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THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: DEATH OF THE DOCTOR

2 episodes. Approx. 52 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies.
Directed by: Ashley Way. Produced by: Brian Minchin.


THE PLOT

UNIT Colonel Tia Karim (Laila Rouass) has bad news for Sarah Jane
Smith and her young charges: The Doctor is dead. His body was
recovered by the Shansheeth, a race devoted to recovering the bodies
of heroes and returning them home for funerals. Given that the
Doctor's home is long since gone, the Shansheeth have brought him to
his "second home" - Earth. He will be given a hero's farewell at a
ceremony at UNIT headquarters, and Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Rani are
invited to attend.

Sarah Jane is suspicious, even after Mr. Smith informs her that the
Shansheeth are exactly what they claim to be. At UNIT, she meets up
with one other mourner: Jo Jones (Katy Manning), the Doctor's
assistant immediately before her. The two hit it off very well, even
moreso once Sarah Jane realizes that Jo also doubts the Doctor's
"death." That's when Clyde ducks into a ventilation shaft and
discovers that the Shansheeth have created this whole scenario, as a
trap for Sarah Jane and Jo. Now only the Doctor can save them - but
how can he, when the Shansheeth already have his TARDIS?


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: During his tenth incarnation's protracted death, he didn't
just look in on the companions we saw. He apparently looked in on all
of his companions. When Sarah Jane asked if his tenth persona's death
"hurt" and if "he was all right in the end," he deflects the question.
"It always hurts," he tells Sarah Jane - and leaves the second half of
her question entirely unanswered, perhaps not wanting to admit just
how much he had not wanted to let go. Though the wound of his people's
death may not be as fresh as it was for his ninth or tenth
incarnations, he is still momentarily hurt when Jo makes an oblivious
remark about him getting "into trouble with the Time Lords."

Sarah Jane Smith: When informed of the Doctor's death, she goes into
immediate and complete denial. Part of that is her belief that if the
Doctor were to truly die, she would feel it. Her instincts are proved
right, of course - but that doesn't mean her reaction would have been
any different had his death been genuine. A brief but very smartly-
written scene has Rani talking with her father about people's
responses to death, with Rani's father telling her and Clyde that the
only thing to really do for Sarah Jane is to give her time to absorb
her loss.

Jo Jones: This story marks the return of Katy Manning's Jo - and she's
a delight. Her entrance at the midpoint of Episode One jerks the
serial to life and adds a whole new layer of enjoyment. I love her
reaction to Matt Smith's Doctor, aghast that the Doctor has
regenerated "into a baby!" She's hurt that the Doctor never came back
for her, much as Sarah Jane was in School Reunion, but she has kept
herself busy with a life constantly on the move, visiting basically
every country on Earth as an environmental protester. Katy Manning is
terrific, showing a Jo who's as scatterbrained, yet also as brave and
charming, in her older years as she was in her youth. She and
Elisabeth Sladen make a good team, Sladen's more grounded persona
acting as an anchor for Manning's eccentricity.

Clyde/Rani: With Tommy Knight stepping back to focus on exams, Luke's
presence is reduced to a prerecorded cameo. This leaves Clyde and Rani
as Sarah Jane's companions. I think this is actually a plus. Daniel
Anthony and Anjli Mohindra are stronger performers than Knight (he
says, ducking brickbats from Luke fans), and their characters have a
very easy interaction by this point in the series. They get a much
stronger role in Part One than in Part Two, with scenes such as Rani's
pushing Sarah Jane to let go of her denial enough to at least listen
and gather facts, or Clyde's trip into the ventilation shaft. Once the
Doctor joins the main action in Part Two, they are moved firmly to the
sidelines in favor of the Doctor/Sarah Jane/Jo dynamic.


THOUGHTS

The Sarah Jane Adventures has always been more in the style of classic
Doctor Who than new Who. A CBBC budget has kept the stories largely
smaller-scale, with many (including this one) occurring in an enclosed
space that limits needed sets. Death of the Doctor carries on this
tradition, with an alien planet that is clearly a quarry and a monster
that wouldn't look at all out of place menacing Sylvester McCoy. Matt
Smith or no, this - like its entire series - is more spiritually a
part of classic Who than of the current model.

This is no bad thing, particularly in an episode which has been
deliberately crafted as a nostalgia piece for fans of 1970's Who. We
touch base with Jo, and get a wealth of clips courtesy of the
Shansheeth "memory weave" allowing us to see bits of Tom Baker and Jon
Pertwee and even - courtesy of The Three Doctors in Jo's memory - of
Hartnell and Troughton. The tag scene tells us how travel with the
Doctor impacted several past companions, from Ian and Barbara to Ben
and Polly to Tegan. Refreshingly, we are told that all of them saw
their lives made better by their travels.

The story's fairly thin, and probably a touch weaker than the previous
season's The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (in which David Tennant made
his guest shot). Still, it does its job in giving form and momentum to
the character bits, which are stronger than those in Wedding. The plot
is nonsense, but it's fun nonsense, with pace and energy. The
character scenes, both dealing with Sarah Jane's denial in Part One
and with the Doctor's reunion with Jo in Part Two, are quite splendid.

At a brisk 52 minutes total, all of it in the company of characters
who are effortlessly likable, this is definitely a worthwhile
addition, both to The Sarah Jane Adventures and to Doctor Who.


Rating: 7/10.

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