Children of Steel

"A Victorian robot!"

Writer: Martin Day
Format: Audio
Released: November 2011
Series: SJA Audio 09

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani, Sky

Synopsis

Sarah Jane is thrilled when she successfully bids for a Victorian brass head in an antiques auction. On taking the metal model home, Mr Smith informs her that it contains a research probe from the future.

Sarah Jane speculates that the probe was used as the 'brain' that powered the 'Difference Golem', a mechanical servant built by eccentric inventor Sir Joseph Montague. She suggests destroying it, to prevent such an advanced technology from falling into the wrong hands, but Rani persuades her that this would be wrong, as the golem could have been sentient. So she, Rani, Sky and Clyde travel to Holcote House, the former residence of Sir Joseph, in search of its body. But they are soon to discover that meddling with artificial intelligence can have dangerous consequences...

Verdict

Children of Steel was a very good story that served as my first ever audio adventure from The Sarah Jane Adventures! I've actually had this CD in storage for a considerable amount of time but as I have only recently watched the fifth series of the SJA, I have been putting it off and when it came to uncovering some sources for my research into 1960s Dalekmania, I came across my copy and I just had to get it listened to quickly while the memory of Sky was fresh in my mind. She didn't actually feature too much in this story I thought but I did quite enjoy the little quirks she added to the story. I thought Daniel Anthony read the story excellently and his impressions of Sarah Jane and Rani were very good. I thought some credit for that should also go to Martin Day for the way he wrote the characters and captured their likeness very well in their dialogue. Hearing Sarah Jane at an auction was intriguing and I enjoyed how she was dragged into a bidding war when she initially looked like she had won the metallic human head anatomy for a mere tenner. It ended up being 13 times that price but after a battle with a mysterious woman, she got her reward. The research that followed was interesting and I liked how Mr Smith was recognising it as something quite sentient. I was very intrigued by the revelation that this head came from the Victorian era but was also from the future. Just how that made sense confused me but it soon was explained brilliantly. The analogy of scientists of the future sending the Golem, once the head was reunited with its body, as a probe before landing on the Moon was superb and the idea was something I very much liked. Having the Victorian era brought into a present day story with the machinery and the links to industrialisation was very good and I very much enjoyed the concept of the story. It was paced pretty well and whilst I thought the climax was a tad muddled, everything tied together very nicely for quite a nice ending. James Montague's history was explored very nicely and how he linked to the robots was terrific. The mysterious woman at the auction being revealed as an android was great and I like how the scientists are unable to send living people into the past and they're now tidying up their tracks. Overall, a very decent audiobook!

Rating: 8/10