Dreamland

"You're on your way into space!"

Writer: David Bishop

Format: Audio

Released: April 2006

Series: Sarah Jane Smith 2.04

Featuring: Sarah Jane

Synopsis

Sarah Jane Smith is still dealing with the tragic consequences of recent events when she is offered the chance of a lifetime – a place on the world's first tourist flight into space.

The trip's sponsor, Sir Donal Wakefield, believes it is her destiny. But after her recent experiences, what does Sarah still believe in?

Verdict

Dreamland was a very good story to conclude the second series and the entire range of Sarah Jane Smith Big Finish audios! This is a strong adventure to conclude the series and I think it's a massive shame that things end on a cliffhanger that is yet to be resolved. There is nothing worse than that in television or audio series with Agent Carter's end still irking me, and this is no different. As I predicted, the first commercial flight into space played a big role which worked well, but something I wasn't massively fussed on was the slight time jump from Fatal Consequences with the cliffhanger not being followed up immediately. It appeared that Josh killed the Keeper before Sarah was shot and he had also killed Will which was a little less of a surprise. The Keeper's fate was very repetitive as far as Josh's actions go. The Dauntless being ready to fly was excellent and the issue of the unrecognised comet provided a good threat as well. Ben as the pilot turned out to be a very good character and I was also delighted to hear Nat was back for the finale. She did the duty of driving Sarah Jane to Will's funeral which was admirable. I liked that Wakefield offered Sarah and Josh the trip to Nevada to see the Dauntless lift off which wasn't a surprise, and the issues that stemmed from Josh not having told Nat that he killed Luka back in Buried Secrets really strained their relationship. Josh turning out to be Wakefield's son was not something I saw coming I have to admit, but it did make sense given his position as part of the White Chapter. I really enjoyed Sarah's reflection on her travels with the Doctor and how much she missed him. Wakefield's cancer kicking in was a great development and his desire to see Sarah, Josh and Nat together at his bed was intriguing. Donald passing away before getting to voyage into space was a sad moment but from there things kicked into action in a huge way. Ben going unconscious as the Dauntless ascended to space with Sarah and Josh on board was obviously problematic, with the pilot then not releasing the boosters as the ascension continued. Ben was part of the Crimson Chapter which was fantastic and a nice way to round out that story arc. Josh had promised Sarah no more guns, but here was pulling one out on Ben in space! Josh was shot in the stomach and another stray bullet hit the controls which was clearly an issue. That sparking a fire on the Dauntless was brilliant and a big problem and coupling that with Josh appearing to pass away leaving Sarah helpless in space. The Dauntless was still ascending with something seeming to approach it very bright and almost like shooting stars. Frustratingly, for Sarah she had found what she was searching for, but sadly we won't get to know what this was! It's a real shame as I thought this was a very strong finale to what was a very good second series of the spinoff range. It's a shame there's no more and even more so that there was no resolution to an excellent cliffhanger! 

Rating: 8/10