Category: Season 5

In a burst of alien energy, Sky suddenly grows from an infant to a girl in the early stages of adolescence. Miss Meyers orders Sky to destroy the Metalkind and fulfill her destiny as a genetically-engineered weapon, but Sarah puts a stop to those instructions and makes a quick escape with her friends. Miss Meyers rigs up her Metalkind captive to send a distress signal to others of his kind, drawing them to Earth. At Sarah’s home, Mr. Smith finds that Sky’s destructive abilities can’t be deactivated: if she ever encounters sufficient numbers of Metalkind, she’ll become a powerful living bomb who can’t be defused. Sarah desperately tries to convince Sky that it’s still her choice whether or not to use that power… but when the Metalkind start arriving, what chance will anyone on Earth have?

written by Phil Ford
directed by Ashley Way
music by Sam Watts & Dan Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Mina Anwar (Gita Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Christine Stephen-Daly (Miss Myers), Gavin Brocker (Caleb), Paul Kasey (The Metalkind), Chloe Savage (baby Sky), Ella Savage (baby Sky), Amber Donaldson (baby Sky), Scarlet Donaldson (baby Sky), Sinead Michael (Sky), Will McLeod (voice of the Metalkind), Cyril Nri (The Shopkeeper)

Notes: The Shopkeeper (and his parrot, or is that the other way around?) made his previous appearance in season 4’s Lost In Time two-parter. Although credited, Tommy Knight does not appear in this episode.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Clyde and Rani’s school day – and Sarah’s attempt to enroll Sky in their school – is brought to a standstill when fish begin raining from the sky. Mr. Smith suggests a connection between the unusual storm and a Mojave totem pole on display at a nearby museum – a totem whose discovery was also associated with raining fish. Clyde touches the totem pole and gets a splinter in his finger. The next day, his friends begin turning against him and telling him to get out of their sight – anyone exposed to the sight or sound of Clyde’s name suddenly hates him. Even his own mother kicks him out of his house. In the space of one day, Clyde has gone from alien hunter and budding artist to homeless.

written by Phil Ford
directed by Ashley Way
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Lily Loveless (Ellie), Jocelyn Jee Esien (Carla Langer), Sara Houghton (Doctor Madigan), Elijah Baker (Steve Wallace), Anwar Lynch (Security Guard)

Notes: Clyde’s perusal of a book about the French Revolution is a gag that goes all the way back to the very first Doctor Who episode, in which the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan was seen reading a similar book. (In 1988’s 25th anniversary story Remembrance Of The Daleks, Ace was seen glancing at a similar book – possibly the same one, since both stories took place at Coal Hill School.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Led to shelter by a homeless girl, Clyde is a man without a home, a family, or friends. Determined to survive, he has to learn the ways of life on the streets fast. Sarah and Rani still can’t say his name without feeling a sudden, inexplicable rage, but Sky seems completely unaffected. Sky finally works up the courage to set Mr. Smith to the task of solving the curse, but he discovers that the “curse” is actually a cover for an alien being trying to gain a foothold on Earth. Thanks to the splinter that’s still in hs finger, Clyde holds the key to stopping this alien invasion… but how can anyone ask him for his help when they can’t bear to say his name?

written by Phil Ford
directed by Ashley Way
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Lily Loveless (Ellie), Jocelyn Jee Esien (Carla Langer), Sara Houghton (Doctor Madigan), Angela Pleasance (Mystic Mags), Ewart James Jones (Max)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Luke is coming home from college, and it’ll be the first time he’s met Sky since Sarah adopted her. Sarah’s been invited to a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-launched SerfBoard personal computer, and takes Luke and Sky with her so they can get to know each other. But both of them notice something else: Serf “glitches,” a telltale sign of a hologram. Sarah manages to land an exclusive interview with Serf, and begins asking awkward questions, producing the expected result: whoever is controlling the hologram of Serf can’t keep up with the unusual line of questioning. But Serf isn’t the real threat, and he’s not in charge of Serf Systems. Who’s pulling the strings, and what secrets lie inside the SerfBoard that’ll soon be in the hands of millions?

written by Gareth Roberts
directed by Joss Agnew
music by Sam & Dan Watts

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), James Dreyfus (Harrison), Mark Aiken (Serf), Edyta Budnik (Adriana), Peter Bowles (Lionel Carson), Dan Starkey (Plark), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith)

Notes: While Serf’s name is a play on Vint Cerf, one of the computer scientists instrumental in the creation and development of the internet, the character of Serf seems to be largely based on Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, who died mere days before this story’s premiere. (The iPad-like SerfBoard and its carefully orchestrated PR rollout are also storngly reminiscent of Jobs’ meticulously stage-managed 2010 introduction of the iPad, and the jab at Serf’s payment and treatment of its labor force is also clearly aimed at Apple.) Serf is played by Irish-born actor Mark Aiken, who’s been busy on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in 24, Charmed, Alias, CSI and MI-5.

LogBook entry by Earl Green