The Lost Boy

"Without purpose we cease to be."

Writer: Phil Ford

Format: TV

Broadcast: 12th-19th November 2007

Series: SJA 1.06

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde, K9

Synopsis 

A missing child turns out to be, both visually and genetically, Luke. Sarah Jane is forced to hand him over to the "parents". Heartbroken, Sarah Jane rejects Maria and Clyde, and with Maria's dad threatening to sell the house to keep his daughter out of danger, it seems the gang's adventures have come to an end, whilst Luke discovers his new "parents" are not all they seem - an old enemy has returned, and this time, they are in league with a member of Sarah Jane's faithful team in a plot to bring the moon crashing to Earth...

Verdict 

The Lost Boy was an excellent story and a great way to conclude the first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The idea of a Doctor Who spinoff had already been utilised magnificently with Torchwood but whereas that was aimed at adults, we also needed a spinoff series that was targeted at the younger audience of Doctor Who fans. It maintains its youthful appeal whilst also keeping the older viewers like myself interested with some fantastic storytelling and constant references to the parent show. I really loved the plot of this story and the idea of Luke actually being a missing child was more than feasible. Sarah Jane quickly bought into the fact that he was kidnapped rather than created by the Bane and Mr Smith confirmed that. However, Mr Smith wasn't all he set out to be and was actually working to his own agenda! He was a Xylok and had intended on rescuing the rest of his race from far beneath the Earth where they had been since crash landing around sixty million years ago. He was using both Sarah Jane and the Slitheen to actually try and cause a collision between the Earth and it's moon! Now that's quite a plan. It would have freed the rest of the Xylok species but it would have meant devastation and the end of the human race. But it didn't matter to Mr Smith. He had his purpose and that's all that mattered. I really liked that Alan was now in on the aliens secret and his reactions to some of Maria's methods of gaining information were great. Maria telling him all about her recent life with references to Invasion of the Bane, Revenge of the Slitheen and Eye of the Gorgon was terrific and I just loved his reaction to finding out that he'd been turned to stone at one point. He found it difficult to grasp but he was soon getting on board. At first he was going to put the house on sale but soon saw some more wonders of the universe and what that meant to Maria. The return of the Slitheen was done in a fantastic way and I loved how it wasn't hinted at throughout the story. That made the reveal of Ashley's parents a superb moment. The cliffhanger was great and I liked the return of the child Slitheen from Revenge of the Slitheen. Nathan was a bit too good to be true and Sarah Jane saw that when she met him. The missing child press conferences were convincing and I liked the image of Sarah Jane getting arrested. It's just not what you want to see but it's so striking. Luke, or as we were led to believe Ashley, returning to what was said to be his home was interesting and the mentions of football and skateboarding were what got Clyde and Luke sceptical about the claims. The talk of the Xylok was good but the revelation that was the species of Mr Smith was fantastic! It was unexpected and that's exactly what you want. Clyde was taken inside of the super computer and managed to communicate with Alan which was good. Alan in turn provided an Armageddon virus that saw fit to dealing with the Xylok and Sarah Jane convinced him of his new purpose which was to save the Earth. He gave up on using Luke and telekinesis to crash the Moon into the Earth and saved the planet. Sarah Jane couldn't have done it without K9 who emerged in superb style to fight off Mr Smith. Clyde seeing him for the first time was a good moment. Sarah Jane narrating to close the series, just as she did to open it, was a fantastic way to finish what has been an excellent spinoff series. Here's to the next four!

Rating: 9/10