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The beginning of the end that shouldn’t have been… sniff
5.01 “Sky”
Writer: Phil Ford
Director: Ashley Way
THE ONE WHERE A baby that’s left on Sarah Jane’s doorstep turns out to be a being from another planet. (And Craig Owens isn’t around to help.)
VERDICT So begins the final, sadly-curtailed series of The Sarah Jane Adventures , and what’s initially on offer is a moderate tale that owes much to Terminator 2 (including the paraphrase, “Get in if you want the child to live”). The power station setting is also a nod to Lis Sladen’s final old Who yarn “The Hand Of Fear”.
Plusses include the Metalkind (Paul Kasey), a quite cool sort of tough-nut alien with a Batman/RoboCop look, and campy villainess Miss Myers (Christine Stephen-Daly). Not so sure about young Sky, who understands English and the meaning of numerous words and phrases but not others which should be equally clear. Teens being able to shut down a nuclear reactor is an equally rum idea.
SAD FACT The appearance of The Shopkeeper in the loft was intended to be the beginning of a story arc, one that ultimately will never be completed.
NITPICK That blooming CCBC logo constantly winking and flickering in the top left corner of the screen is irksome.
TRIVIA Baby Sky is played by four different baby “actors”.
BEST LINES
Miss Myers: “My name is Miss Myers.”
Clyde: “It doesn’t sound like an alien name.”
Miss Myers: “It’s spelt differently.”
Russell Lewin
