It is finaly time to se what is happening with Sara Jane Smith at 13 Bannerman road!
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Hurray! Finally, the best DW spin-off: SJA! I think that this series does a great job of making a pilot. It is a fun and thrilling family adventure!
13 Likes
Iām rewatching SJA now! The pilot does a great job at introducing the characters in an engaging way and does a really good job at setting the tone for the show. I like turning SJA on as a background show while I work on projects because it entertaining enough to stop me from getting bored but not so complicated that I have to give it my full attention. Very lovable cast of characters too.
10 Likes
Every time I rewatch this story in particular, it feels like I keep forgetting just how incredibly mid-2000s it is. Likeā¦ the running Bubbleshock ads on their own are hilariously retro, and that CGI has not aged well. But hey, you could say the same for most of the visuals from this time, even outside of the Whoniverse.
As an introduction for a more kid-friendly version of Doctor Who (during an era where the main show aesthetically looked more like a full-on kidsā show than ever, but letās not get into that), I quite like it. The character introductions are good, the plot does well in presenting a body horror plot in just the right way to make it approachable for young audiences (always respect media that can work in those confines), and Sarah Jane herself is as good as ever. Hell, Iād even argue that sheās better here than she was on the main show, as her presence as the central character for a show like thisā¦ even to this day, it still feels revolutionary to see in a mainstream production. An older working single mother where none of those statuses are something to be ashamed of or airbrushed into insignificance; this is rarer than it has any right to be.
13 Likes
Bubble Shock!!!
I have such a vivid memory of watching this when it aired - I was nine years old and I was enchanted. I cannot begin to explain to you how much I love this series or how much it means to me.
Sarah is such a wonderful character - sheās mean and frosty and lonely, and she never really loses that edge which I think is awesome. I know sheās not popular for some reason, but I imprinted on Maria as a child and I adore her too, and Luke is of course brilliant and is SO baby in this one!!
SJA <333
12 Likes
Just here to echo everyone else. They pretty much nailed SJA from the get-go (letās just sweep Kelsey under the rug). Invasion of the Bane is great fun.
11 Likes
Its pretty good, funny that its a 60 minute introduction, I wonder if the rest of the series was always planned to be 2 30 minute parts? Everything works here pretty much though its weird now to see an episode without Clyde. Nice to see it take doctor who formula of here is an everyday thing, lets make it a bit sinister
7 Likes
Invasion of the Bane absolutely sets the tone well for the rest of the series. Maria is just a delightful little protagonist and itās fun to see how Sarah Jane is warms up to her and to Luke.
11 Likes
Also, to throw in some UK broadcast context to all this, we were being spoilt during the last week of 2006ā¦ I donāt think weāve ever quite been fed so well in such a short space of time since! Such an amazing week.
- 24 December 2006: Combat
- 24 December 2006: āDeep and Dreamless Sleepā [prose]
- 25 December 2006: Weevil Fight Club (Torchwood Declassified)
- 25 December 2006: The Runaway Bride
- 25 December 2006: Music and Monsters (DW Confidential)
- 26 December 2006: āTorchwood: Series One, Part Oneā DVD released
- 31 December: Blood of the Daleks [audio] broadcast on BBC Radio 7
- 1 January 2007: Invasion of the Bane
- 1 January 2007: Captain Jack Harkness
- 1 January 2007: End of Days
- 2 January 2007: Blast from the Past (Torchwood Declassified)
- 2 January 2007: To the End (Torchwood Declassified)
11 Likes
A lovely pilot for a wonderful show
7 Likes
I remember watching this on New Yearās Day and loving it. A recent rewatch did highlight the more CBBC sensibilities - the worst being the Bubbleshock stuff - but when you have such a high calibre of cast (itās Samantha Bond, for goodness sake) thatās going to work in its favour.
Kelsey was rightly binned in favour of the similar, but far more likeable and three-dimensional, Clyde as her particular brand of in-you-face-ness would have worn thin very, very quickly. (Still canāt quite get my head around the fact she reappears in Faction Paradox or somethingā¦).
One thing I do like about this series is Mariaās family dynamic. Chrissie could be horribly unlikeable but she is written and performed in such a way that (possibly more as Series 1 progresses than here) allows you to see why her and Alan may once have been an item. The fact that they seem to have found a relatively amicable way to co-parent is great and highlights one of the ways CBBC is streets ahead in childrenās television in that itās presenting a family dynamic that many of the kids watching may be living in. (And similar happens later with Clyde and of course itās there in the adoption element of Sarah and Luke).
The Bane CGI is a bit ropey in places but, overall, itās a great start to an excellent series.
14 Likes
Also worthy of note was having a CBBC a kidsā show with a lead actress in her 60s. The way they soften Sarah over the first few episodes / the first season with the kids is wonderful, and the āSarah Jane familyā aspect really sells the whole thing.
10 Likes
Like with any of the big three first Episodes from the 2000s Who Shows, I think this one is a very solid and good Introduction to its titular Show, but sadly all of them just kinda end up in the āOkayā-Tier.
That said, like with the Revival & Torchwood, this first Story gets the Tone of the Show so right from the Start. Admittedly one where you can clearly tell the Target Audience, in particular due to the Music, which I find maybe goes a bit too much in that Direction, but I still think it does a very solid Job at introducing a new Viewer of this World and in particular to Sarah Jane, who is played to perfection by Liz Sladen here. I really like how we donāt soften her up from the Start and show her a bit more isolated, which is probably a bold move to do for a Show like that, but still very much appreciated.
I like how itās very much its own Thing, while a few Spin-offs can certainly work best with the Knowledge of the main Show in mind, one thing I really admired of the RTD Spin-offs is the Fact how they very much stood on their own, something which many newer Spin-offs just donāt even attempted, which is a great Shame.
As for the other Characters, our Villains are a bit more over-the-top than usually, but hey it makes sense and I donāt mind it really.
Maria is a fine Protagonist, although while her Actress does a very good Job, I donāt think I have much of an Opinion on her one way or the other. Luke is great right from the Start and his Actor is a Standout here besides Sladen. Oh and Kelsey, while her Actress does a good enough Job, she feels rather one-noted to me and just felt like the biggest weak-link here.
Anyway yeah, pretty good first Episode, not really much to complain other than the CGI looks very dated, but then again thatās pretty much true for any 2000s Who Show more often than not.
7 Likes
I have distinct memories of being nine years old on the night before summer camp started, and my parents saying that they bought me the DVD of the first season of a Doctor Who spinoff that I might like called The Sarah Jane Adventures. My entire immediate family watched Invasion of the Bane, and I was hooked. I had an optometristās appointment at the end of the next day that made me unable to read anything due to the eye drops, so I watched the next few episodes of SJA the minute I got home.
Although Invasion of the Bane isnāt one of the standout episodes of SJA (and it certainly has some of the most cringeworthy CGI), it established the tone and main cast very well (except for Kelsey, who was thankfully replaced by Clyde). I love Sarah Janeās frostiness and inquisitive nature that never goes away and Elisabeth Sladenās performance. Itās lovely to have an older single mother be the protagnist of a childrenās show, and how Sarah Jane is never diminished for that. I recently rewatched SJA last summer, and I enjoyed Invasion of the Bane almost as much as when I was nine years old.
12 Likes
The rest of the series was always planned to be 2 parters. SJA was one of the rare shows to have a full series order straight away rather than a pilot and then a full series order.
8 Likes
Fun fact time, the explosion of the bubble shock factory is the largest practical explosion in doctor who history so far so love that it is in doctor who history books, thereās a brief moment where you can see Tommy jump out of his skin in the episode itself
9 Likes
Iām gonna rewatch SJA purely for this
9 Likes
Itās such a solid first episode that sets everything up perfectly, and the aesthetic is unmatched. I think it already looked dated by the time I first watched it around 2009, but itās such a good/obnoxious look it doesnāt matter.
9 Likes
I remember that they used Davie unmasking himself as a CGI creature outside the house for a cliffhanger point when I saw it on TV.
7 Likes
So, I started watching SJA for the very first time earlier this year, and I was delighted to find it wonderfully charming and lighthearted. Despite this, SJA still has depth, and I wouldnāt call it much more childish than the parent show. And even if it was, whatās the point of being grown-up if you canāt be childish sometimes?
A well-crafted introduction to The Sarah Jane Adventures, Invasion of the Bane is never childish but always engaging. With a strong cast, solid production values, and a mix of action, humour, and heart, it sets up the series beautifully while delivering an entertaining adventure in its own right.
Hereās my non-spoilery review for those of you who fancy a read. Thanks!
9 Likes