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Visitors Review

Graham 2013-05-30 21:38:10

Another Run-Off Show from Doctor Who

Sarah Jane Smith played by Elisabeth Sladen, one of many assistants theDoctor had at his side is now back home on earth. Sarah Jane Smith isan Investigative journalist who looks into strange events and seems toside always more than she bargained for. The following bit may be classed as a spoiler:Like most Doctor Who type shows would not be the same with out a sonictype toy. The Doctor has his Sonic Screwdriver, Sarah Jane Smith has aSonic Lipstick. Another interesting toy is Mr Smith, no its not herhusband but a super computer which seems to be able to access anything.Another helper at her side but not seen much in the pilot episode isK-9 her robot dog.

gregoryshnly 2013-05-30 09:25:11

Sarah-Jane Deserves Better

Sorry I didn't like it,Lis Sladen as always,gave a great performancebut it just seemed to be a lot of running around and giving Sarah-Jane"a son" at the end,please! The baddie just overacted like mad,poor LisSladen giving a heart felt performance but K-9 was sorely missed apartfrom his brief appearance but I know this is due to copyright problems.Gadgets and special effects have sadly replaced atmosphere and tension.I hope the rest of the series is a big improvement. I'd have preferreda grown up version of The Sarah-Jane Adventures rather than the bigyawn that is Torchwood. Would be good to see the Brigadier(NicholasCourtney)or Captain Yates(Richard Franklin) making a guest appearanceon this show too.

markwilliams91983 2013-05-22 17:28:46

Invasion of the Banal...

I watched Doctor Who and thought it wasn't too bad. Then I sawTorchwood and didn't think much of it. Maybe because I never liked thecharacter of Captain Jack and couldn't bear watching a whole seriesdedicated to that flimsy character. So it was with caution that I sat down and watched The Sarah JaneAdventures. The pilot; Invasion of the Bane, was pretty poor andlacklustre; most of the last ten minutes spent laughing hard at thestereotypes of British youth and Samantha Bond's acting.The acting was substandard; especially from the stereotype single dadwho will no doubt form a love interest for Sarah Jane; which is quitelikely as her only other companion is in space somewhere. I think itwas explained but I wasn't paying attention. Samantha Bond; well we allknow why she didn't have a large part in Bond. She hams it up more thanGoldfinger ever did. And the less said about Harley from Footballer'sWives the better.The local girl's acting was awful from start to end and it ranged from"I've got a hard attitude but I'm only 10" to "I'm going to turn on mymobile phone because I'm hard." yeah right OK. Whatever. Then the archetype; another candidate for banality along with all theothers. Actually no I take it back. There was a good character and itwas K9. He was the only one with depth. It looks the BBC are trying toinfiltrate the entire country because it's the first success they'vehad on a Saturday night since Strictly Come Dancing (and no I'm notgoing to mention Robin Hood). We have Doctor Who for the families,Torchwood for the mature audience and this for the CBBC gang. Some other things as well before I forget: - Bubbleshock (SJA) = Slurm(Futurama) - Mrs Wormwood (yeah that was also Matilda's mum but nomatter) - The map of the Milky Way; according to Wikipedia its fromStar Trek: TNG. - In a vain attempt to look "contemporary" itreferenced Jeremy Kyle and James Blunt. In two years when no oneremembers who these two are it will just make the show look old. And finally; no one seems to mention that the SONIC LIPSTICK and/orSCREWDRIVER is just the 21st century version of the Batbelt. It can doeverything just at that time when it looks like there is no chance forthe heroes. Damn. And they say entertainment is evolving.Rating: F-

Angelus2 2013-05-21 21:49:03

A show full of bad writing and bad acting

Sarah Jane Smith continues the battle to save the planet in her ownway, by writing articles and teams up with children....Thats theinitial plot and it just gets worser, the actress Elisabeth Sladen isperhaps one of the worst actresses I've seen, she overacts andunderacts, cries...in like every scene and delivers lines with a cheesysmile.This is supposed to be a kids show so people will argue that it doesn'tmatter.YES IT DOES! These kids who watch the shows today will becomefilmmakers of the future and they deserve to be entertained by thefinest...take shows like Young Dacula for example a British show thatexcels past any other kid show in the last decade of British shows.Just because its part of Doctor Who and has the awful Russel T Daviesas the creator doesn't mean it has to be on the air for anotherpathetic series.

annevejb 2013-05-01 04:16:36

Tooth Fairy becomes a real woman, version 2.20

Looking at the reviews of this, at March 2009 there were 13 sopractical to browse them all, those in favour and those not. I canagree with big chunks of both sides. If I shrug off the flaws this isokay. The best is really okay. But on the days when the ham actingdrags me down it is way too other. This is something that I need to watch only occasionally, but at March2009, season one was available as a DVD set, and at what for me is anaffordable price. At least it was possible for me to purchase this. The worst aspects remind me of UK media when they try to fight the goodfight, deliberately making their work into flawed creations, some witha love for kiddie level SF might even consider this to be amanufactured virus that might erase their love of BBC SF. At the sametime there is another side, there are even some very positive aspectsto this series. Some are, to me, from the story creation, some are fanstuff, if one is a fan of most of the key actors then one will have tobe impressed by how they mostly cope with the ham, sometimes they allfall but mostly there are some who stand out as good actors. * When Doctor Who first appeared, with two consecutive episodes, Iwatched it with my toughest sister. Scary, but everyone else was out,sunny Saturday late afternoon. We both liked it a lot. I thought thatit was way better than anything else that was in the 5 to 6 pm timeslot, but I was around the age of Maria and Luke, a lot of the otherprogs no longer made sense. Doctor Who as apparent perfection. When I noticed any flawed acting orflawed continuity or flawed anything I could not remember it for long.I would now be suspicious of such a reaction but then I had to rate ithighly. I do not consider Sarah Jane to be perfect. As far as perfection goes,season one is way below such as Skippy 1992 and Pete and Pete 1993-5. Irate the Gorgon episode as 100% for political reasons, I rate WhateverHappened and The Lost Boy as way less than 90%, Sarah being like grittyham to me, but I rate the first two stories, Bane and Slitheen, asamazing SF. A big political plus. Many of the monsters in season one are unlikelyto be frightening to any of age 5, some yes, most not. The first scary,Gorgon, was predictably scary, but covered until just the right time,the unveiling slow. The ugly scary related to the Gorgon host beingrather old, well past her sell by date. I should shudder. With Kudlakthere was an acclimatisation time, a cute look until rough stuff gotrough. Whatever Happened to … is maybe in the borderline territory, butif any feel a need to skip that they also miss some really ham sciencefiction. This monster aspect shows sophistication. Several of the olderaudience are said to have a love for the scary and this does try toinclude some, but while also scaring some who just have a love forscience fiction. I have to rate this series, despite the ham and flawed SF, for thatmonster aspect. If the early Dr Who achieved that it would likely bebecause special effects were not so advanced. This is kids television,and not geared just for the older kids. The bad guys tending to be hammight link with this, but that only occasionally works, for me. When itdoes work it is a big plus, folksy ham. Fan stuff: A series that is not perfect, oh woe, just that Yasmin Paigeis there so I have to take it seriously, this series covers hertransition from tooth fairy to beginner level woman, it is one of thedefinitive Paige's. Essential viewing for those with that sort of goodsense. And her acting stands out alongside the best in these stories.Except in some stories the principle actors go weak ham too, and thatincludes Yasmin, as if the directors sometimes had off days. Fans ofany of the main actors will often be pleased, but occasionally wonderif their world has gone askew. The flaws can be difficult to shrug off. * Season 2. The DVD set available not so long after the season appeared.A lot of features have this, but not so many series. I found the pricetag of season two to be welcome, especially with the season includingappearances by Yasmin and Claire Thomas, as most series that Ipurchased during 200.9 had a price that got higher and higher. First impressions of the story content: More solid, negligible hamacting until the later episodes. More scary, but not looking more scaryjust feeling more scary. Except none of them compared with the firsttwo stories of season one. To me this season is missing out onsomething special, though comments suggest that some are finding thisto be better. Rani having a very different style to Maria, impressivelysuperhero versus impressively nice girl, to me that is the bigdifference. I also found a copy of Dr Who season one, but that was the Eccleston Drof 2005ish. I find it to be consistently at the level of the best ofSarah Jane, a big quality improvement over the early years, but notwhat I interpret as kiddie level SF, which is how I interpret SarahJane, I prefer Sarah Jane. Then I notice lots of Dr Who Easter eggs andassume that it is rather popular with today's young.

brantsclayton 2013-04-30 21:44:49

Better than some of Doctor Who!

I actually thought this special was quite good, although it was forchildren it had an interesting storyline and believable characters.Comparing this with the Christmas special of Doctor Who there was nocompetition, it was way better than Doctor Who, the character played byCatherine Tate was appalling, even the children's characters on SarahJane Adevntures were better! And the aliens we saw were way more likealiens than what we have seen in doctor who since the ood. It is abouttime we had some bug eyed green monsters instead of half spider halfwomen things with really bad laughs, mind you it fits in with doctorwhos tradition of crappy costumes! I am looking forward to the seriesof this, from what I have seen, even though it is a kids programme, asit was written well and produced well!

DVD_Connoisseur 2013-04-21 17:17:44

Thoroughly entertaining series with great production values

"The Sarah Jane Adventures" continues to display the excellentproduction values demonstrated in the pilot "Invasion of the Bane".With well-conceived plots, great acting and genuine drama, the seriessurpassed my expectations.Elisabeth Sladen remains eternally youthful and is as watchable asever. She's joined by a solid cast and the whole ensemble makes theseries more satisfying that "Torchwood"."Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?" is the highlight of the firstseason, superbly directed by Graeme Harper. It's a marvellous talewhich paves the way for "Doctor Who"'s "Turn Left" episode.8 out of 10.

Christopher Burdick 2013-04-21 04:05:13

The further adventures of Sarah Jane Smith.

I loved seeing Sarah Jane again since her outing in Doctor Who lastyear. The show should do well, I hope it shows here in the US in thefuture. I wanted to give it a higher rating but seeing as how theDoctor went to the trouble of fixing up K-9 and then he gets writtenout of the series is pretty much unforgivable. K-9 should be a part ofthe show too. Otherwise it was a good first outing, though I also havetrouble with the lifting of the theme, same as in Torchwood and DoctorWho. This episode also borrowed heavily from a Christopher EcclestonDoctor Who episode, "The Long Game". Many episodes are less thanoriginal. The graphics and cgi were fine. But Most of all Liz Sladenwas brilliant as always!

burlsolomons 2013-04-18 08:13:02

Good fun - for all the family !

I'm not going to give a synopsis, as previous reviewers have alreadyaccurately done so.As a long time Dr Who fan, (Tom Baker days!!)I sat and watched thiswith the children, aged 7, 5 and 3, and my 60 something mum too. Fullcredit to the writers/directors, as this appealed to us all! Even myyoungest got the general idea, the older two followed the whole story,and the adults were kept amused with a few laughs and "in" referencesand jokes. The pace was excellent, as the story and characters slowlydraw you in, and then take off at speed after a few minutes of scenesetting. By the end of the episode the characters are pretty wellestablished, and we are all looking forward to the rest of the series.Well done BBC - this makes the licence worth while!

chug_rocks 2013-04-18 05:47:26

Brilliant! Absolutely Fantastic

Firstly i must say i am 20 years old, secondly i do not have anyyounger siblings or relatives and thirdly i am not a fan of the "old"doctor who- a little sacrilegious to some people perhaps... but I LOVEDthis!It is meant for kids but with Russell T Davies co-writing andproducing, it won't keep Who fans young and Old away. In a way I thinkit is better than Torchwood, because it excludes nobody from watchingit. I and my Dad watched this just to see what it was like and we bothfelt it was excellent. The plot was sophisticated which is great because it assumes thatchildren are intelligent and does not talk down to them (a pet peevewhen i was growing up). The characters are lovable when they should be as you do likeSarah-Jane and her sidekick Maria. Sinister (again they were not justsinister too children but adults too) when they should be; the BaneMother and her Spawn were scary and interesting, worthy of a possibleDoctor Who cross-over if they felt like it. And humorous when needed;Kelsi being a non-believer and a popular culture freak saying thingslike "You should be on Jeremy Kyle, mate!" Of course the Doctor wasmentioned a couple of times and that satisfies any Who fan reallynicely as well ( Torchwood have only done it about twice in the wholeseries!) All in all great tea-time fun, and I look forward to the next adventureand hope to see more of the same characters.