Imagine a spinoff based around beloved companion Sarah Jane. No not that one. Not that one either. I’m talking the 2002 audio series which takes our beloved heroine and puts her in the most batshit scenarios ever devised. And, for the record, I love them.
I first got obsessed with them in like 2019, and recently @natequarter’s listenthrough of them has made me listen to them again and yeah. I still adore them. I totally get why not everyone would like them - they’re almost unecessarily dark and gritty, and turn our loveable SJ into a paranoid wreck.
This is why I like them though - I think it’s such a fascinating deconstruction of what happens to a companion once they leave the Doctor, especially those who are unceremoniously dumped back on Earth. Sarah is still chasing that high of being with the Doctor - she indeed has stepped into that role, except now she’s back in ‘normality’ and struggling to cope.
Has anyone else listened to and liked these? Did you like Josh and Nat? How do you think that cliffhanger in s2 would resolve? Do you think the audios are compatible with the Sarah of SJA? (to which I would answer yes, but that’s a longer post)
I just finished a listen to the entire run a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were fine, with a couple of great stories mixed in.
The first series was enjoyable because it was a typical ‘monster of the week’, and had a few solid serials. The second series was good in a different way. The more serialised nature meant I had to concentrate more on the content, but it was a solid series. I wish there could have been a third to wrap up the story, but alas the SJA came along and it died. My head cannon is that she was picked up by the Doctor and deposited back on Earth.
I suspect me responding to this would be considered ‘preaching to the choir’? Regardless, I love them. Part of it for me is that as good as Sarah’s original TV run and The Sarah Jane Adventures are, I was never especially interested in Sarah in her own right prior to listening to the audios. They’re probably darker than is strictly necessary, but personally I was delighted to listen to Sarah being brutally injured in various unique ways.
For the most part I’m not especially interested in the individual plots (particularly of the first series), because that’s not what makes them interesting to me. What makes them most interesting is as a character study of Sarah - which is probably why Test of Nerve is one of my favourites. Sarah was never especially well-adjusted to ‘normal’ life in the way some companions are, and you get the sense throughout the audios that travelling with the Doctor pretty much destroyed her enjoyment of linear, day-to-day, no-near-death-encounters-before-breakfast life. She’s obviously not coping, but I was surprised by just how much she’s not coping - she’s awful! And yet it makes sense. I love it.
I’m especially fascinated by what the Orbus Postremo arc does with the concepts of fate and destiny, and how it soundly pulls apart the notion of Sarah being ‘predestined’ in any sense to the life she leads. If you look at other Doctor Who media - take, I don’t know, Gallifrey - Romana is literally destined to be the return of Pandora; the whole point of Orbus Postremo is that there’s a cult convinced Sarah is a prophet of sorts not because of who she is but because of sheer (mis)chance. It’s a fun take on destiny or lack thereof.
I honestly don’t know how the Series 2 cliffhanger would resolve, but I like to imagine that Sarah ends up back on Earth with no memory of how she got there… and within the year, School Reunion happens. I think they’re largely compatible with SJA; SJA for the most part feels like it could be a natural continuation of Sarah’s audios characterisation, with some of the darker edges sanded off. As for Nat and Josh - I like them, but I also feel so bad for Nat. She never gets a break.
As soon as my bank account has recovered/ I get the Christmas money I’m still due to get/ these get put on sale (Sladen’s birthday is on February 1st so maybe soon?)/ I lose my tenuous self control, whatever happens first, I will be getting these! They are so intriguing to me
I’m barely even aware of these audios! Needless to say, I’m completely out of the loop when it comes to SJA spin-offs (except for K9 and Company), so I haven’t listened to these, nor do I know if I ever get around to them.
Yes! So much yes! They’re very dark, very weird, totally not as friendly as SJA, but they really suck you in. Basically, Sarah has become paranoid and isolated since the Doctor left her and she spends the entire series being embroiled in schemes. I love these audios a lot
