Revenge of the Slitheen (TV story)

Revenge of the Slitheen was the second story of the series, and makes up the first two episodes of the first series.

Revenge of the Slitheen
Featuring:	Sarah Jane Smith Luke Smith Maria Jackson Clyde Langer (introduction; joins) Mr Smith
Main enemy:	Slitheen
Main setting:	Ealing, London, 2008
Key crew
Writer:	Gareth Roberts
Director:	Alice Troughton
Producer:	Matthew Bouch
Release details
Release number:	2
Premiere broadcast:	24th September 2007
Format:	2 - 30 mins episodes

Synopsis

Sarah Jane Smith, investigative journalist and former companion to the Doctor, is back in a brand-new CBBC drama from the makers of Doctor Who. And in the first two-part story of the series she faces some familiar alien enemies of the Doctor as the Slitheen are back and out for revenge...

Plot

Maria and Luke start their new school but find all is not as it seems. Aided by Sarah Jane and their new friend Clyde, they find the Slitheen, old enemies of the Doctor, this time disguised as teachers, have taken control of the technology block and are trying to switch off the sun. Luke unknowingly gives the Slitheen the code to start the machine, and they start to absorb the power of the sun. Sarah Jane investigates the company controlling the science block, and Maria, Luke and Clyde investigate the school. Sarah Jane is attacked by a female Slitheen who disguised herself as a company secretary, Janine. Luke finds a secret room and is confronted by the Slitheen commander, his headmaster Blakeman, whilst Maria and Clyde are chased first by their Slitheen Science teacher, Mr. Jeffrey and then the school genius, Carl, unzips in front of them to reveal a child Slitheen.

They all manage to escape and head back to Sarah Jane's house. Clyde figures out that the Slitheen are allergic to vinegar, and the team head off back to the school with squirty bottles of vinegar. After Maria uses the vinegar to blow up the Slitheen commander Blakeman, they head over to the secret room in the block and Luke tricks the Slitheen by telling them the machine won't take the power of the sun. He turns the machine off and uses the Sonic Lipstick to cause the machine to malfunction. As the room explodes, the continental Slitheen, still disguised, escapes whilst Janine is electrocuted and explodes and Jeffrey and Carl are trapped. They beg for Sarah's help, and she tries to open the door, but Jeffrey is killed when the technology explodes. However, at the same time, Carl escapes. Sarah Jane is highly affected by this, as she thinks Carl is dead. Afterwards, she tells Clyde about her travels with the Doctor, and then accepts him into the team, before sharing a long hug with Luke. She now knows that she's not alone in the world any more.

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
• Greg Blakeman - Martyn Ellis
• Tim Jeffery - Ian Midlane
• Wendy - Pamela Merrick
• Janine - Imogen Bain
• Carl - Anton Thompson McCormick
• Trinity Wells - Lachele Carl
• Carl Slitheen - Jimmy Vee
• Jeffery/Blakeman/Janine Slitheen- Paul Kasey

Production Crew

Executive Producers – Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson Producer – Matthew Bouch First Assistant Director – Gareth Williams Second Assistant Director – Anna Evans Location Manager – Jonathan Allott Script Editor – Lindsey Alford Focus Puller – Steve Rees Stunt Coordinator – Abbi Collins Supervising Art Director – Matthew North Post-Production Supervisor – Nerys Davies Supervising Sound Editor – Paul McFadden Dubbing Mixer – Mark Ferda

Music – Sam Watts Casting Director – Andy Pryor Production Accountant – Dyfed Thomas Costume Designer – Pam Tait Makeup Designer – Emma Bailey Makeup Artists – Olivia Jones Visual Effects Coordinator – Jenna Powell Visual Effects Artist – Will Pryor Prosthetics Technician – Charlie Bluett Film Editor – William Webb Production Designers – Tim Dickel, Edward Thomas Director of Photography – Rory Taylor

References

• The Slitheen mention they ran into "interplanetary police", which is confirmed to be the Judoon.
• One of the Slitheen say "for the love of Clom", which is the home planet of the Abzorbaloff and the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius.
• Some of the aliens seen in Mr Smith's files include the Butterfly People, Bane, Macra, The Beast, Krillitanes, Abaddon, The Lazarus Monster,Cybus Cybermen and Pterodactyls a reference to Myfanwy.
• This is the first time that a Raxacoricofallapatorian child is seen.
• UNIT is referred to.
• Sarah Jane is heard saying "Give my love to the Brig" in a telephone conversation with a UNIT contact. This is a reference to Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and is the first direct dialogue reference to the character in the revived Doctor Who franchise (a second reference would later be heard in DW: The Poison Sky). A visual reference to the character - a photo - had appeared in the previous episode, Invasion of the Bane, along with an oblique reference as Sarah Jane considered Alistair as a possible name for Luke.
• When describing the Slitheen's previous attempt to destroy earth, Sarah Jane begins by saying "what happened..." then modifies herself to say "who happened ..." - a reference to the ongoing "Doctor who?" joke involving the Doctor's name.
• The headmaster Slitheen mentions the Blathereen, who are cousins and enemies of the Slitheen.

Story Notes

• The first episode aired on BBC 1 only. Episode 2 was broadcast afterwards on the CBBC channel, and was shown on BBC 1 a week later.
• Beginning with episode 1, The Sarah Jane Adventures adopts a format of 25-minute episodes (following its 50-minute pilot episode). This marks the first time a Doctor Who franchise series has used the 25-minute episode format since episode 3 of Survival concluded the original series in 1989.
• Part 1 includes flashback footage from SJA: Invasion of the Bane.
• Mr. Smith's zapping of Clyde (followed by dark laughter) is a possible foreshadowing of his true intentions.

Ratings

• Episode 1 - 1.4m viewers
• Episode 2 - 0.4m viewers (CBBC channel), 1.1m (BBC 1)

Myths

To be added

Filming Locations

To be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• No explanation is given for the absence of Kelsey Harper. She might have moved school/house, or just simply stopped keeping in touch with Maria. Kelsey Harper wasen't intended to be series regular.

• How does Mr Smith know of Abaddon, The Beast or the Macra? Macra have appeared in Earth's past (during the classic series of Doctor Who), and seeing that Mr. Smith is an amazing super-knowledge 'Xylok, why not? Also, Abaddon and The Beast have existed before appearances in Doctor Who and Torchwood, so there is a chance he/it picked up information from the events.

• The speed of light is still not enough for the effect of the Sun being drained to be instant, it would take days, if not weeks for the sun to "go out".
• When Mr. Smith is showing them the american news channel down the info bar at the bottom it says 'thepacific ocean' instead of the 'The Pacific Ocean'.
• Why does Maria have to pretend there was water in her squeezie when after she exploded the Slitheen she still had loads left.
• When Clyde is squirting the head Slitheen he realises that he has no more vinegar in his squeezie, however in the previous take a look at the bottle a good quarter of the mixture is still in, it happens to fast for it to be empty that quick. 
• If the Slitheen's device absorbed all nearby energy, shouldn't the various types of energy (electrical, chemical, heat etc) in living organisms be absorbed too?
• Mr. Smith brings up a world map before Sarah-Jane says it.
• It takes six minutes for light from the Sun to reach Earth, therefore wouldn't it take 6 minutes for the Sun to lose all of it's energy?

Continuity

• The Slitheen family previously appeared in DW: Aliens of London, World War Three, NSA: The Monsters Inside and DW: Boom Town.
• This is the second time Sarah Jane has investigated schools with alien teachers (the first being DW: School Reunion). Sarah Jane refers to this fact, sarcastically saying it would be ridiculous for there to be something unusual in a school. In both cases the leader of the alien group is depicted as impersonating the school's headmaster.
• The Slitheen's tendancy to flatulate while wearing a person's skin is featured more prominently here than in the previous Doctor Who appearances.
• The Blathereen are mentioned, and they are a rival family which appeared in NSA: The Monsters Inside.
• The events of DW: World War Three are mentioned. The Slitheen also state that they are attempting to wipe out Earth in revenge for the loss of family members in that episode.
• Sarah Jane recalls the phrase "Slitheen in Downing Street", which is a direct quote from Rose Tyler in DW: School Reunion.
• Sarah Jane refers to School Reunion when talking to Maria's dad.
• Much as she did in the pilot episode, Sarah Jane describes the Doctor to Clyde and explains how she used to travel with him.
• The American newsreader Trinity Wells (aka Mal Loup), who appears in numerous Doctor Who episodes, makes her first SJA appearance.
• UNIT are mentioned as handling the other Coldfire and Slitheen sites, and Maria is familiar with them. The script also uses Maria to refer to the Whoniverse trope of UNIT and other army groups going in guns blazing only to get slaughtered or worsen the situation.

DVD Releases

This was due to be released on a vanilla DVD along with Eye of the Gorgon on 17 March 2008, until the release was cancelled. It is featured in the Series One box set, which was released in North America on 7 October 2008 and released in the UK on 10 November 2008.

Novelisation

See Revenge of the Slitheen (novelisation)

A novelisation was released on 1 November 2007, written by Rupert Laight. The cover features Sarah Jane, Maria, Luke, Clyde and the Slitheen.

See Also

To be added

External Links

• Revenge of the Slitheen at the Doctor Who Reference Guide