The Revenge of Wormwood: The Star-Crossed Diversion

"Maybe you should turn off the kindness."

Writer: Alison Winter

Format: Audio

Released: December 2023

Series: Rani Takes on the World 2.01

Featuring: Rani, Clyde

Synopsis

After falling asleep on the night tube, Rani and Clyde wake in a nightmare – a future in which the Bane have succeeded in taking over the Earth. Humans are docile cattle, the planet's resources sold to the highest bidder. Bane Uncle Crispin believes all opposition has been crushed, but the new arrivals are ready to fight. Are they the last hope of resistance? And how can Rani and Clyde ever return home?

Verdict

The Star-Crossed Diversion was an excellent story to continue my way through The Revenge of Wormwood second series of Rani Takes on the World! This had a feeling very much akin to The Sarah Jane Adventures once again which is a massive compliment as I consider this series as the official continuation of that wonderful spinoff series. I was really glad that Rani referenced Sarah Jane and she wasn't entirely sure if she could save the planet this time around without her presence. But despite Rani's comments about Sarah giving them all strength in the past, it was Clyde who was able to install confidence in Rani that she needed to help defeat the Bane once again. I really liked the jump into the near future and going just a few years was nicely done as everything was familiar yet so alien. Time had gone in the wrong direction and having the Bane in control was excellent! They had taken over two years ago and humanity was now docile. They were even more ingratiated into their phones now and it was a clever move to have the Bane emitting a signal from the screens that just made humanity conform even more. That was simple but clever and it just resulted in an endless cycle of conformity. The evolution of the Bane was good to explore and that coming with just how much technology has developed since their last appearance in Enemy of the Bane some sixteen years ago now. Crikey I feel old! The continuity with that story was really good to explore and it's always nice for Rani to reminisce on the encounter there and meeting the Brigadier. The future society being focused on gaining stores in what was essentially a communal game system was good. But the W-stars were obviously referencing Wormwood and I really enjoyed how that revelation came. Rani and Clyde worked tremendously together and the chemistry there is far from dissipated. It's impressive and they make such a strong little pairing. Jude was a good character and her proximity in actually working for Crispin was very well dome. It was a long way from the waitress we were initially introduced to her as! And then she was also involved with Samira which was great stuff. Rani wanting to see her first in this dystopian time was a nice touch and I liked how she had been impacted ever since the Clyde and Rani of the future past had disappeared. It was paradoxical but I enjoyed it a lot. The realisation for Jude on how to put things right and use the super computer and the network to connect Rani and Clyde as people from the past before the Bane took over was nicely done. It led to an absolute continuity dump of nearly all of their past adventures with Sarah Jane and beyond which was terrific and I really loved how they were on an equal footing. They did this together and that was lovely, but that was just a reset and the finale is yet to come. The cliffhanger finish with Rani and Clyde briefly seeing Sarah Jane at Bannerman Road as the past and future mixed into vision together was fascinating, and Luke emerged in a fun reunion declaring that his mum's old house was now under the control and command of UNIT. I look forward to hearing why in the next episode! But for now, this was a really strong episode to continue an impressive series. 

Rating: 9/10