The Sarah Jane Adventures Series Four – DVD Review

A great companion piece

Smith, Smith and Jones.

Release Date: 30 October 2011
2010 * PG | 316 minutes | £20.42 (DVD)/£25.52 (Blu-ray)
Publisher: 2entertain
Creator: Russell T Davies
Cast: Elisabeth Sladen, Daniel Anthony, Anjli Mohindra

Rewatching SJA’s final full series after the death of its star is a poignant business; suddenly certain plot elements are foregrounded. One story revolves around a funeral, and ends with Sarah Jane leaping inside a coffin. In another, she suddenly falls seriously ill, and hands on her alien-fighting mantle. “No-one’s irreplaceable”, she says. When it comes to Lis Sladen, of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

As ever, the series excels at telling a rollicking adventure while tackling issues that trouble kids with sensitivity. Sarah’s son Luke is written out with rather indecent haste, but hints of a budding romance between pals Rani and Clyde are cute. Some stories have a strong whiff of familiarity – one’s basically a PG-rated take on Freddie Krueger, while another cheekily riffs on both The Terminator and Men In Black – but the fact remains that Sladen’s passing has also robbed us of one of the best children’s shows of the last 20 years.

The highlight is “Death Of The Doctor”, which teams Sarah with Matt Smith’s Doctor and sees Katy Manning return to the fold as the daffy Jo Grant. Russell T Davies’s script demonstrates once again his extraordinary facility for plucking the heartstrings, and the story’s focus on the power of memory serves to remind us that this most beloved of actors will live on in our hearts.

Extras:

Tricky to score. There’s nothing whatsoever on SJA, but you do get all four parts of classic Tom Baker Who “Pyramids Of Mars” (referenced in one of these adventures) – a terrific bonus if you don’t already own it.

Ian Berriman

Read our review of Elisabeth Sladen’s autobiography here.