Prisoner of the Judoon (TV story)

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Prisoner of the Judoon was the first story in the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It marked the first appearance of the Judoon in a spin-off and the introduction of a new species, the Veil.

Synopsis

Sarah Jane and the gang face the most dangerous day of their lives as the rhino-like Judoon return. When prisoner Androvax the Annihilator crash-lands on Earth, the Veil is set free to turn Earth's technology against itself. His next intended victim is Sarah Jane. As the Judoon fleet approaches Earth, it's a race against time to stop Androvax. With Genetec Systems' technology on the rampage and Rani's parents taken prisoner, can anything stop the Army of the Infinitesimal?

Plot

Part 1

Sarah Jane Smith gives an overview of her life and tells how life on Earth is just as exciting as travelling the stars. She goes to interview Mr. Yorke, the head of Genetec Systems, about nanoforms and the threat they might pose if released into the environment along with the fact he is centuries away from proper programming to back his boasts. Yorke takes her questions poorly and has her thrown out. Sarah takes it in stride.

She returns home to find Luke and Clyde playing football. Rani comes over just as a "meteor" crashes onto the Earth. They race inside and Sarah Jane activates Mr Smith, who tells them that the falling object crossed the solar system in forty-five minutes. Sarah says it can't be a meteor. Mr Smith notes the falling object sent a distress signal. His monitor shows Judoon calling for help. He says a life-pod was launched before the ship crashed. Sarah explains the Judoon's job and their dimwitted methods. Mr Smith says UNIT has secured the area. Worried that UNIT will get into a fight with the Judoon, Sarah tells her companions that it's time to move out. As they leave, Gita (once again) causes a delay by asking Sarah if any of her contacts would be interested in her flower shop, "Bloomin' Lovely". Sarah distractedly gives Gita a brochure from Genetec Systems. Gita decides to fill the company's office with plants as a sort of guerrilla marketing and drags Haresh with her.

They soon find the Judoon pilot pursuing his now-escaped prisoner and are nearly hit by stray blast from his weapon. Sarah explains that under the rules of the Shadow Proclamation, Earth barely exists. To make matters worse, the Judoon are brutal and will execute anyone that gets in their way.

In the meantime, the Judoon is knocked out by the escapee with a board, allowing him time to escape his straitjacket and flee. Sarah and the others find the Judoon and move his blaster away. The Judoon awakens, takes out its "language assimilation/cataloguing device" and records Sarah's offering of help and warning not to harm them. Assimilating English, the Judoon says his name is Captain Tybo and his prisoner, Androvax, is the "Destroyer of Worlds".

To prevent Tybo from harming any innocent humans in his zeal to recapture Androvax, Sarah insists on helping his investigations. After hearing a young girl's scream nearby, Sarah and Clyde run to investigate, leaving Luke and Rani to keep Tybo distracted.

They find the girl. They attempt to comfort her and find out where her mother is. However, Sarah's watch begins to beep. She had been scanning the girl, who is not human. Androvax steps out of the girl's body and into Sarah's, then puts Clyde in a trance.

Captain Tybo figures out that Luke and Rani are distracting him. He smashes their mobile phones to prevent any more mistakes. He says Androvax is a Veil life form, capable of possessing others. They find Clyde in the theatre, revive him with a squirt bottle after slapping him proves ineffective, and learn Androvax has Sarah.

Tybo threatens another driver

Tybo "commandeers" a police car and they pursue Sarah/Androvax back to Bannerman Road, where she has been talking to Mr Smith. Sarah returns to Genetec Systems, where she talked to Mr York about the nanoforms. Captain Tybo, Rani, Luke and Clyde reach the attic only to discover that Mr Smith has been set to self-destruct in sixty seconds, which will destroy all of Bannerman Road.

Part 2

Captain Tybo is prepared to blast Mr Smith, but Luke stops the countdown by telling Mr Smith that exploding would contradict his purpose of defending and protecting Earth, as the resulting explosion would destroy several city blocks. Mr Smith tells Luke, Rani, Tybo and Clyde where Sarah is — Genetec System Labs. Androvax plans to use the nanoforms to build a spaceship for escape, then allow them to run wild and destroy the Earth. Meanwhile, Gita and Haresh have been arrested by the security guard there, but when Androvax sets off multiple alarms, the guard leaves and they escape. Luke, Rani and Clyde arrive with Tybo. Rani insists they hide when she sees her parents roaming the building. The kids decide to lock the Judoon Captain in a shielded room to prevent him harming Sarah Jane in his zeal to stop Androvax.

More Judoon arrive on the scene, right behind Haresh and Gita. Haresh wants to find out what they're up to, but Gita is more concerned about finding the security guard, who's taken her mobile, and staying alive. The Judoon comment that Gita is more intellegent than Haresh; interfering with their work will warrant termination. In the meantime, Sarah argues with Androvax, but when the kids arrive in the lab, Androvax captures Luke and sets the nanoforms after Clyde and Rani with Sarah's sonic lipstick. They recall that nanoforms will go dormant at low temperatures and defeat them with a fire extinguisher.

Androvax takes Luke aboard the now-complete space ship. Sarah attempts to take control of her body again. Clyde and Rani also appear and Luke steals the ship's power core, insisting they'll let Androvax escape if he releases Sarah Jane. Androvax finally agrees, but the Judoon arrive to arrest him moments later. The nanoforms, meanwhile, have begun eating the building and Haresh and Gita are trapped inside. Luke uses the spaceship's computer to deactivate the nanoforms. The Judoon leave with their prisoner in the ship. Tybo, taking into account the youngsters' part in stopping Androvax, chooses not to prosecute them for locking him in the room. Instead, he revokes their interplanetary travel rights — oddly as Earthlings shouldn't have any — effectively "grounding" them on Earth. Sarah and her team arrive home safe, where Gita and Haresh regale them with the harrowing story of their encounter with aliens.

Cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics


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.


References

The alien ship re-engineered by Androvax from the Dreamland archives
The original alien ship that crashed and was re-engineered by the Dreamland base

Individuals

Organisations and institutions

  • Sarah is familiar with the Judoon and the Shadow Proclamation.
  • Mr Smith has a set of self-detonation protocols for a worst-case scenario. The explosion has the power to destroy the whole of Bannerman Road. The alarm that sounds when it activates is nearly identical to those used in the Torchwood Hub.
  • Genetec Systems is a scientific research organisation.

Cultural references from the real world

  • When Sarah tells Gita her normal contacts aren't that interested in flowers, Clyde jokes to Rani and Luke about the Triffids. Coincidentally, the BBC aired a two-part television series entitled The Day of the Triffids later in 2009, the year of this episode's initial broadcast.
  • Clyde refers to Luke as his "young padawan" — a reference to the Star Wars prequels.
  • Sarah says the Judoon's methods of law enforcement "aren't exactly Softly, Softly" — a reference to a long-running British police TV series.
  • Rani asks the Judoon "Who do you think you are, Jack Bauer?", referring to the lead from the TV series 24.
  • Clyde jokes that Tybo is an "intergalactic PC Plod", referring to the character from the Noddy books by Enid Blyton. It is a common derogatory term for the police in the United Kingdom.
  • Clyde tells the little girl that her mum might have just been taken to help Androvax "phone home", lampooning the classic line from the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
  • When Tybo commandeers a police SUV but adheres to the speed limit, Rani asks him, "Don't they get Starsky & Hutch repeats in Judoonland?", a seventies American television series known for its thrilling action-based car chases.
    • Realising Tybo doesn't fully grasp police procedures on Earth, Clyde tells Tybo he can "turn on the blues and twos," a British term that refers to the blue flashing lights on an emergency vehicle and the traditional two-tone siren horn.
  • A young man in a cabriolet pulls alongside Tybo, blaring techno music. Tybo points his gun at him and warns him the music exceeds permitted levels, referring to the noise ordinance in London to prevent noise pollution. The astonished man does as he is told and Tybo replies, "Have nice day," a broken English interpretation of the phrase "Have a nice day," one of the cultural folkways of humanity that is considered to be a polite gesture.
  • Gita tells Haresh he's "more of a Jamie Oliver than a James Bond", likening her husband more to the celebrity chef than to the fictional spy.
  • Gita says "I think we should be calling the police, not playing I Spy", referring to the American spy show from the 1960's.
  • Clyde mentions Albert Einstein and Star Wars.

Races and species

  • A file on the Slitheen appears when Mr Smith stops his self-destruct countdown.
  • Androvax reprogrammes the Nanoforms.
  • Veil World is the home planet of the Veil.

Objects

Other

Story notes

  • Beginning with this episode, Sarah Jane episodes now begin with a brief prologue in which Clyde breaks the fourth wall to explain the characters and concept of the series to viewers. This same footage had previously formed the basis of the cinema trailer for the season. This teaser includes brief scenes from the different stories of the season. This opening was also used in Series 4 and Series 5 (with the preview footage updated appropriately).
  • Nicholas Briggs, who performs the Judoon's voice, has now been credited on all three Doctor Who-franchise series.
  • This marks the sixth appearance for the Judoon. The others were in TV: Smith and Jones, TV: The Stolen Earth, PROSE: Revenge of the Judoon, PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon and the Fifth Doctor flashback in COMIC: The Forgotten
  • This marks the third story to feature Judoon at the end of the title. The others are Revenge of the Judoon and Judgement of the Judoon.
  • This is Nicholas Briggs' only appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
  • Mr Smith mentions a spaceship crash in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and the Dreamland base in Arizona. This is the first time that plotlines for future episodes have been pre-referenced (at least with the production team's knowledge of future use), as Roswell and Dreamland were involved in a future animated serial titled Dreamland that, at the time this episode was broadcast, was in late production stages.

Ratings

  • Part 1 — 0.6 million
  • Part 2 — 0.7 million

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

to be added

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.

External links

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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