February 6: "Invasion of the Bane" (SJA)

1 January 2007 was an exciting day for Doctor Who spinoff fans; not only did we get the last two episodes of series 1 of Torchwood, but we also got the first episode of the latest Doctor Who spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures, earlier in the day.  Note that "Invasion of the Bane" isn't a pilot though, even though it aired separately from the rest of the first series' episodes; the whole series was commissioned at once and it was planned at the outset that this would be a holiday special.

Now, when Russell T Davies first wanted to revive Doctor Who (long before they actually let him do it), his first pitch was reportedly for a low-budget version about a retired time-traveller who dealt with alien threats from a house on an ordinary street (rather than travelling through the universe and having to create a new alien world every week).  Knowing that, it's not hard to see how The Sarah Jane Adventures reuses that idea, with Sarah Jane in place of the Doctor.

The first thing that's obvious about "Invasion of the Bane" is how much less xenophobic it is than Torchwood.  Sarah Jane may initially be more cautious about getting other people involved in her life, but the first thing we see her doing is helping an alien head back home -- and not just any alien, but one from the same species as from the Torchwood episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts".  Sarah Jane seems to be a lot more open-minded than Captain Jack and his team.

The second thing that's obvious is that this is pitched more towards children than adults, with the other lead characters being teenagers.  Maria Jackson is shown to be a bit of loner by virtue of having just moved into the neighborhood, and while her dad is shown to be all right her mom is clearly pitched to be obnoxious and a bit oblivious.  (It's an odd divorce, though, that sees Chrissie constantly over at her ex-husband's place.)  Yet despite the emphasis on younger viewers, it's not talking down to them -- and the overall effect is one that adults can find entertaining as well.  It also helps that the script does a good job of slowly introducing the weirdness into things, as Maria sees Sarah Jane with the alien, and then heads to the Bubble Shock (a form of pop) factory to find more weirdness -- including a teenaged boy who doesn't seem to know anything.  Like I said, they do a good job of ramping everything up while introducing the main characters, rather than just thrusting the weirdness upon the audience and hoping they'll keep up.

Maria, Luke, Sarah Jane, and Kelsey in Sarah Jane's attic.
("Invasion of the Bane") ©BBC

One of the best moments, in fact, is after the Bane attacks Sarah Jane and the others in her home, at which point they find themselves in the attic.  It's a piece of exposition, plain and simple, but it's delivered really well by Elisabeth Sladen:

SARAH JANE: Aliens are falling to Earth all the time.  It's not just those stories you hear on the news.  All sorts of creatures.  Some have got lost, like the one you saw me sending home last night.  Some of them crash-land, and some of them want to invade. ...
MARIA: But how'd you get started?
SARAH JANE: I met this man.  A very special man, called the Doctor.  And years ago, we travelled together.
MARIA: In space?
SARAH JANE: Space, and time.  And then it came to an end, and suddenly I was back to a normal life.  Electric bills, burst pipes, bus tickets and rain. ... For years I tried to forget, and then I met him again, the Doctor.  We'd both changed, but it's funny because we were still both the same.  And I learnt I could carry on here on Earth, doing what we always did.  That's when I started this.  I began my life again.

(from The Sarah Jane Adventures Transcripts - Invasion of the Bane)

It's lovely and sweet and a far cry from "the 21st century is when it all changes and you've got to be ready."  Torchwood plays on fears; The Sarah Jane Adventures, it seems, play on hope.

Of course, this is a Doctor Who spin-off, so we do get an alien invasion from a species called the Bane, who are putting a part of themselves into Bubble Shock so that they can take over the world (for some reason -- it's not actually quite clear what they want).  And yes, it's really hard not to think of the episode of Futurama where Fry learns what's really in his favorite drink Slurm -- I wonder if Russell T Davies and/or Gareth Roberts were aware of that when they were writing this.  But it's still nicely done (and I love the design of the Bane -- bizarre without being laughable).

In fact, if you wanted a spin-off of Doctor Who that was actually somewhat like its parent show, you could do a lot worse than "Invasion of the Bane", which shows that there's actually quite a bit of life even in a more limited format like this.  It's certainly a lot closer to the spirit of Doctor Who, and none of the main characters are particularly irritating.  (Well, except Kelsey, but she appears to be designed to be annoying -- and this is her only appearance anyway.)  There's a sense of affection in the writing and the direction, and it's absolutely wonderful to see Sarah Jane Smith out on her own, standing up for the right causes and not under anyone's shadow.  If the rest of the series is like this, The Sarah Jane Adventures will be quality entertainment.