The Gift

"Not all visitors to your planet intend to do harm..."

Writer: Rupert Laight
Format: TV
Broadcast: 19th-20th November 2009
Series: SJA 3.06

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

Synopsis

When the Slitheen's latest scheme to destroy Earth for profit is foiled, another family from the Slitheen's planet arrive - the Blathereen. Though they seem helpful, can they be trusted? As a generous gesture of peace, the Blathereen gift the gang with a plant called Rakweed, which could end world hunger. However, the Rakweed goes wild, spreading spores about London and infecting people, including Luke. Sarah must fight alone, not only to save the Earth, but also her son. Meanwhile, Clyde smuggles K9 into school to help him cheat on a test, and he, Rani and the metal dog find themselves trapped in the school - surrounded by Rakweed. Can the team work together across Ealing - and Antarctica - to prevent Rakweed from devouring the entire planet?

Verdict

The Gift was a great little finale of the third series of the Sarah Jane Adventures spinoff. I must say that this series has been another good one and whilst it may not have quite matched up to the first two series in terms of ratings, it did not falter and it also featured the first appearance of the Doctor in a spinoff! I really liked how this story started straight in the midst of the action with Sarah and the gang running after the returning Slitheen who were returning for the first time since The Lost Boy which served as the finale of the first series. Well, they had featured in the short story of From Raxacoricofallapatorius, With Love but this time they were back in a full story. However, they wouldn't last very long at all. I like how they seem to be the recurring monsters that SJA is now associated with but their stay in this story was a short one. That was because we were introduced to the first on screen appearance of the Blathereen. Now, they had featured in a story before in the shape of the Ninth Doctor novel The Monsters Inside but it was great to finally be able to actually see them. They were noticeably different to the Slitheen in appearance and they sure did make short work in disposing of the Slitheen and saving the Earth from being split and compressed into a giant diamond. I do like how the Slitheen's motive are always driven by money but based on past failures I do question why they keep returning to Earth, knowing that they have the Doctor or Sarah Jane to deal with. The Blathereen giving Sarah a gift in the form of Rakweed was intriguing and despite their good appearance, the idea of Sarah and the gang running into a friendly family of the same species as the Slitheen just seemed too good to be true. Clyde was sceptical throughout the story whilst Rani seemed to be rather accommodating. Sarah Jane's instincts told her that she agreed with Clyde but the prospect of curing world famine was too much for her to turn down. She accepted the gift and after an analysis from Mr Smith, everything appeared to be safe. Of course as viewers we knew that something was going to wrong soon, otherwise we wouldn't be watching and it duly did with a Rakweed mutation. It engulfed Luke making him ill for the first time in his life and the deadly spores soon spread throughout London. I found it a little random that the Blathereen were sat watching this pan out in Antarctica and I found the absence between their appearances in each part, especially once we knew their intent, a little surprising and I think it did slightly hurt the story. K9 was absolutely wonderful though and I loved how Clyde wanted to use him to cheat on a biology test. The frosty relationship between K9 and Mr Smith is excellent too. Clyde and Rani working out what it was that killed off the Rakweed was good and Sarah applied the finishing touch to the resolution as she knew that the terrible wailing was its communication. If that was stopped then the Rakweed was disposed of. Mr Smith and K9 joined forces to produce the frequency that destroyed it across London and then some ingenuity from Sarah soon put a stop to the Blathereen once they returned to the attic. As Clyde put it, they farted themselves to death which is something I'm sure the younger viewers of the show would have enjoyed hearing. Overall, a very good little series finale!

Rating: 8/10