Something Wicked This Way Comes

The folks at Doctor Who Magazine are good to us SJA fans*, huh?


That's the - rather beautiful - cover of the magazine's latest special, which focuses on our heroine Miss Sarah Jane Smith and all things SJA.

Fandom's greatest gentleman Andrew Pixley has looked over a mountain of documents covering the first two series, and created an insightful 'archive' of the production process. There's also an indepth interview with Elisabeth Sladen - so don't miss it! It's released on Thursday, priced £5.99.

We'll review the magazine later in the week.

*Just how do we refer to SJA fans? When this site first launched we offered the suggestion of Smithies, but let's be honest... that sounds a little lame! Can you offer any better nickname suggestions? Leave your's in the comments section below...

Spoiler-gasm

***WARNING! This entire post contains pesky SPOILERS regarding the third season of The Sarah Jane Adventures... so if you'd rather not know, look away now!**

As you probably know by now the BBC Press Office has released the synopsis for the first two episodes of the SJA's new run of episodes, covering the entire "Prisoner of the Judoon" story:

Episode One - airing Thursday 15th October @ 4:35pm, BBC One
In the first of this two-part adventure, Sarah Jane and the gang face the most dangerous day of their lives, as the rhino-like Judoon return. When prisoner Androvax the Destroyer crash-lands on Earth, a Veil is set free and starts to turn Earth's technology against itself. And his next intended victim is Sarah Jane.

Episode Two - airing Friday 16th October @4:35pm, BBC One
Luke, Clyde and Rani fight their most fearsome enemy yet – Sarah Jane Smith – in the second episode of this two-part, alien-busting adventure. As the Judoon fleet approaches Earth, it's a race against time to stop Androvax. But with Genetech's technology on the rampage, and Rani's parents taken prisoner, can anything stop the Army of the Infinitesimal?

In an exclusive interview with SFX Magazine (which isn't due to be published until mid-November) Elisabeth Sladen previews the first few adventures of the series...

Episodes one and two “Prisoner Of The Judoon” by Phil Ford
“I love one and two, because I’m evil Sarah Jane, and I absolutely relished it – it’s great! I said to Phil Ford, ‘Why did you think I could do that?’ and he said, ‘It’s something you did or said last year’, so I thought ‘Oh… They do listen!”

Episodes three and four “The Mad Woman In The Attic” by Joseph Lidster
“Three and four my husband [Brian Miller] is in, which is brilliant. That was in the rain on Barry Island. If you’ve ever been on Barry Island, with or without rain, you would remember it. I got a chest infection on Barry Island! You look at it and you don’t see the terrible weather we had - it was a nightmare for poor Alice [Troughton, the director], it really was. And for the lighting guy. And of course this year we’re in HD for the first time. It’s a different kind of look and it looks so expensive – it’s wonderful, I’m so thrilled with it.”

Episodes five and six “The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith” by Gareth Roberts
“A great story. It’s by my lovely Gareth – he’s lovely because he knows Sarah so well, he knows Doctor Who so well. He puts little things in sometimes, where I look up from a read-through and maybe only he and I and Russell and someone else will spot them! It’s really nice to have those little moments.”

Episodes seven and eight “The Eternity Trap” by Phil Ford
“The haunted house one is incredibly scary - I mean I even screech in it when something happens! Danny [Anthony, who plays Clyde] went to the loo and he wouldn’t look in the mirror - when he came back out from washing his hands, he flew out!”

You can pick up SFX Magazine from all good newsagents from £3.99 - or why not subscribe for all the latest science-fiction/fantasy news direct to your door, from around £10 per quarter.

More news covering series three over the coming weeks - including updates on cinema trailers, Doctor Who Magazine specials, and maybe some sneaky - and surprising - DVD news to boot...

The Shadow People: A Review

Originally posted by Nabu San:

Writer Scott Handcock, at the mere age of 24, has built up an impressive resume of experience in the three short years since he graduated from university with a degree in Classical Literature and Civilisations.

His current accomplishments range from scripting some epic Doctor Who audios for Big Finish, to contributing features and interviews to Doctor Who Magazine! The man has his finger in every piece of the Who pie. And indeed, it was probably through his time as a production runner on the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures that lead to Handcock securing a contract to pen one of two new SJA audiobooks due to be released on October 8th, 2009.

BBC Audiobooks were kind enough to send me an advance copy of his story last Friday! =D So taking my 'censorship of uber spoilers' stance into consideration, here followeth my exclusive online review of The Shadow People!

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Read in the silky tones of our favourite sonic lipstick-wielding heroine, The Shadow People tells a chilling tale of a class camping trip gone awry...

That doesn't mean to say this audiobook is Friday the 13th-level terrifying. But with a fast-paced narrative, creepily enhanced vocal work and whispery sound effects around every corner - a spare change of pants may be well-advised! Sound is a crucial asset to SJA episodes on the tellybox, and it's great to see the SJA audio's taking advantage of the medium to not only set the scene, but compliment Lis' reading style, to boot. The introduction of music to the stories this year is another inspired touch. The short compositions used aren't as intricately layered as some of the Watts brothers' fine work, but it's enough to give a story that extra oomph-factor to really engage young listeners.

But, o'course - nothing packs more oomph than the plot itself, eh? So how well does The Shadow People fair against SJA audiobooks of Autumns past?

I was rather happy to see the story attempt to differentiate itself from The Thirteenth Stone, by having Sarah Jane merely tag along on the class field trip as opposed to chaperoning it like before. Acting as a figure of authority kinda dampens her character's relateability for me, but as a stray she comes across as far more vunerable when stalkery crimson-eyed dopplegangers whisper sweet-nothings into her terrified ears in the middle of the night.

The fanservice in The Shadow People is clearly indicative of a writer familiar with the source material, with Carla's upgraded satnav from Mark of the Berserker playing a prominent role in the story, as well as a minor reference to Luke's favourite dinosaur t-shirt from The Lost Boy! Sarah Jane even talks about her spooky experiences from Ghost Town, a pre-SJA Big Finish audio recorded yonks ago, which came up as a scary story around the camp fire! The audiobook's packed with humour, too - with Clyde getting some of the best material. Funnier still is Lis' impression of Clyde! Yes folks, the street accent is back with a vengeance. Even Luke, surprisingly, comes out with a few quips.

Speaking of whom, there's a rather significant plothole involving Luke that wasn't really explained away in the story. It involves him running off to a cave to investigate all the strange goings-on in the middle of the night, and he doesn't tell Sarah Jane where he's headed and for what reason. His behaviour's very out-of-character. There's no reference to any cave or clues leading up to its discovery at all. It pretty much got dropped into the story out of nowhere!

That's the only fault I could find, though - 'cause once Clyde and Sarah Jane joined Luke at the cave [not much Rani!], the action progressed onto a deeply moving climax that, I confess, gave me a lump in my throat. Despite all my empathy for the situation, I have an inkling Handcock's audiobook may be the weaker of the two released this year. That plothole's just too darn big to ignore.

Favourite Line: 'I felt them die...'

Nabu's Rating: 4/5

Chases & Scares, Thrills & Danger

Yesterday the news broke that the forthcoming third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures would transmit twice weekly, beginning mid-October and every Thursday and Friday. Well, a quick update on the matter now that I actually have a copy of Doctor Who Magazine issue 413 - where the news broke in the first place. According to Russell T Davies:

"We've been planning this for a very long time now, and the whole of Children's BBC is excited by this transmission pattern. We've really got the whole channel behind us - it feels like the old days, when Doctor Who would transmit twice a week! It means that viewers with digital channels won't be the first to see the second episode of a story now on - everyone can!"

Confirmation there (as if it were ever in doubt) that the SJA return to BBC One, and not as a CBBC Channel exclusive.

Producer Nikki Wilson fills readers in on where exactly the production team are up to with this years episodes, "The series is now rolling out of post-production, and I couldn't be happier with the way things are going. Sam Watts has composed his most incredible scores yet, and the FX from Craig Higgins and his team at Mercury FX are spectacular.

"Look out for an amazing spaceship launch," Wilson continues, "Androvax's terrifying army and the mysteries of The Gift itself. Plus of course, for the first time - though we paved the way with the Comic Relief Special - the whole series has been shot in HD. The quality of the picture, and the grade, is amazing to see, and I'm so proud of everyone who's worked so hard to bring this to your screens."

"There are chases, scares, thrills, danger, some briliant comedy - wait til you see what that Judoon gets up to, let alone the hilarious rivalry between Mr Smith and K9 - with old enemies, new enemies and, of course, the return of a certain Time Lord, the seeds of which are sown from the second story onwards..."

In other news, it's been confirmed that thespians Simon Callow and Miriam Margoyles will be voicing characters in this year's finale, The Gift.

Series Three begins Thursday 15th October, at 4:25pm.

Remember, as ever, that times and dates are subject to change.

***

Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed that its next special, due on October 1st, is dedicated to all things SJA! The magazine will include "an in-depth look at the series by Andrew Pixley, plus a brand new interview with Sarah Jane herself, Elisabeth Sladen." It'll be priced £5.99.

This latest regular issue is out now, for £3.99. You might be interested to know that it contains the results of the DWM Mighty 200 Poll - which asked readers to vote on each of Doctor Who's 200 television adventures. The highest Sarah Jane Smith entry, in case you were wondering, comes in at number 3. As for which one it is... well, I'm afraid you'll just have to pick DWM up yourself and find out!

Twice Weekly?

News from GallifreyBase contributer ANobleToaster, who writes that the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine reveals the transmission dates/times for the approaching third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

According to ANT (a nickname kindly bestowed upon the user on the forum) here's the all important schedule:

Prisoner of the Judoon Part 1 - Thursday October 15th
Prisoner of the Judoon Part 2 - Friday October 16th

The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 1 - Thursday October 22nd
The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 2 - Friday October 23rd

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith Part 1 - Thursday October 29th
The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith Part 2 - Friday October 30th

The Eternity Trap Part 1 - Thursday November 5th
The Eternity Trap Part 2 - Friday November 6th

Mona Lisa's Revenge Part 1 - Thursday November 12th
Mona Lisa's Revenge Part 2 - Friday November 13th

The Gift Part 1 - Thursday November 19th
The Gift Part 2 - Friday November 20th

It means that from October, the SJA runs twice weekly! The advantage of this is we get double the amount of Sarah Jane goodness every week... but looking at it from another (more negative) angle it means the show is on our screens only half as long as normal - 6 weeks, instead of 12.

Back in the 1980's the BBC ran Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor adventures on a twice weekly basis. Ratings actually improved, initially, through doing this.

So... are the BBC right to double the series up? Tell us in the comments section below!

Up A Notch

Originally posted by Nabu San:

The See Me On CBBC tour set a high precedent in Manchester a fortnight ago. With its epic scale, well-structured organisation and a solid team of reps to back it up - how could the BBC Events crew possibly perfect on perfection? Seems they were up to the challenge, though, 'cause if the great Saturday I had at the Thames Festival in London is any indication; the best...just got better!

The weather couldn't have been more ideal, with the sun shining down hard on a cloudless day and the soaring heat bringing crowds to the Thames Festival by their hundreds! This was the See Me on CBBC tour's flagship event, and in recognition of this the Beeb really took everything up a notch!

The CBBC Registration tent was was so in demand for spots on the SJA activity, they needed four members of staff to cater for all the eager fans wishing to take part! Kids queuing up were given the same goody bags that were passed out at the Manchester event, but with one rather squeetastic addition!

They gave away a DVD made specially for the event, containing *faint* The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith two-parter! No logos or anything! T'was like getting the second series boxset two months early, what a fab treat! *dork*

Though, the real squeegasms came when I saw what an amazing job they'd done with the faux Mr Smith set this time around:

The layout, the lighting, the set dressing - the real Mr Smith screensaver as opposed to a budget one? All totally spot-on and as close to the real thing as it could've been! They even ditched the somewhat garish sofa that was sitting in the corner back in Manchester and made it look like a living space people wouldn't mind having in their own homes! Superb job to whoever was incharge of putting that together, I couldn't have been more impressed - or envious! Gah, I wanna visit the attic set at Upper Boat now more than ever. :P

As an aside, I kinda noticed this object that wasn't in the faux-attic set in Manchester, nor is it something I recall seeing on the show before. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks it may be a Series 3 prop, put on display as yet another treat for fans. I'm sure it's probably just a piece of junk, though!

And just for those dorky few who love debating where all the doors in Sarah Jane's attic lead to, seems this particular one goes backstage! I have an inkling the same may be true of the door on the Upper Boat set(!)

As for the performances, I thought most of the kids taking part in the show were surprisingly good at acting! A few slip-ups with the lines here and there, o'course, but when it came to giving their roles passion, conviction and above all, enthusiasm - I honestly believe some of the children performing could've given the real SJA cast a run for their money! Stars in the making, I'm sure! No doubt the unseen instructions the kids received backstage helped bring out the best in 'em, so the CBBC reps may deserve a little credit in that regard.

None moreso than one Mike Burnett, a BBC Events rep who took on a Master of Ceremonies-type role during the SJA activity and helped dozens of participating children feel at ease during their performances whilst simultaneously engaging the spectating audience with near effortless humour and wit. Even adorkable Geoff made a comeback as the pseudo-alien the kids acted with during their rehearsals, before the real thing came out on-set!

Despite the Beeb not using the Berserker storyline they'd planned to perform, which was probably for the best considering it was the weakest of the three mini-scripts, there's little doubt in my mind that the SJA reenactment was an unequivocal success and shone out as the pinnacle of the See Me on CBBC tour :) It would've been the best thing about the Thame's Festival, were it not for a surprise live performance by the Diversity [of Britain's Got Talent fame], who delivered an extended version of their winning BGT routine! *squee!*

WARNING: The screams from the following viddy may make your ears bleed. :P

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Many thanks to Aaron [phoenix123 over @ Gallifrey Base] for providing me with the use of his pictures and recordings in writing up this report. His camera was an invaluable asset after my own kinda went missing between a hotdog and a TARDIS! *facepalm* Don't ask :P Suffice it to say, were it not for him, I would've missed out on getting über-dorky pictures like this!

You'll probably see more of Aaron being featured on SARAH-JANE.tv in the future, when he and I jet off to Los Angeles in a few months to meet the likes of Tommy Knight, Gary Russell, Phil Ford, Alice Troughton and Graeme Harper [amongst other Who royalty] at the oh-so prestigious GallifreyOne. Stay tuned!

'Yes, we know who you are...'

Originally posted by Nabu San:

Paraphrased a teeny bit, but SJA's enigmatic Brand Manager, Edward Russell, said as much when I introduced myself to him at the See Me on CBBC event in Manchester over the weekend. Furthermore, he was actually aware of SARAH-JANE.tv! I kid thee not. 'We know everything(!)' he quipped.

Having been up since the crack o' dawn to get to Manchester before 9am [only three hours sleep, gah!] I can honestly say there's no greater wake-up call than hearing a senior New Who rep say he knows about your fansite!

If this interactive CBBC tour is any indication, though, the Beeb are really starting to acknowledge the value of fandom. This is evident in the sheer workmanship that went into the SJA corner of the event; where they'd recreated Mr Smith's attic set just so fans could have a go re-enacting mini episodes specially penned for the tour by SJA's very own Gary Russell!

Don't worry, that isn't Mr Smith's new screensaver for Series 3(!)

The basic format of the activity involved having kids go backstage for a few minutes to practice a simple SJA script. Once they were familiar with it, they'd be brought out for a dress rehearsal with a pseudo-alien played by 'Geoff' [pictured], a rather adorkable 20-something CBBC rep. Here, the children could iron out a few kinks with their lines. But for their final performance, the Beeb surprised 'em by whipping out a real-life SJA alien for them to act with!

This process was repeated dozens of times throughout the day, so to add a little variety they had two stories with two different aliens for kids to perform alongside. One performance involved a Judoon, and the other...a Blathereen!

' Really?!' I exclaimed, when Edward Russell informed me of this. 'Bet they look exactly like the Slitheen to save on the budget, right?'

'Actually,' he smirked, pausing for effect. 'They're Orange!'

The sound of my jaw hitting the floor could've been heard from space...

SARAH-JANE.tv founder, Anthony, [who'd accompanied me to the CBBC event that day] thought it worked, though. Orange is so their colour. And a lot more alieny, to boot! I'd tend to agree. Orange is quite a mature colour choice, and suits them a lot more than Green, I find. Of course, you can just imagine Clyde cracking a few jokes at their expense when the Blathereen make their first appearance in SJA's series three finale! To see both the Blathereen and Judoon in action, check out our exclusive videos of both performances below!

You may even find a little surprise at the start of each viddy ;)

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The Sarah Jane Adventures © BBC 2009

You can distinctly hear Sarah Jane saying she's 'out and about searching for a missing spaceship that's fallen to Earth'! Prisoner of the Judoon reference, w00t! Her attire seems to confirm this, 'cause she wore exactly the same outfit in a recently leaked series three promotional picture.

The timing of the performances were a bit off 'cause they had another kid on a computer doing all the sound effects! Here's a snap of the user interface:

They even had a child as a 'Director' with a clapper board and everything! Personally, I thought that particular role was a bit pointless and didn't get the child as involved with the activity as they could've been. It felt more like a position a child could be shunned into if they weren't good at performing or using computers. Other than that though, I thought the activity was superb!

At the end of their session, the kids could collect a free DVD of their performance to take home with 'em! Lucky things! Grown-ups like myself couldn't take part *sob* but I did get the opportunity to go on set after hours!

'Mr Smith, I need you!' *dork*

When we weren't taking nerdy pictures of the attic, we went around the Trafford Centre to see what other SJA-ish activities we could get up to!

Ant and I gave out free SJA goodies to fans participating in the tour that day.

We dorkily surfed SARAH-JANE.tv and Gallifrey Base at an Apple Store.

We had a laugh at some VERY overpriced SJA DVD's in HMV.

And la pièce de résistance?

Ohhh yes...we actually did it...

It had a proper Warriors of Kudlak-style training video and everything! Sadly we couldn't actually take any pictures in the arena, but here are some dorky shots of Anthony and I in our Combat 3000-ish garb!

T'was the first time I'd ever played, and I can honestly say I'm totally hooked! For the first game, I placed 19th on the rankings. *fail* But let no one say I'm not a fast learner, 'cause by the second game I'd climbed up to 4th! Anthony pwned pretty hard and fragged his way into 2nd place on the leaderboard!

Note the dorky handle. :P Anthony nabbed 'Dr Who' straightaway, whilst I opted for something a little more Luke-y. *tips hat to Mr Knight* An hour of gameage later, we got some fun caricatures done of ourselves by a busking arty fellow:

Anthony thought his drawing didn't look anything like him, but I thought mine came out fairly accurate(!) Albeit not entirely flattering :P

It was approaching evening now, and what with the CBBC event coming to an end and Anthony heading off to work - we had to part ways shortly after. :(

I reflected on what an amazing day I'd had on my train ride home, and how my friendship with Ant was pretty darn solid. I even pondered what I'd learnt from New Who's Senior Brand Executive, Edward Russell, who was more than generous in the exclusive SJA info he'd been kind enough to share with me.

I was excited to learn a brand spankin' new cinema trailer for the third series was being planned, which would feature all four of the leading cast as opposed to just one or two. Look out for that tagged onto kids films in the next month or so! I was also thrilled to learn that the new cast publicity shots were going to feature a different coloured background and use an interesting technique where the cast have more interactivity with the picture elements. I'm aware of which colour and picture elements they'll use, but it's better left a surprise!

By far the most exciting thing I'd learnt concerned a cinematic SJA screening being planned in Liverpool prior to Waters of Mars airing. :O All four of the leading cast will be attending, but from what I gather - it's a press-only event! I'm guessing it's an advance screening of The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, featuring David Tennant - but it could just as easily be a random two-parter.

I'll endeavour to learn more when I see the CBBC Tour again, this time at the Thames Festival in London! Young fans can expect to take part in a slightly different story concerning the Berserker pendant, with an opening video featuring Anjli Mohindra! Here's a little preview to whet your appetite:

Wanna hear more? Then come along to the Thames Festival on September 12th! Seeing the story performed live is a hundred times better than watching one of my cruddy videos, and it's a great day out, to boot. Hope to see you thar!

EDIT: Just been checking my Facebook and found myself tagged in a nice piccy of the technical equipment used for the SJA attraction. Thanks, Ant!