The Gift (TV story)

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The Gift was the sixth and final story in series three of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Synopsis

When the Slitheen's latest scheme to destroy Earth for profit is foiled, another family from the Slitheen's planet arrive, the Blathereen. Though they seem helpful, can they be trusted? As a generous gesture of peace, the Blathereen gift the gang with a plant called Rakweed, which could end world hunger. However, the Rakweed goes wild, spreading spores about London and infecting people, including Luke. Sarah Jane must fight alone, not only to save the Earth, but also her son. Meanwhile, Clyde smuggles K9 into school to help him cheat at a test, and he, Rani and the metal dog find themselves trapped in the school - surronded by Rakweed. Can the team work together across Ealing - and the Artic circle - to prevent Rakweed from devouring the entire planet?

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 compressor that will form 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 were brought to justice, but some escaped to 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 give Earth a gift: the Rakweed. They say it can survive in even the harshest conditions, and would end Earth's famine. With Sarah Jane as their ambassador, the Blathereen could form 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 the next day, and with Mr Smith's help, Clyde is able to smuggle K9 into school.

Whilst getting dressed, Luke can't find his tie and goes into the attic to look for it. The Rakweed has 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 K9 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 the Earth that will infect humans who may pose 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 from which they will never awaken. Sarah Jane sees red and black spots on Luke's chest and the Rakweed releases a massive wave of spores that head towards Sarah Jane and Luke. 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 his energy. 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. 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 K9 to analyse and asks for the answers to be relayed to him via the metal earpiece. K9 initially refuses, stating that his order is unethical, but is soon persuaded by Clyde, who says to K9, "You said a test was one human demonstrating intellectual superiority over others. I brought a supercomputer into school, that's pretty smart, wouldn't you say?" K9 considers by flashing his eye light. 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 in the London area have already been infected. Clyde is caught cheating when K9 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 the 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 over 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. She is armed with a jet-powered water pistol loaded with vinegar. Rani learns about the Rakweed's effects after finding some of the students unconscious, and calls Luke, who is now 87% infected 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 K9 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 eating Rakweed, and plan to cover the Earth with it, as it has a high value on the galactic market. They soon reveal their true identities - members of a family descended from both the Slitheen and the Blathereen known as the Slitheen-Blathereen family, who tend to take after the greedy Slitheen more than the noble Blathereen. 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 learns that the Rakweed plants somehow 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 unconscious.

K9 utilises the school bells to defeat the Rakweed within the building. Clyde uses K9 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 causes the Slitheen-Blathereen's stomachs to swell, then explode, covering everyone and everything in their gory remains; the undigested Rakweed reacted to the alarm, creating an uncontainable amount of methane gas and 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 on the possibility 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

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



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.
          

Crispin Layfield credited as Stunt Co-ordinator for part two only.


References

Planets

Companions

Species

  • The Rackateen are mentioned by the Blathereen.

Cultural References

  • While Luke is getting changed, Everybody in Love by JLS can be heard.
  • Clyde says he should apply for MasterChef after the Blathereen enjoy his cooking.
  • Clyde uses the phrase Saved by the Bell when the last period bell destroys the Rakweed, possibly a reference to the old sitcom of the same name, or possibly just using the common phrase as a pun.

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 PROSE: The Monsters Inside. The Gift is the first appearance of the Blathereen in a TV story.
  • The Slitheen leader referred to the Blathereen in TV: Revenge of the Slitheen.
  • This episode marks the return of the Slitheen in The Sarah Jane Adventures. They previously appeared in TV: Revenge of the Slitheen, The Lost Boy and From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love.
  • The Blathereen are orange while the Slitheen are green.
  • Simon Callow previously played Charles Dickens in TV: 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 TV: Warriors of the Deep.
  • When K9 gets out of Sarah Jane's car, he says, "Hover mode activated". This solves the mystery of how K9 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 TV: 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 life form 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 TV:The Five Doctors.
  • Clyde says, "I'll explain later", a line sometimes associated with the Doctor.

Ratings

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Myths

  • It was rumoured the Judoon would appear, because in the previous two series the alien from the first episode also appeared 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. No other humans died. However, the Slitheen-Blathereen died, so this rumour was partially true.

Production errors

  • When Sarah Jane is held hostage in the Blathereen ship, the screen shows the Rakweed have spread all over London. But when it cuts to Sarah in the chair the screen changes. They used the same footage twice.
  • When the Blathereen are eating Rakweed, they aren't actually eating it
  • 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
  • In the same scene, Leef's collar has orange paint on it the same colour as her skin.

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.

Footnotes

v • e
SJA television stories
Series 1
Series 2
Regular episodes
Mini-episodes
Series 3
Series 4
Series 5
Stories listed here are only those that have been officially licensed by the BBC.


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