Comeback

"How much trouble can there be in a peaceful English village?"

Writer: Terrance Dicks
Format: Audio
Released: July 2002
Series: Sarah Jane Smith 1.01

Featuring: Sarah Jane

Synopsis

Six months after the last part of her undercover investigative TV series for Planet 3 Broadcasting went out, Sarah Jane Smith is running scared. Living under false names, her true identity compromised, she has few friends and fewer clues to her pursuers.

Enter three people who will change her life: the mysterious Mr Harris, old friend Ellie Martin and a guardian angel in the shape of the roguish Josh Townshend.

Now, all roads lead to the village of Cloots Coombe in Wiltshire but will she find answers she needs there?

Verdict

Comeback was a decent start to the Big Finish range of Sarah Jane Smith audios! This honestly wasn't quite what I was expecting, but listening some 18 years after the first release I'm not entirely sure if I could have any expectations. Of course, the placement for these stories is certainly an interesting one as the way things started with Sarah in the aftermath of her aunt Lavinia's funeral it seemed to follow on from A Girl's Best Friend. Listening in hindsight now, I know that we would go on to have The Sarah Jane Adventures so getting a whole range in between here is really intriguing. I love that Terrance Dicks kicked things off for such a beloved character and it was wonderful from a personal standpoint to hear Elisabeth Sladen again with brand new content. I just thought the approach was a little strange as it kind of felt like a season two opener rather than the debut of an entire range. I felt we perhaps could have had a season of adventures with Sarah Jane undercover for Planet 3 Broadcasting and getting drip fed more and more hints about Rechauffe and how they were coming after her and had been planning to do so. It really did feel like that was the case which was good but the way it was dealt with felt like it existed out there somewhere for us to hear ourselves. The plot was decent and steady and the unethical manner in which the whale creature was being used was good, if not revealed perhaps a tad too late. I thought the audio did a good job in introducing what I assume will be recurring characters in the form of Ellie and Josh. The former heading up Sarah Jane's undercover jaunts as part of Planet 3 Broadcasting was really good and I like that she knew Josh already. He was good character and started strongly getting to know Sarah Jane quite well. The banter that came with him referring to her as SJ – something she hated – was really fun and lighthearted. Hearing expletives from Sarah Jane added a good sense of realism to the story and I like the idea of her journalistic talents being used for a television show. That's definitely something I'd like to watch! The calmness in which she announced to a customer that the bank she was undercover at was to be robbed was marvellous. A really good moment. I thought the Squire made for a good enemy but the true villain was definitely in the form of Harris in my opinion. I do hope we get more of him and I am sure that we will as the series goes on. The mystery and continued mentions of the CEO were very good and I liked the enigmatic feel it had. One little problem I did have was the story was that it probably went a little long and lost its sense of excitement towards the latter stages. It didn't feel like there was a huge amount to build towards and I think that is obvious by how quickly things were resolved through Josh's arson attack. I must admit as well that I thought the performances of the bank robbers were hardly convincing. They didn't sound menacing or threatening in the slightest! The use of Cloots Combe for the setting worked well and I am a fan of the village locals, especially in audios. It just seems a better fit when there are no visuals. Gosforth was another good character as the Reverend and I liked that he feigned being on the phone with the Bishop to Sarah at the end when the truth was he was in league with Harris all along. Overall, this was a decent start to the series but I do think it could have been a tad more exciting if condensed and there have been more of an introductory element. Regardless, this was still a good and solid start to proceedings for the range!

Rating: 7/10