Lost in Time

"History can be a dangerous place."

Writer: Rupert Laight
Format: TV
Broadcast: 8th-9th November 2010
Series: SJA 4.05

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani

Synopsis

A harmless investigation turns into an epic quest across time and space. Sarah and the gang are separated by the enigmatic Shopkeeper to find themselves in three different time-zones throughout history - doing battle against ghost hunters, Nazis, Tudors and a mysterious parrot called Captain!

Verdict

Lost in Time was a brilliant story! It really was an excellent penultimate adventure in the fourth series of the Sarah Jane Adventures as I was interested pretty much from start to finish. The concept was magnificent and I liked how there was no messing around and we just immediately got into the full flow of the story. The Shopkeeper was a terrific character and the humour that came his way with the Captain (a parrot) was great. The idea was fantastic and we had Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani all visiting different points in history to retrieve pieces of the enigmatic chronosteel. It was just marvellous and I thought it was good that the series got to deal with a story about time travel rather than an impending invasion. It was a nice change of pace and we got to see some wonderful moments. Rani had gone back to the time of the Tudors and she had arrived on quite a historic day! It was the ninth day in the reign of Lady Jane Grey who famously only sat on the throne for a mere nine days. The monarch quickly developed a relationship with Rani which I thought was good and I liked how Rani grew to wanting to do more than just stop the course of history from changing. She knew that Lady Jane needed a friend with the impending doom that accompanied Mary's arrival to London and she was willing to be that person. Clyde had found himself in the midst of World War Two and the unthinkable was happening with Nazis on British soil. They had a new device that would destroy the British radar signals which meant that the country would be a sitting duck prone for German invasion. Sarah Jane had arrived at a rather less historic event and was simply in the company of an Emily Morris in a haunted house in 1889. It was a little bit more than that though as rather than the ghosts being echoes of the past, what was being heard here was actually the echoes of the future. I loved that and what the pair learned soon became quite emotive. Two children were locked in their bedroom and playing with candles had resulted in a fire being started. The pair needed saving and Emily's fear linked her to the future which meant she could retrieve the key and save the children from dying. This key would be Sarah's piece of the chronosteel. Clyde had found 'Thor's hammer' thanks to some ingenuity with George and defeating some Nazis (of which included an intriguing face of Jaqen H'ghar) and following a foiled attempted murder by Matilda, Rani prevented Lady Jane from dying early. The reasoning behind that intended death for her to die a martyr was quite intriguing though. I do wonder how history would have unfolded if she had died that way. The last minute fumbling for the pieces, involving the ancestor of Emily returning the key, was terrific and I liked the ambiguity behind the Shopkeeper just vanishing without explanation. Overall, a superb story!

Rating: 10/10