The Mad Woman in the Attic (TV story)

The Mad Woman in the Attic
Featuring:	Sarah Jane Smith Luke Smith Clyde Langer Rani Chandra Mr Smith K9 Mark IV (joins)
Main setting:	Ealing, London, Danemouth, Sussex 24th October 2009, 2059
Key crew
Writer:	Joseph Lidster
Director:	Alice Troughton
Producer:	Nikki Smith
Release details
Story number:	15
Release number:	Series 3
Premiere broadcast:	22 October 2009 (Part 1) 23 October 2009 (Part 2)
Format:	2 30 minute episodes

Synopsis

The year is 2059. In the derelict attic of 13, Bannerman Road, an elderly Rani Chandra tells the story of the day she met the alien Eve, and her life went wrong...

Plot

Part One

In the year 2059, a young boy called Adam walks inside the dark, mysterious 13 Bannerman Road. It is no longer inhabited by Sarah Jane Smith, but instead by a self-described "mad old woman," Rani Chandra. Mr Smith has died and the whole house seems to be deteriorating; Rani herself is unkempt and unwell, and lingers over old photographs and drawings as she tells Adam how she came to this sorry state.

In 2009, Rani is intrigued by reports of strange lights, and goes over to Sarah Jane's to discuss them. There, Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde are laughing about Maria Jackson, who is now hiding aliens from the American government. Sarah Jane says that the strange lights were just lightning, as Mr Smith had already checked up on it. Hurt by Sarah Jane's dismissive attitude, Rani returns home to sulk and finds an e-mail from Sam Lloyd, her best friend before he moved to Ealing. Sam is an orphan who dropped out of contact with Rani, even though she confided in him about her adventures with Sarah Jane.

Rani meets Sam, who tells her that there is a "demon" inside a closed funfair and people have disappeared. Rani goes in to investigate, but Sam returns to the orphanage. Rani finds the caretaker, Harry and pretends she has a twisted ankle in order to get into his office. While there, Rani hears a voice says 'Playtime has Begun'. She then witnesses the people who disappeared walk out from the haunted house and begin playing on the rides; all of their eyes have turned red and they smile fixedly while the rides appear to operate themselves. While Rani observes the people on the rides, Harry is contacted by a red face in his mirror. The voice says, 'Playtime is Over' and the people return to the haunted house.

Rani makes her way into the haunted house and discovers a red-skinned alien called Eve. Eve is just a child, and the two talk with each other; during the conversation, Sarah Jane tries to call Rani, and she mutters to herself that she wishes they'd just leave her alone. Eve reveals that her race can allow people to see their past and future and manipulate timelines, and were thus killed off in a conflict between two other races--most likely the Last Great Time War. Eve's parents placed her in a Ship that crashed on Earth, where Harry found her and has raised her ever since, hidden in the fair.

Eve then says that the people she possessed are her friends, as she is not allowed to go outdoors because of her inhuman appearance. Eve asks Rani if she wants to see her future. Rani sees her old, insane self and violently denies that such a thing could happen to her. She also decides to help Eve escape.

SHUT UP BUG

NO ONE

Production Crew

to be added

References

• Sarah Jane references the Terrible Zodin while talking to Luke and Clyde.
• Eve refers to her race being targeted by both sides in a war and many being "exterminated" because of their ability to read the "Timelines". This is presumably a reference to the Last Great Time War, the two races being the Time Lords and the Daleks.
• "Older Rani" talks about the time before people became truly aware of aliens. Cybermen and Daleks are mentioned.
• Many references are made to Maria Jackson and Rani's fears of being compared to her. This is also touched upon by Mrs Wormwood in SJA: Enemy of the Bane.
• In the fun park, there are pictures of many characters from other shows. As well as logos. Some of them are Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and the Warner Bros. logo.
• Eve and her son's name are a biblical reference to the first humans, Adam and Eve.
• The Doctor is seen and mentioned by Ship.

Story notes

• Harry was played by Brian Miller, Elisabeth Sladen's husband. Miller previously appeared in Doctor Who, in DW: Snakedance and voiced Daleks in DW: Resurrection of the Daleks, DW: Remembrance of the Daleks
• The fact that Rani mentions the Daleks and Cybermen being part of the reason people are very aware of aliens may hint that the government ended the cover-up story mentioned in Torchwood at some point following the events of the DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End.
• The clip of DW: The Five Doctors marks the first time footage from the classic series had appeared on one of the spin-off series, though the first overall "revival era" story to use such clips had been DW: The Next Doctor.
• This is the only episode of the series to not have an enemy.
• The Gravitron is never mentioned, but it was up and running by 2059, and the opening shot of part 1 makes it clear that the people in the Moonbase did not bother with run-of-the-mill thunderstorms.
• This episode forshadows Luke leaving for university in the Premier Story of the next series .

Ratings

to be added

Myths

• Since Eve said about playing games in the trailer, some people thought she was related to the Celestial Toymaker or the Isolus.
• People thought another fairytale creature might be shown (such as the Pied Piper or Gorgon) because that was the normal format.
• People thought Sarah Jane would be classified as mad and Luke will have to live in a home.
• The Trickster could have been involved as he constantly tries to Remove Sarah Jane from time

Filming locations

• Barry Island

Production errors

• When Eve scans Rani's mind a Gorgon appears: the Gorgon appeared in series 1, but Rani appeared in series 2. There are also clips of the Star Poet Maria saw in Sarah Jane's yard. You can even see part of Maria in the clips.
• Clips of DW: The Five Doctors is shown but Sarah Jane was supposed to have forgotten about that adventure.

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.

• Images of the Bane, Slitheen, The Trickster, Captain Tybo, and Kaagh are seen when Eve views Rani's thoughts.
• Visions of Sarah-Jane's past include clips from DW: The Time Warrior (her first story), DW: Planet of the Spiders, DW: The Hand of Fear (her last regular classic story), DW: The Five Doctors, DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
• Clips from SJA: Invasion of the Bane, SJA: The Day of the Clown, SJA: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and the next story SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
• K9 appears for the first time since SJA: From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love. This marks his first appearance in Series Three.
• The Daleks and Cybermen are mentioned, they came into common Earth knowledge as a whole during the events of DW: Doomsday, the Daleks also appear in a flashback of DW: The Stolen Earth.
• Eve mentions her backstory, including two races who were at war who attacked her people, even though they remained neutral. She also mentions escaping "extermination." It is therefore likely that she was actually referring to the the Last Great Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks. Eve also reveals that her people can read the time lines and that's why they were targeted in the war which is further proof that it was part of the Last Great Time War.

Timeline

• Occurs after SJA: Prisoner of the Judoon
• Occurs before SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith