Audio Club Extra is about to take a Test of Nerve with the third instalment of Sarah Jane Smith Series 1.
The threat of a horrific terrorist attack on the underground is about to change the life of Sarah and her friends forever.
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totally normal audio that cannot hurt you 
Yeah, this is where this series gets GOOD good. This one is dark, it’s creepy, it’s SO tense, and Sarah is put in the worst of situations and has to deal with all the fallout from that. I love the first two episodes but this one is actually brilliant
I loved the SJ series, very gritty compared to her other spinoffs over the years
This story in particular was great
Brilliant Story!
What can I say about this one? It lives from its amazing tension that you can feel with each of its Lines, our Crew and especially Sarah at their best (or worst) here! I mean hearing Sarah willingly sacrificing somebody close to her for the ‘greater good’ is shocking but for this Version of Sarah works quite well (less so for the SJA ones for obvious Reasons). I am not sold on the Reveal at the End, but I don’t think it drags the Story too much for me down. I am open to see what they are doing with that in a future Release, maybe it will work (somehow).
Either way, excellent Story!
This is really where the range hits its stride, and it’s no wonder David was asked to do the whole of the next season. The stakes are higher with no easy way out, there’s major ramifications for the events of the plot and it feels like a mid-season finale for how it impacts the direction of the season.
This was a very good 4/5 from me. Twists, explosions, good acting. It had it all. A great addition to the SJ cannon.
I found this one enjoyable, and appreciated the moral dilemma. It was solid.
I wasn’t sure about this spin-off after the first two entries. And then I listened to Test of Nerve and realised that it might hold potential after all.
Test of Nerve is a fast-paced, morally charged thriller that finally gives the Sarah Jane Smith series the edge it’s been missing. A terrorist plot to unleash nerve gas in the London Underground forces Sarah into a desperate race against time, with allies Josh and Ellie caught in the crossfire. Elisabeth Sladen is magnificent as always, the supporting cast get their best material yet, and the villains are chillingly believable. A gripping story of bioterrorism, betrayal, and bravery; easily the highlight of the series so far.
Here’s my non-spoilery review for those who fancy a read. Thanks!
Best story in the series - atmospheric, tense, and keeps you on your toes. Only criticism I can think of is that it does seem a little bit above-and-beyond the established level of danger that other stories in the series have shown
Another 10/10 audio imho. I love Sarah Jane (more than I ever did in the TV show), she is so…
This is good and a clear step up from the previous two but I couldn’t help but drop my score from 4/5 to 3.5. Josh continues to irritate me and there are some rather obvious devices being used to keep characters in jeopardy - the main one being the fact no one knows how to use a mobile phone. Because characters having mobile phones on them would prevent stuff happening, the script needs to keep finding ways of removing them: Josh always has his turned off (despite being told repeatedly throughout the first two stories to keep it switched on); Nat’s is left in her car so that when she is trapped by the bomb she can’t get hold of Sarah or vice versa; Josh and Ellie are in an old underground station where there’s no reception.
The central dilemma is a good one and it is interesting to have Sarah effectively on the back foot throughout. I honestly couldn’t remember if Nat lived or died and I do like the scenes of her trying to escape the flat before the explosion. Mr Harris is a suitably nasty (a great performance by Lisa Bowerman’s brother Robin Bowerman) and Roy Skelton is good as James Carver.
But something about this series isn’t quite working for me the same way it worked the first time I listened to it. I can’t quite put my finger on it (although Josh, and to some extent Nat (Sadie Miller isn’t particularly dynamic in her performance) aren’t helping).
That said, it’s interesting comparing it to The Sarah Jane Adventures. Elisabeth Sladen is actually playing Sarah the same way she plays her at the start of SJA - the coldness, the edge, the element of taking the entire world’s protection on her shoulders. SJA softened those edges as the series progressed because of the influence of her interaction with Maria, Clyde, Rani and most importantly, becoming a mother to Luke. There are glimmers of that here in that she does display some elements of mothering towards Nat and Josh but still keeps them at arms length. Maybe that’s what I’m not gelling with. Maybe I need Sarah Jane (a character I’ve never been hugely enamoured by) to be more like her SJA self rather than this version.
This one is my favourite so far, really tense and dark, and I love that they keep putting Sarah in awful situations.
A really good audio but I feel that it does move a bit further from the 1970s style stories that we’ve had previously and are going to get later on in the series. Although it certainly demonstrates the tone the series is going for and probably does it the best out of all of the first series.
I am out of the norm a bit with this one but just listened to Test of Nerve and was really disappointed overall.
2/10 - review is linked below if anyone is curious about my rationale.
I can’t agree with the low rating but I also completely agree about Josh and how irritating he is. I found him insufferable throughout the series.
But to rate this lower than the seedy, unsavoury Tao Connection… well it’s certainly an opinion… 
The thing is (and it’s not like I rated Tao that much higher at a 4/10), in spite of Tao’s many flaws, there are parts I did enjoy quite a bit. Sarah Jane going undercover and putting on an accent and doing a few Venusian moves was extremely fun. Test of Nerve didn’t really give me that. It gave me more of Josh 
I get it though. I surprised myself a bit with the rating when I arrived at that conclusion, but it does reflect how each story makes me feel.