The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fifth Season (2012)

NOTE: I KNOW IT SAYS 'NO SPOILERS' AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE, BUT THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS FOR SEASON FOUR.
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The fifth season of TSJA is both the shortest and the last of them. It's not because the series was losing its audience or appeal, but because the actress that played the title character, namely Elisabeth Sladen, sadly passed away before it could be completed. Of the planned twelve episodes, just six were made.

Luke (Tommy Knight) is still at university, but Sky (Sinead Michael), the young girl that Sarah Jane and her team rescued at the end of Season Four, is still around, bringing the number of human helpers the reporter has back up to a comfortable three. Well, four, if you count the times when Luke is back on Bannerman Road. He gets paired with Sky in the season's final two-parter, The Man Who Never Was.

They're both Sarah Jane's 'adopted' children, so it makes a kind of sense that they'd end up side by side. And it works well; the duo, despite their differing backgrounds and ages, have things in common (such as not being human, for a start) and they've a wonderful brother/sister chemistry, as believable as the bond that formed between Rani (Anjli Mohindra) and Clyde (Daniel Anthony) in the previous years.

Thematically, the short season includes musings on identity and upbringing (e.g. we can't choose our parents at birth, but we can choose to be not like them as we grow). The issue of homelessness is given some attention, it's slight but may well be enough to make a youthful audience notice its existence in the streets around where they live. It even touches on how relationship break-ups can leave a hole.

As an adult viewer it was pleasing to see the inclusion of something that's often overlooked: Sarah Jane's journalistic skills aren't just useful for researching aliens, they're also what pay the bills. I'm sure Mr Smith costs more than a penny to run.

I'll genuinely miss the series; I loved the opening music, the creepy stories, the sonic-lipstick jokes, and, of course, Elisabeth, who brought to the role a distinctive level of sincerity and gentleness that was all her own. The final episode ends with a moving montage of moments that give credence to that feeling. The Doctor Who franchise will endure for as long as there's money to be made from it, but I feel that the extended universe will be lessened without Elisabeth Sladen's presence.

6 episodes, approx 27 mins each.

3 galactic coincidences out of 5

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fourth Season (2011)

Sarah Jane's son Luke (Tommy Knight) features prominently on the cover art, but the character is only in the fourth Season occasionally, and mostly it's from the other side of a webcam chat. His absence is used to highlight the kind of feelings that a parent may experience when their only child leaves the nest, and the sense of abandonment and fear of further separation that a small but close-knit group of friends can feel when one of their members is no longer present.

In one of the two-parters, within a dream scenario (the subject's first, incidentally) lurks an Elm Street / Pennywise-esque creature that preys upon self-doubts and anxiety, which is something that the youths have much of at that time. It has a creepy nursery rhyme jingle, too, which is often a plus in that kind of scenario.

Additionally, looking at the same situation from a different angle, it shows how we can draw courage and strength from trusted friends when we need it most.

Rani (Anjli Mohindra) and Clyde (Daniel Anthony) have always worked well together, both as characters and with regards the actors' onscreen chemistry, which is just as well because with Luke absent the duo are required to step up and fill multiple roles. One such situation has them running ragged while trying to save the entire Earth from ultimate destruction - so, no pressure, then.

Throughout the series there's commentary on how we are frequently influenced and inspired by our family and friends, the latter being something that I was reminded of very recently in my personal life. (If you're reading, TYVM.)

There's another welcome Doctor Who connection, which plays a role in the season's best two-parter (Eps 5+6), a story dealing with the death of a loved one, with subsequent denial, and how such unfathomable change can make us appreciate those we still have; it contains a superbly written and admirably concise explanation of grief, one that a young person could understand. Also, it has lots of stuff from Who's past, for fans who enjoy both the old and the new.

And finally, for this review, at least. there's a time-travel episode that reminded me of the wonderful Sapphire and Steel (1979-82) TV series.

12 episodes, approx 27 mins each.

3½ enduring echoes out of 5