The Nightmare Man (novelisation): Difference between revisions

|series=[[The Sarah Jane Adventures novelisations]]

|number= 10

|setting= [[Earth]], [[2009]], [[2010]]

|writer= [[Joseph Lidster]]

== Plot ==

The story starts with Luke recording a message - he is frightened that somebody is coming. The story then flashes back a year, to show Luke telling Sarah Jane that he is planning to go university a year early. It is then revealed that they are handcuffed to a bomb set by a Slitheen - however Clyde and Rani come in with K9. K9 deactivates the bomb, and Clyde throws vinegar at the Slitheen to kill it.

With two days to go, Clyde throws a going away party with some of his school friends. Luke has a third nightmare there - finally seeing the Nightmare Man of the title, who tells Luke that he is unable to tell anyone else about him - and sure enough, when Rani asks him, he is unable to say the name of the person. He then tries to tell his former friend Maria via Facebook but falls asleep, and has another nightmare. The Nightmare Man shows him a vision of Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani replacing him with someone else, and burning all his photos. He tells Luke that he feeds off nightmares, and that one more will allow him to come into his world. On his last night, Clyde and Rani stay over and he tries to keep them awake - however as he starts to feel tired, he realises that he cannot stop the Nightmare Man, and records the message seen at the beginning. He then falls asleep - and sure enough, the Nightmare Man materialises in the room, where he adjusts to being real. The final shot of the first part is of Luke stuck in a completely black place shouting for help.

The story continues with the Nightmare Man sneaking about in the attic with Luke fast asleep. As Sarah Jane walks into the attic the Nightmare Man disappears. He sneaks into the rooms in which Clyde and Rani are sleeping and changes their dreams into nightmares. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane finds the video camera that Luke recorded his message with and begins watching the recording. In Rani's dream, a news reporter for BBC News starts talking to Rani through the television and eventually pulls Rani into the television. Back in the attic, when Sarah Jane sees the Nightmare Man materialising into the attic, she rushes to Luke trying to wake him to no success. She then calls for Mr Smith and K9. Meanwhile, in Luke's dream he sees a red door and runs through it to find himself in a long corridor full of red doors. In Clyde's dream, he is working at a burger shop and an older version of Sarah Jane comes through in a wheelchair claiming that he is a stupid boy and that he was never as good as Luke.

* Luke is stated to have just finished the diet that he was on in the [[The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (novelisation)|novelisation of ''The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith'']] and packs three pairs of trousers that have stretchy waistbands to accommodate for the freshman fifteen, which he is anxious of gaining.

* The story retains a line of dialogue originally written for the TV version but cut from broadcast that hints that Luke may be [[gay]]; the implication of this line was confirmed by [[Russell T Davies]] in a 2013 interview in which he revealed [[CBBC]] had asked for a gay character to be included in the series, and Davies decided to establish Luke and [[Sanjay (Death of the Doctor)|Sanjay]] as a romantic pairing. However, due to [[Elisabeth Sladen]]'s unexpected death, the storyline did not come to fruition until 2020's ''[[Farewell, Sarah Jane (webcast)|Farewell, Sarah Jane]]''.

== Continuity ==

== External links ==