Meet Mr Smith (unproduced TV story)
Meet Mr Smith was to have been the fourth story of Series 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. However, due to the death of Elisabeth Sladen in April 2011, only half of the series was filmed, resulting in The Man Who Never Was being the final story of the series.
It was planned to be written by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, who together wrote Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith (the sixth and final story of Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures).
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
While the gang are together in the attic, an alien called Ozmo secretly releases a mutagen bomb in Sarah Jane's attic which latches on to Mr Smith's keyboard and suddenly turns Mr Smith into a human who wears a bowler hat and a pin-striped city gent suit, looking like the spitting image of John Steed. Mr Smith embraces his newfound humanity by referring to himself as "Smithy" and is very eager to explore in his new form. This leads to him experiencing joy with human life and eventually developing a romance with Carla Langer. However, he is forced to secretly do work for Ozmo which involves stealing valuables and tech pieces as Ozmo blackmails him with stabilising shots that maintain his human form while the gang realises how much of a struggle it is to protect the Earth without relying on Mr Smith.
Part 1 would end with Sarah Jane catching Smithy in the act of stealing a diamond in a Maximum Security area at the Asquith Bank Vaults as she'd secretly traced his suspicious activities. But before she could do anything, Smithy catches her off-guard and relieves Sarah Jane of her sonic while locking her in a bank vault. As Sarah Jane is trapped, she bangs on the door and tries to plead with Smithy, while Ozmo's hologram secretly watches her and states that she would be better off in there as he declares he has sinister plans in store for Earth. Part 2 would involve Sky leading the team as she tells Rani and Clyde that the three of them need take on the role of Mr Smith by looking through data resources and clues that can help them find Sarah Jane and Smithy.
Ozmo's true intentions would later be revealed in the second part where the gang discover that he was building a teleporter relay with the intent to attract aliens who were interested in buying the Earth. Smithy's behaviour would also make Clyde and Rani question their trust in people they confide in. The story would eventually end with Smithy (Mr Smith) reverting back to his Xylok form after sacrificing his last stabiliser shot to stop Ozmo, which comes at the cost of breaking Carla's heart. Just before Ozmo is compromised and teleported away to an intergalactic prison, he attempts to warn Sarah Jane about Sky being the "child of chaos" which would be another additional hint to Sky being the daughter of the Trickster as it would have previously been hinted in a deleted scene with Sky and Plark in The Man Who Never Was (The Sarah Jane Companion Volume Three).
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This episode would have featured Alexander Armstrong, the voice of Mr Smith, making a live-action guest appearance as the computer's human form. Had the episode been produced, it would have marked Armstrong's first physical performance in a DWU story, predating his appearance as Reg Arwell in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe later that year.
References[[edit] | [edit source]]
REF: The Sarah Jane Companion Volume Three
Shannon Sullivan: A Brief History of Time Travel
