April 1: Enemy of the Bane Parts One & Two (SJA)

Wow, it's like old home week on The Sarah Jane Adventures, with the return of the show's first villain, Mrs. Wormwood, as well as (in the surprise part one cliffhanger) Kaagh from The Last Sontaran -- and, most excitingly of all, a special guest appearance from Brigadier Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (ret.).  (Apparently it was originally going to be Martha Jones, but the Brigadier is infinitely more thrilling.)

Rani, Clyde, the Brigadier, and Sarah Jane check if the coast
is clear. (Enemy of the Bane Part Two) ©BBC

It's fun how quickly they get us involved in the action, with Gita kidnapped and a clue left for Sarah Jane to follow up on.  That means that not only do we get to find out that Mrs. Wormwood is apparently now considered an enemy of the Bane, after her failure with the Bubble Shock venture, but we're quickly introduced to the Brigadier, now retired but just as feisty as ever and willing to help Sarah Jane break into UNIT's Black Archive, the high clearance top secret facility where all the alien stuff is stored.  Nicholas Courtney is visibly older here than the last time we saw him in Dimensions in Time (or Battlefield, if you've erased Dimensions in Time from your memory), and while he's wielding a cane now, he still seems quite energetic and full of life and ready to charge into danger as needed.  It's a genuine pleasure to see him in action again.

But it's not just the Brigadier; we also get some fun with Sarah Jane and Rani infiltrating the Black Archive to find the Tunguska Scroll, as well as Mrs. Wormwood and Kaagh plotting their revenge against Sarah Jane and her friends.  The best part of this particular plot is when Mrs. Wormwood coerces Luke to come with her and Kaagh because she apparently has some motherly urges, and at one point she tries to convince Luke to help her rule the galaxy as mother and son (so not quite Darth Vader, but close).  Luke seems entranced by the idea, and Mrs. Wormwood has him hold the device that will let them locate some sort of war supercomputer.  Luke holds it, captivated... and then bolts with the device.  I genuinely laughed out loud at that point; what did Mrs. Wormwood think was going to happen?

This is an action-packed story, with lots of great moments and performances, and it ends with Kaagh redeeming himself by destroying Mrs. Wormwood before she can enslave the galaxy.  Enemy of the Bane is a very solid effort, and a great way to send off series 2.  (Although I'll be including the Comic Relief short unofficially referred to as "From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love" as part of series 2 -- but fair enough if you don't.)

The word that probably best describes series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures is "even".  This has been a very solid season, and even the stories that weren't as good as the others were still entertaining and worthwhile.  If there's a problem, it's that this series hasn't gone in for surprises -- the storylines often feel more straightforward than they could have been.  But at this point that's not really a major issue.  (If series 3 is also like this then we might have cause to be worried about things like predictability and formulas -- but not yet.)  Series 2 doesn't give us a heavy, angsty show, and that's just fine.  Because as is, The Sarah Jane Adventures is undeniably fun to watch; what more do you need?