Mona Lisa's Revenge

"This isn't anything like a straightforward art theft."

Writer: Phil Ford
Format: TV
Broadcast: 12th-13th November 2009
Series: SJA 3.05

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, Rani

Synopsis

Strange forces bring the Mona Lisa, on exhibit at an art gallery in London, to life. Clyde, Rani and Luke are at the gallery on a school trip as the painting rampages with a Sontaran blaster taken from another painting. Sarah comes to the rescue but ends up trapped in a painting and it's all down to Luke, Clyde and Rani to save the day. The Mona Lisa searches for her brother, a painting so terrifying it shouldn't be looked upon, The Abomination...

Verdict

Mona Lisa's Revenge was a great little story to get me back into performed Doctor Who (well, a spinoff) after a lengthy absence! This is my first blog entry of a performed story since Christmas Day and even if this was The Sarah Jane Adventures, I must say that it was great to be doing something that was not a comic strip! Now, don't get me wrong I do love the comic strip format but when it's all you have done for over two months it can become a little tedious. Sadly, it's all I've had time for lately with the surge of assignments that come with being a second year student at university but I am just happy that I have been able to do what I have done thus far in 2017. I was worried I wouldn't do anything at all and now after a three month absence I'm back in the third series of the terrific spinoff that is SJA. I thought the premise of this story was honestly quite daft but somehow Phil Ford made it work quite well. Could the Mona Lisa really be an alien entity? Well, it appeared so! That idea in itself just seems barmy but this wasn't the first time the Mona Lisa has been central to a story in the Doctor Who Universe. City of Death is of course remembered for featuring the famous painting and although that story was audaciously brilliant, it didn't quite go as far here as bringing the figure of Mona Lisa to life! And on top that, she was armed with a Sontaran blaster! I thought the character development of Clyde in this story was very good and when I thought about what he was like in the first series of this spinoff, you can certainly see how much more grown up is by this stage of the third series. He needed Luke to enter him into the art competition but Clyde was actually quite proud of his talent, especially because it won his class a trip to see the Mona Lisa. The relationship between Luke and Sarah Jane was intriguing and I didn't ever expect to see them end up arguing over a messy room. They did of course make up by the end of the story which was always expected but it was good to see that dynamic and the acknowledgement that it did exist. Harding was quite a humorous character I found which was intriguing because I don't think that was the intention. He was literally in love with the painting of the Mona Lisa and after working his whole life towards the goal, he finally brought it to his beloved gallery. But his love for the painting made him blind to the potential happiness right before his eyes in the form of Miss Trupp. Her getting stuck in the Mona Lisa was quite silly but it seemed to work. Her reaction once getting freed was fantastic though. The hunt for Mona Lisa's brother, known as the Abomination, was pretty decent and I liked the story behind where this piece of artwork got its name. Luke brilliantly came up with a resolution to ensure that the Abomination was never freed and that Mona Lisa was returned to her painting whilst everyone trapped in paintings was brought back to reality. And that was bringing a drawing of K9 to life. I thought that was a very clever resolution and it worked terrifically well. This story was not really hurt by Sarah Jane's absence in part two and I think that's testament to how good the characters of Luke, Rani and Clyde are. Overall, a very good story!

Rating: 8/10