The Doctor who spin-off returns, with the third series reaching DVD. Its a bit of an odd delay really, as these episodes were shown on TV last year, with a fourth series currently airing on CBBC, but its taken nearly a year to get The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3 onto digital disc.
As youd expect, the show is slightly more child-centric than Doctor Who, and as a result less scary, although that said, it does deal with some pretty dramatic storylines. For example theres the two-parter The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith, which sees the Doctors former companion (Elisabeth Sladen) finding love and preparing for marriage, only to have her happiness put in jeopardy by an alien Trickster and her prospective hubby (played by Nigel Havers) having to come to terms with his own death. This adventure is also notable for featuring David Tennant in one of his final appearances as the Doctor (these were actually the final scenes he filmed as the characters, although it was first shown before his regeneration into Matt Smith last Christmas).
When the show first started, it seemed a bit amateurish and slightly too juvenile even for its intended audience. Its now found a far better balance of suitably family friendly adventures, but without everyone seeming like theyve fallen out of a very expensive panto. In case you dont know, the basic set up is that Sarah Jane, who originally travelled with Jon Pertwee and Tom Bakers Doctors in the 1970s, is now a journalist. However shes also a defender of Earth from alien threats, who has a super-smart extra-terrestrial computer called Mr. Smith in her attic and an adopted teenage son, Luke, whos actually a genetically created genius. Oh and shes got a sonic lipstick too, her version of the Doctors sonic screwdriver, and robotic doggy companion K-9 also shows up every so often. They help her take on all manner of threats, along with a couple of normal human youngsters who live close to Sarah Janes Ealing home.
Series 3 features six two-part adventures, ranging from the aforementioned Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith to another where our heroines body is taken over by a reptilian creature (whos actually an escaped prisoner), with Luke and his friends only having a Judoon guard to help him sort things out. Theres also another adventure where the Mona Lisa comes to life and starts causing havoc and one where a seemingly innocuous plant causes Luke to go into a coma.
Its all good fun, and while it obviously doesnt have the budget or the scale of Doctor Who, its still a lot better than most of what passes for current British TV sci-fi. However what I think is most notable about The Sarah Jane Adventures, is that its one of the very few kids TV programmes with a middle-aged lead character. Its been noticeable in recent years that there have been fewer and fewer faces of people over 30 on childrens television (Chuckle Brothers excepted), barring bad guys and comic foils.
While this isnt really the place to go into a full-on debate about social cohesion, it does make me wonder whether the lack of a range of adult role models on kids TV just serves to widen the lack of understanding between the generations. Whether theres any truth to that or not, it is nevertheless great to see a fun and entertaining show for kids led by a middle-aged woman. Indeed, there arent many shows, whether for adults or youngsters, where the lead character is a female pensioner (Sladen is 62), especially an all-action female pensioner, making The Sarah Jane Adventures something a bit more interesting and unique than just a silly kids sci-fi show.
Overall Verdict: A lot of fun for all the family, and proof for kids that pensioners arent all boring fuddy duddies.
Special Features:
Sarah Jane Audio Book Extract
Reviewer: Tim Isaac