luke accidentally swallows some spores and becomes properly ill for the first time, since the Bane gave him perfect health. Sarah Jane decides that Luke has to stay home, and Rani is concerned. In school, Rani learns that Clyde has K-9 to help him, and will talk to him through an earpiece

Sarah Jane discovers the Rakweed and Mr Smith explains that the plant has mutated and is releasing spores across Earth that will infect humans that may pose as a threat to the Blathereen, and more Rakweed has grown outside Sarah Jane's house on Bannerman Road. Mr Smith also reveals that the Rakweed will put humans into a coma which they will never awaken from. Sarah Jane sees red and black spots on Luke's chest and the Rakweed releases a massive wave of spores that head to Sarah Jane and Luke, and Sarah Jane shouts for Mr Smith to somehow stop them as the Rakweed spores come closer.

Part Two

Mr Smith activates at the last moment and, using the cooling mechanism built into his system, diverts the spores towards the fans and away from Sarah Jane and Luke. However, doing this has depleted energy from him. To prevent it from creating more spores, Sarah Jane throws the Rakweed into her safe. Mr Smith explains that the Blathereen use the Rakweed as a weapon to destroy anyone who stands in their path, and while Luke is a lot stronger than other humans, being able to resist the effects for longer, he inhaled the spores directly into his lungs meaning that he can stand the spores for longer but not forever.

Mr Smith vents away the spores.

Meanwhile, Clyde and Rani prepare to begin their exam. Clyde slides the question papers under the table for K-9 to analyse and asks for the answers to be relayed to him via the metal earpiece. K-9 initially refuses, stating that his order is inethical, but is soon persuaded by Clyde, who said to K-9 "you said a test was a one human demonstrating intellectual superority over others. I brought a supercomputer into school, that's pretty smart, wouldn't you say?" K-9 considers by flashing his eye lights, he finally agrees and Clyde says he wants the answers "short and to the point". In the attic, Mr Smith analyses Luke and determines that they have half an hour before he is completely poisoned, being at 63%, and that he is unable to find an antidote as the spores are constantly adapting. Sarah Jane learns that others have already been infected in the London area. Clyde is caught cheating when K-9 is discovered by the teacher, but everyone is distracted when the Rakweed plants spawn in the classroom, infecting the teacher and creating panic among the students.

Sarah Jane asks Mr Smith to locate the Blathereen using their teleportation co-ordinates she recorded, and learns that they are hiding in Antarctica. In their base, the Blathereen mock Sarah Jane's greed for glory upon accepting the Rakweed and gloat over their plan's success. Mr Smith teleports Sarah Jane to the Blathereen base, despite the fact that he only has enough energy for a one-way trip, armed with a Jet-Powered Water Pistol loaded with vinegar. Rani learn about the Rakweed's effects after finding some of the students unconscious, and calls Luke, who is now infected by 87% and falls unconscious mid-conversation. Sarah Jane bargains with the Blathereen to destroy the Rakweed, but she is tricked and strapped into a chair which they say "costs a fortune!!".

The Rakweed spores attack.

Clyde, Rani and K-9 discover that the Rakweed has spread throughout the school grounds and find themselves trapped in the building. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane discovers that the Blathereen are addicted to the Rakweed and plan to repopulate the Earth with it, as it has a high value on the galactic market. It is soon after that they reveal their true form -a cross of the Blathereen and the Slitheen races. Clyde and Rani discover from news reports that the spores are spreading across the whole of London. They are nearly infected when the school bell rings, neutralising the Rakweed spores and some actual Rakweed. Sarah Jane then learns that the Rakweed plants rely heavily on communication with each other in order to spread. She breaks out of her restraints and manipulates their teleportation device to return home, only to discover Luke unconcious.

K-9 utilises the school bells to defeat the Rakweed within the building. Clyde uses K-9 to connect with Mr Smith to send the frequency level required to spread the noise across London (1421.09 Hertz). After setting off every single device that could emit those levels of noise, Luke and the other infected people recover from the deadly spores, and he and Sarah Jane embrace. The Slitheen-Blathereen teleport into the attic and confront Sarah Jane and the gang. Mr Smith activates the alarm, which eventually causes the Slitheen-Blathereen stomachs to swell then explode, covering everyone and everything in their remains; the undigested Rakweed reacted to the alarm, causing them to "fart themselves to death." As punishment for trying to cheat, Clyde is told to clean up the mess, while the others prepare a barbecue.

The Slitheen-Blathereen attack.

During the epilogue, Sarah Jane comments that, one day some alien races will want to help humanity, the importance of friendship and that "Earth could become a shining example to the entire universe"

Cast

Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
Voice of Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
Voice of K9 - John Leeson
Leef Blathereen - Paul Kasey (voice: Miriam Margolyes)
Tree Blathereen - Ruari Mears (voice: Simon Callow)
Slitheen Child - Jimmy Vee
Chris - Calvin Dean
Dave - Edward Judge
Miss Jerome - Sarah Paul

Production Crew

Co-Producer - Phil Ford
K-9 originally created by - Bob Baker and Dave Martin
First Assistant Director - Guy de Glanville
2nd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies
3rd Assistant Director - Wil Cummins
Location Manager - Nicky James
Production Co-Ordinater - Ceri Hughes
Continuity - Nicki Coles
Script Editor - Gary Russell
Camera Operator - Martin Stephens
Focus Pullers- Mani Blaxter Paliwala and Anna James
Grip- John Robinson
Boom Operator- Kevin Staples
Gaffer- Dave Fowler
Set Decorator- Joelle Rumbelow
Standby Art Director- Jackson Pope
Standby Props- Dewi Thomas
Graphics- BBC Wales Graphics
Costume Supervisor- Barbara Harrington
Assistant Editor- Lee Bhogal
Post Production Supervisor- Nerys Davies
Post Production Co-Ordinator- Marie Brown
Colourist- Jon Everett
Sound Editors- Matthew Cox and Howard Eaves
Dubbing Mixer- Mark Ferda
Title Music- Murray Gold
Music- Sam Watts
Casting Directors- Andy Brierley and Andy Pryor CDG
Production Executive- Julie Scott
Production Accountant- Dyfed Thomas
Sound Recordist- Ray Parker
Costume Designer- Stewart Meacham
Makeup Designer- Emma Bailey
Visual Effects- Craig Higgins
Special Effects- Any Effects
Prosthetics- Millennium X
Editor- Ceres Doyle
Production Designer- Arwel Wyn Jones
Director of Photography- Mark Waters
Production Manager- Steffan Morris

References

The planet Clom was mentioned.
Perivale and Chiswick, homes to companions Ace and Donna, were areas affected by the Rakweed spores.
The Rackateen were mentioned by the Blathereen.

Cultural References

While Luke is getting changed Everybody in Love by JLS can be heard.

Story Notes

A CBBC literature statement confirmed both the Slitheen and Blathereen would appear in the series.
In an interview with Nikki Wilson for SFX she confirmed the Blathereen as appearing in these episode. A series preview by Digital Spy also confirmed the Blathereen as appearing in the Finale
The Blathereen and Slitheen both appeared in the book NSA: The Monsters Inside. The Gift is the first appearance of the Blathereen in a TV story.
The Slitheen leader referred to the Blathereen in SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen.
This episode marks the return of the Slitheen in the Sarah Jane Adventures. They previously appeared in SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, The Lost Boy, From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love
The Blathereen are orange compared to their green cousins.
Simon Callow previously played Charles Dickens in DW: The Unquiet Dead
Sarah Jane's line "But this isn't how it should end, there should have been another way" mirrors the Fifth Doctor's comment after destroying the Silurians and Sea Devils in Warriors of the Deep.
When K-9 gets out of Sarah Jane's car, he says 'Hover Mode Activated'. This solves the mystery of how K-9 can get down stairs, and walk around. He also has a 'sense of smell'.
The Slitheen's plan to compress Earth into a Diamond is reminiscent of Baltazar's plan in Episode One of DW: The Infinite Quest. However unlike their plan which was to turn all the Carbon in Earth's atmosphere into one gigantic diamond, Baltazar's plan was to turn every single Carbon-Based lifeform on Earth into Diamonds.
In Part two, Clyde asks Rani what Sarah-Jane would do. Rani replies, "She'd do what she always does; improvise." This is how the Third Doctor described his own approach to Sarah-Jane in DW:The Five Doctors.
Clyde uses the expression, "I'll explain later.", a line which is often associated with the Doctor (although probably not used as often as people think.)

Ratings

to be added

Filming Locations

to be added

Myths

The Judoon would appear. This was a rumour, because in the previous two series the alien from the first episode appeared the the finale. This turned out to be false.
It was rumoured that someone would die. It was highly rumoured that that person would be Luke. The effects of the Rakweed were reset and Luke didn't die, nobody else did either, simply this rumour was false, plus, in SJA: The Mad Woman in the Attic, Old Rani said that Luke and she went to see Maria in 2059, so Luke would have to survive until 2059 at least.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

The fact that K-9 is in the back of Sarah-Jane's car at the beginning of the story suggest that all four humans plus K-9 travelled in the car at once. Sarah-Jane's car is a bit small to hold them all. (Not necessarily, The car can hold five, and K9 would take up about a seat. K-9 could have moved after the others had left, explaining why he appeared to take up the entire back seat.)

Why did the Blathereen present the Rakweed to Sarah-Jane? They could have planted it anywhere at random and it would have still have done its work. (As they indicated more than once, they took pleasure in the irony of using the "famous" Sarah Jane Smith to bring about the destruction of the planet she was known for protecting.)

Why didn't Mr. Smith detect that the Rakweed was dangerous at the first analysis? (Mr Smith said that between his first and second analysis, the plant mutated.)

When Chris Slitheen is talking to the other Slitheen, his compression unit lifts up, revealing the edge of where the latex head and fat suit meet.

Since the Blathereen aren't actually bounty hunters and weren't sending the Slitheen to Raxacoricofallapatorius to be executed, what happened to the Slitheen? (The Blathereen may have simply executed the Slitheen upon returning to their ship: why would they keep their rivals alive once they've served their purpose?)

Why do the Blathereen still have their compression collars on when they only appear in their Raxacoricofallapatorian form, and why did Sarah Jane not notice the collars on their necks? (The neck braces look different to the Slitheen ones and they are never seen using skinsuits, so most likely the braces have a different or additional functions - like a translator for example.)

One point into Part Two, part of the Rakweed spread is missing.

When the Blathereen are eating Rakweed, they aren't actually eating it.

When the Bane created Luke and "gave him" perfect health, why did he fall ill due to the Rakweed? (As indicated by Mr. Smith, the Rakweed spores were designed to seek out and sap the energy from any potential threat to their spreading.)

At the end of part one the spores from the Rakweed are alarmingly close to Luke and Sarah at the beginning of part two they are very far away from them. (It appears closer in part 1 because it is shown from the perspective of being inside the spore cloud.)

When the Blathereen are eating dinner there are countless times where in the reflection of their eyes you can see stage lights or lighting systems. (There are lights in the house where they are eating.)

Why is Sarah Jane so surprised when Mr Smith vents the Rakweed spores away? Surely she built the computer to house him so she would have built the air vents as well? (She isn't surprised as much as relieved.)

Why did Sarah Jane tell Mr. Smith that Luke was only fifteen? Firstly, he was created by the Bane perhaps two years previous (in-universe) so isn't fifteen. Secondly, Mr. Smith knows full well where and how Luke was created so why did Sarah Jane feel the need to say something like that at all, let alone lie, to Mr. Smith. (He is roughly fifteen physiologically, which is the aging system she has consistently used when referring to Luke's age. She is saying this to Mr. Smith not to inform him of Luke's physiological age, but rather because she is upset and expressing a further emotional aspect of the tragedy of his impending possible death.).

When Sarah-Jane is talking to the Blathereen on their ship about the Rakweed's song it can be heard even though they are in Antarctica and the Rakweed is only in London. (The computer possibly had a radio link to London, as it was showing London on the map and could probably show what was happening in London too.)

The Blathereen names sound nothing like any normal Raxacoricofallapatorian name. (The Blathereen are a different family to Slitheen, so they would have different names)

During Part 2 when Mr. Smith is monitoring Luke he goes from 86% to 87% and then later we see him back at 86% and go on to 87% again. Luke exhaled the spores for a second and that caused the percentage to decrees temporarily.

If K-9 can activate hover mode to get out of Sarah Jane's car, why couldn't he get up the curb in SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (K-9 was probably messing around during Episode 5. Or Sarah Jane must of found an invention between the Wedding episode and this episode that could make K-9 hover) Peter Dalton was there at the time and K9 hovering would have likely ruined Luke's Story about him being a toy.

Continuity

The Blathereen first appeared in NSA: The Monsters Inside.
The Slitheen first appeared in DW: Aliens of London / World War Three, and SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen SJA: The Lost Boy and SJA: From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love.
When the Blathereen explodes in the attic covering the team with it's remains, Clyde says "Why does this always happen to me?" referencing when a Slitheen exploded on him in SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen and a Bane in SJA: Enemy of the Bane

Timeline

The Gift occurs after: SJA: Mona Lisa's Revenge
The Gift occurs before: TBA