Revenge of the Slitheen

"Humans. Even the clever ones are stupid."

Writer: Gareth Roberts 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 24th September-1st October 2007

Series: SJA 1.02

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde 

Synopsis 

First days at school are always difficult. For Maria Jackson and Luke Smith, the task of blending in is made all the more difficult when their teachers turn out to be aliens from outer space, back for revenge...

Verdict 

Revenge of the Slitheen was a great story to kick off the regular series of the Sarah Jane Adventures! Although generally considered as the second story of the first series, this adventure actually kicks off the weekly broadcasting of the Doctor Who spinoff show and comes some ten months after the first episode actually aired. I thought the idea to bring back a familiar monster for the first regular story was a good one and even though Sarah Jane is the main character, we are still reminded that this show is absolutely a part of the Doctor Who universe. Prior to yesterday, it had been around five years since I had watched the Sarah Jane Adventures and I think it's fair to say that life is a bit different now at 19 than it was in 2011 at the age of 14. I may even have been younger the last time I watched this spinoff series. In that time, I've blogged all of Torchwood and ventured into the Doctor Who audios and this show has such a different feel. I honestly didn't remember it being so oriented for children. It's silly in places but I think that's part of its appeal. It aired on CBBC so I should expect it to be for more of a younger viewer. But to me it's still in the Doctor Who universe and that thought will stay with me when Class starts airing next month. I thought the Slitheen were terrific and I liked the idea of them returning to Earth to avenge the other members of their family for what occurred during the events of Aliens of London/World War Three. I would assume that Boom Town was also included in the reasoning for this batch of the Slitheen family hoping to strike revenge against mankind. Their plan was actually incredible and the fact that they almost succeeded in turning off the Sun just shows that the Slitheen are not to be messed with. They needed a bit of help from Luke to actually almost end the world but I'm sure they'd have gotten there on their own in due course. I loved Maria once again and I think it's brilliant how she's just such a likeable character. Clyde's introduction was very good and his fascination with Luke was really good. The way he was so proud of realising that Slitheen were prone to vinegar was great. Sarah Jane seems to have assembled quite a good little team here, even if she's not entirely thrilled with putting youngsters in danger. Luke trying to fit in with the rest of humanity was interesting and it was nice that Sarah Jane wanted to give him as normal a life as possible. She had adopted him with the help of Mr Smith but Luke was quite commonly making social mistakes which was a little humorous. He was so direct and his reaction to his classmates finding farting funny was hilarious in itself. I think the farting is why the Slitheen were brought back to boost the series. That would have been popular with the younger fans whom this series is aimed at. I thought the cliffhanger was excellent and the child Slitheen actually sparked a lot of emotion at the end of part two. He had to see his family die while it appeared that he in turn teleported away. Sarah Jane wasn't much thrilled about that occurrence. The school setting on the first day back was good and it seems that Sarah Jane isn't getting a lot of luck in them lately! Her remembering of Rose's comment about the Slitheen in School Reunion was very good. I liked the image of the Beast appearing on Mr Smith and I also enjoyed the mentions of the Judoon and Clom. Sarah Jane again referenced The Time Warrior and The Hand of Fear when reminiscing about her time with the Doctor and I'm always going to love those stories getting mentioned. The ending was well paced and although the story was a tad silly in parts, for my older eyes, I still thought it was terrific. Overall, a great adventure!

Rating: 8/10