Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 4

[Starkers]

Christ alive. I'd say take it elsewhere, but the Bones-bashing is pretty much fucking everywhere nowadays, regardless of whether he ever says anything positive (which he does). You all know full well what he thinks of the last Doctors and companions, you haven't got to respond every single time he pulls one of his hyperbolic statements out about them.

Jesus fucking wept.

On topic, part one was shite but the whole affair got better the instant Eleven told Jo she looked like someone had baked her face. Absolute brilliance whenever he was onscreen once again. You must have a problem if you think Ten had more screen time: a) he didn't, and b) it was all wordless flashbacks anyway. Should we all be up in arms Two only got one brief look-in? Political agenda? Also nonsense - god forbid anyone should mention any kind of cause. I notice no one's whinging about all the companions mentioned at the end all being world-saving do-gooders as well - it's either wrong for one or wrong for them all. And Ian and Barbara were rumoured to be as good as immortal.

RTD's other trademark was present and correct too: poetic event/planet naming. The Scarred Monstrosity, anyone?

Oh, and no one whinging about Eleven's oh-so-slightly different shirt yet? I'm astounded.

To be fair very few people have posted since part two, and frankly I found the bit at the end a strange mixture of cool and annoying. Tegan fighting for Aboriginal rights? Ian and Barbara immortal? It was nice to see them name checked but really...It was nice to see Harry mentioned though. This was typical RTD, isn't the Doctor brilliant, aren't all his companions brilliant, shout it from the rooftops yadda yadda yadda....

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the bit about the gay fathers trip to the North Pole, unless I misheard in which case RTD has obviously got to me cos I'm seeing gay references where there aren't any!

This was good in places, bad in places, typical RTD really. Some of his dialogue sounded slightly wrong for 11, I can't see him being as arrogant as he was here. "The universe will shiver" line was only saved by a trademark 11 "gotcha! That said I did love the way he said "Come along, Smith!"

The resolution of the cliffhanger wasn't terrible--seen a lot worse--and the final resolution wasn't bad either, especially since the coffin had been there all along. RTD has given us solutions that were more annoying and made a lot less sense than that!

I thought the Colonel Karim line about having nothing left on Earth was leading somewhere but obviously not...unless she's coming back later.

Next week's looks good...

As for Bones, personally I'm trying not to rise to the hyperbole bait every time now and mostly I'm succeeding...just occasionally I can't resist the urge to bite, but I actually semi-agreed with him over in the sci-fi forum earlier. He reminds me of someone I used to work with who always went out of his way to be contentious just to get a rise out of people, but was actually an ok guy if you could get past the arseiness!

ps. I hate the shirt, its far too clean and new looking

 

[Sci]

Yeah, that and Jo's Political Agenda really stood out as the normal RTD tropes. Yet, with Sarah, why the hell would she "hate" UNIT?

Sarah explicitly said something in Part One about being angry at UNIT since "that lot started lying." I don't know what that's a reference to, as I don't watch The Sarah Jane Adventures, but it sounds as though it's a reaction to something UNIT did in a previous episode of SJA and not a general attitude about the military.

So, now it's the 21st century, and since RTD has a problem with "the military" all of his characters have to as well? Nonsense. That's why I always thought the 10th Doctor was a pompous moron for being so "I'm so righteous!"-gurning whenever they or any military were around. Pertwee had no problem living with UNIT. All the other Doctors consider the Brigadier their second-best friend and have aided UNIT hundreds of times.

So, given the entire history of the show, it's not unreasonable or unfair to point out that Russel needs to reign in his insta-depth political beliefs.

Ummm, if RTD has a major anti-military political bias, then why was UNIT portrayed so positively in "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky? Especially in comparison to the Sontarans, who represented that story's theme of militarism taken too far? Looking at those episodes, it seemed like RTD's attitude is not so much "military=bad" as it is "the military can be a good thing but militarism can be taken too far."

And considering the numerous times UNIT has been portrayed as a positive (if at times helpless, along with the rest of the human race) force -- "Aliens of London," "The Christmas Invasion," "The Sound of Drums," "Turn Left," "The Stolen Earth," and "Planet of the Dead" come to mind -- I don't think it's really fair to say that RTD is anti-military.

I know he's pandering to a specific and favorite fanbase, but it's fucking childish and repetitive. Just like Jo and Santiago's listing of their "protests". Chaining themselves to things? Really? I remember Jo being dumb as a sack of bricks. But, I was hoping life had taught her some things. How can I possibly take her "life" seriously? What on earth has she actually accomplished other than to make herself feel better?

So the fact that you have a philosophical difference with a character is the same thing as that character being poorly written? Some people in this world have a different opinion of the usefulness of nonviolent activism. That doesn't make them less intelligent than you, and it doesn't make a fictional character who does that a poorly-written character.

As usual, Russel and Co.'s "LOOK IT'S DAVID TENNANT!" mantra shined through clearly.

....?!

I detected no "LOOK IT'S DAVID TENNANT!"-ness. "Death of the Doctor, Part I" struck me as being equally OMG-full towards all incarnations of the Doctor; Tennant's just had more attention in the flashbacks because his was the one that had actually appeared on The Sarah Jane Adventures. I detected an equal amount of "LOOK IT'S MATT SMITH!"-ness when he appeared, and I'm sure Part II (once I see it) will be featured just as prominently.

Basically, it struck as not so much being "LOOK IT'S DAVID TENNANT!" as "LOOK IT'S THE DOCTOR!".

 

[The]

The listing of what companions were doing at the end was pretty silly. I mean, Ian and Barbara immortal? What the fuck kind of nonsense is that shit? Ace running a charity? Tegan fighting for Aboriginal Rights? Are you kidding me? First of all, completely against their characters. Second of all, I'd hate to think that all of the Docs companions had such bland, "politically-correct" lives. How boring. I'll choose to ignore it, much like the 507 comment. Sure.

Other than that, I thought it was okay. Eleven doesn't sound right being written by RTD. Smith was awesome, as ever, though. Wish Sarah and former companions would appear on Doctor Who proper, written by Moffat himself. I'd much rather see Moffat flesh out some nostalgia than RTD's masturbation to The Doctor and modern socio-political issues that are important to him.

All in all, I found the two-parter very disappointing. Last year's was much better when they allowed screentime for The Doctor, rather than this half-attempt with Katy Manning shoved into the middle...

 

[The]

Sci is trying to defend RTD? How shocking!

 

[The]

So the fact that you have a philosophical difference with a character is the same thing as that character being poorly written? Some people in this world have a different opinion of the usefulness of nonviolent activism. That doesn't make them less intelligent than you, and it doesn't make a fictional character who does that a poorly-written character.

Less intelligent? No. But, dumber character? Yes. It's what lazy writers fall back on when they want to make a character sound "deep" and "important" and "progressive", without taking the time to write them as such. Roll out a few lines about how they are "active" in whatever Liberal Extremist organizations, and suddenly they are "morally above" the rest of the cattle. Jo didn't accomplish anything with her life, other than to arrogantly attempt to push her socio-political agenda on others. And since that's RTD's bag of tricks, it's no surprise that he would attempt to paint such a lifestyle as "heroic"...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Not bad as far as SJA goes, a little more love for Jo, some good silliness. So will a black man be the next of his 500 regenerations?

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the bit about the gay fathers trip to the North Pole, unless I misheard

That's what I heard too.

The listing of what companions were doing at the end was pretty silly. I mean, Ian and Barbara immortal? What the fuck kind of nonsense is that shit? Ace running a charity?

A Charitable Earth wink wink nudge nudge groan groan

Seemed a bit odd to hogtie any future companion outings.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I don't watch TSJ thing but i watched this to see two old Who companion from my 70s childhood appear on screen again....i realised half way through i was unconsciously grinning like a cheshire cat for all the Grant/jane/old Dr's bits onscreen..........brilliant.

 

[OmahaStar]

Jo... Jo just wasn't Jo, really. That was Katy, not Jo. Still fun though!

She's still Useless.

Christ alive. I'd say take it elsewhere, but the Bones-bashing is pretty much fucking everywhere nowadays, regardless of whether he ever says anything positive (which he does).

What is up with Bones-bashing? I don't get it. Bones is a fan of Six, which makes him good people in my book. As Guinan would say (and we all remember Star Trek, right?) "He's ... my friend." Cut him some slack already. Sheesh.

And Ian and Barbara were rumoured to be as good as immortal.

WHAT? When does it air in the US? I *need* to see this now. Oh wait .. iPlayer. I'll be back.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!

Sure the Shansheeth were rubbish in appearance and Colonel Tia Karim was a bit silly, but the double reunion more than made up for it. Matt Smith continues to drive a hard bargain as one of my favorite Doctors (I rank him number 5 right now, but I think I may place him over The Tenth Doctor soon...).

Jo Grant is one of my least favorite companions, but I have to admit between Big Finish's The Doll of Death and this two-part serial, Katy Manning has gone a long way in redeeming Jo in my eyes. Jo referring to her naivety and foolishness in her younger days was touching as well as her reminiscing about how The Doctor never returned. I absolutely loved the suggestion that The Tenth Doctor visited everyone before regenerating, we simply didn't see it (although the extended reprieve from regenerated becomes even more silly).

Lastly, I got all misty eyed when Sarah-Jane talked about Tegan, Ben and Polly, Dorothy (I assume she meant Dodo), an and Barbara (who may or may not be immortal!), and of course dear ol' Harry. It is a bit odd she doesn't mention Liz despite the earlier name drop and sadly no mention of Yates or Benton.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

When did Sarah meet Tegan?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

She didn't. She said she searched the internet for possible Doctor companions and discovered what they're doing now.

 

[Starkers]

There's an interesting little interview with RTD here where he discusses the 507 bit...

To be honest I think you can take 507 as a random number chucked out by the Doctor that bears about as much resemblance to the reality of the situation as the Doctor saying how old he is...or it's actual fact in which case I think we should start a thread about what happens when the Doctor reaches 507 regenerations

 

[The Nth Doctor]

As soon as I heard the context of The Doctor's statement, I pretty much figured he was joking. And I'm firming in the group that believe he's fibbing about his age by a large extent.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Yeah, that and Jo's Political Agenda really stood out as the normal RTD tropes. Yet, with Sarah, why the hell would she "hate" UNIT?

Sarah explicitly said something in Part One about being angry at UNIT since "that lot started lying." I don't know what that's a reference to, as I don't watch The Sarah Jane Adventures, but it sounds as though it's a reaction to something UNIT did in a previous episode of SJA and not a general attitude about the military.

I took it as meaning it was just since this impossibly young Colonel turned up on her doorstep saying the Doctor was dead, honest, straight-up this time, even though you've heard that one dozens of times before, would we lie to you...

And, yeah, the sudden Bones-bashing rant yesterday was a bit weird, wasn't it? Very GB-ish...

 

[Gov Kodos]

Yeah, that and Jo's Political Agenda really stood out as the normal RTD tropes. Yet, with Sarah, why the hell would she "hate" UNIT?

Sarah explicitly said something in Part One about being angry at UNIT since "that lot started lying." I don't know what that's a reference to, as I don't watch The Sarah Jane Adventures, but it sounds as though it's a reaction to something UNIT did in a previous episode of SJA and not a general attitude about the military.

I took it as meaning it was just since this impossibly young Colonel turned up on her doorstep saying the Doctor was dead, honest, straight-up this time, even though you've heard that one dozens of times before, would we lie to you...

And, yeah, the sudden Bones-bashing rant yesterday was a bit weird, wasn't it? Very GB-ish...

I agree. I think Sarah's attachment to UNIT can be overestimated. She had a good relationship with the Brigadier, Benton and Yates, but her being in step with the outfit as a whole does not necessarily follow.

The story was fun, but less maudlin sentimentality over past companions and Jo herself would have been better. I would have been more impressed with Jo making a difference in the Amazon by starting schools and health clinics that help the folks of the region take control of their lives than nebulous crusades against big bad big business, but that is the writers choice.

Katy was fun to see and hear but I can agree with her playing herself more than Jo Grant all the same it was a better interplay with her and Sarah than was done with Sarah and Rose. All in all this was a fun episode and this season has been better than the last. Clyde just gets better and better with each season, I am to the point of wanting him with the Doctor over Amy and Rory right about now. Who would like Clyde and Rani on team Tardis? Me for one

 

[Allyn Gibson]

As soon as I heard the context of The Doctor's statement, I pretty much figured he was joking. And I'm firming in the group that believe he's fibbing about his age by a large extent.

If you're the Doctor, and you can fuck with Clyde's head, why wouldn't you?

It's clearly not a serious line.

 

[Phily B]

I didn't understand what The Doctor said when SJS asked about Ten.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It's a shame that your license fee doesn't give you enough say to get rid of that damned logo.

 

[OmahaStar]

Dorothy (I assume she meant Dodo)

Naw, it was Ace. Her name's Dorothy McShane, but she went by Ace when she traveled with the Professor ... er, Doctor. As mentioned up-thread, the charity she started even has the initials A.C.E.

It is a bit odd she doesn't mention Liz despite the earlier name drop and sadly no mention of Yates or Benton.

Why would she? Liz had already been mentioned, and they knew where she was at the moment - on the moonbase.

Also ... Thank you, cbbc iPlayer. *grin* I'm now caught up. And it's funny, for all the talk of Luke only being in two stories this season, he has appeared in every story so far. Though for some reason, he hasn't changed his shirt in awhile. Also, he's finally come out. Ah, bless. lol

 

[Starkers]

And it's funny, for all the talk of Luke only being in two stories this season, he has appeared in every story so far. Though for some reason, he hasn't changed his shirt in awhile.

Well he is away and university now you know