Episode III, Season I, Release September 2002
This is a good adventure but it starts out very strange and has its weird moments. There are times when Josh and Natalie think Sarah Jane is withholding information from them. But where does this come from? It seems like things have definitely happened between the second and third adventure to make things more chaotic and crazy. Then Harper turns up and drives that wedge between everyone by making Sarah Jane choose who to save! I liked this but the storyline almost seemed like a Dr. Who plot. Doctor chooses who lives or dies according to what will be best for the greater good. A difficult decision then he moves on.
This almost seems like everyone’s playing a role designed to fool anyone watching them. Yet at the same time, Sarah Jane seems pretty up front about everything she’s doing. Odd juxtaposition that. SJ and her team doing what they can to save people yet hiding themselves behind a screen to allow them time to move to the next adventure. Or keep themselves safe at least. But they’re not due to the vengeance that Hilda Winters, I think it was, who is revealed at the very end of the story. So though I thought this was a good story, it started out so chaotic that I didn’t get drawn in and the fear factor wasn’t ratcheted up like it was in the last story.
Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Jeremy James (Josh Townsend), and Sadie Miller (Natalie Redfern)
writer: David Bishop
director: Gary Russell