The Tao Connection

"Thank God for DNA!"

Writer: Barry Letts
Format: Audio
Released: August 2002
Series: Sarah Jane Smith 1.02

Featuring: Sarah Jane

Synopsis

The body of an old man is found floating in the Thames, although the DNA of the corpse corresponds to an 18-year old friend of Josh and Ellie.

Sarah Jane heads towards West Yorkshire in a bid to discover what killed the man, why someone is kidnapping homeless teenage boys and whether there is a link between that and the retreat of philanthropist Will Butley which hosts The Huang Ti Clinic.

Sarah discovers that there is more to ancient dark sorcery than she previously believed.

Verdict

The Tao Connection was another decent story to continue Big Finish's Sarah Jane Smith audio range! I thought this one started well and definitely had a good feel to it now that I am more familiar with some of the other characters, but there was still something hitting towards a lot happening prior to the events of Comeback with Sarah's stature in society still being somewhat dodgy after her undercover exploits for Planet 3 Broadcasting. I thought the central premise behind the audio was excellent and I loved the idea of an elderly body that was fished out of the Thames matching to the DNA of an 18-year old. Well, that couldn't be right could it? The issues that was causing for the country's top scientific officials was terrific and I liked the idea of DNA not being a precise identifier of one's personal makeup and identity. That would open up a serious can of worms and that was fun to play around with. I enjoyed Sarah and Josh's relationship in this one and they're definitely getting on a lot more. This one certainly had more of a Doctor Who feel to in the way that the lead characters were written. Sarah Jane definitely fell into the Doctor role which was intriguing and Josh really felt more like a companion which was an intriguing dynamic. The line towards the end where she mentioned to Josh and queried that he hadn't worked it all out yet was so Doctorish! I liked it a lot. It was also unexpected fun to have her dish out some Venusian aikido. Sarah's abilities to get in where she isn't wanted is good and whilst Elisabeth Sladen did her best to reprise the role and play the character, the impression of her taking the cleaner role was a little off-putting to me. Ellie had another good outing but I did get the feeling that she would play more of a prominent role in the series. It's still early days though. Claudia Coster was another decent character as the member of the British Intelligence. I liked how she had put in a good word at the end to see that Sarah and Josh weren't charged for any assault or battery. Will Butley was a good villain but the deterioration in his character's sanity wasn't something I overly enjoyed and I wasn't very fond of the presentation of him dwindling into child-like status. Josh provided a good amount of humour when he was subjected to being Butley's target and seemed to be quite drunk, but that wasn't the case. Sarah having to usher him out and to her car was amusing. Ron Sharpe also made for a good villain and I was surprised with how suddenly he met his ends with Butley shooting him through the heart in his delirious state. It was a shame really as I thoroughly enjoyed the direction of the adventure for the first half at least but then it just seemed to dwindle slightly and whilst it was far from being bad, it once again seemed to overstay its welcome and go a little long. There were some good tense moments, but I felt if this was condensed then there could have been more excitement and a faster pace for the conclusion which certainly would have been for its benefit. One other note to mention is Maggie Stables making a cameo! My brain was a little confused hearing the voice of Evelyn in a different role here as the cook and Josh was not too fond of her food which was fun. Overall, this was a pretty decent story with an excellent premise at its heart, but things went a little long when they could have been more exciting and impactful.

Rating: 7/10