Players
Terence Maynard (Madison Yorke); Robert Curtis (Security Man); Paul Kasey (Captain Tybo); Nicholas Briggs (Voice of Captain Tybo); Mark Goldthorp (Androvax); Scarlett Murphy (Julie).
NOT South Croydon
The Judoon life pod comes down on top of the Brinley Chase Council Estate. Now, we could be wrong, but this council estate seems to be the most deserted place anywhere in London. Yes, it’s marked for demolition, but usually there are still some homeless people, squatters, or at least other folks from the neighborhood around. London just isn’t THAT deserted. Oh, and there’s a church hall. In Ealing… one wonders if the BBC used this as a rehearsal location back in the sixties. And we learn that Bloomin’ Lovely is located at 32 Greenhall Street in Ealing. That’s W5 7CS.
Blink and You’d Miss It
The Shadow Proclamation have been cropping up in Doctor Who ever since its return in 2005 (see Rose), coming into full-bodied existence with The Stolen Earth (2008). During Mr Smith’s freak-out when he is planning to blow himself (and most of Bannerman Road) up his screen flashes through information he has displayed during past adventures, including details on Sontarans, Slitheen and his scan of the Spellman circus ticket.
Mr Smith Says…
I have no idea what the Judoon are saying any more than you do.
Mode of Transport
Gita and Haresh are washing their car at the start of the episode. Well, Haresh is scrubbing and Gita sprinkles a few drops on the car, or was that Haresh. Sarah’s Figaro (with the same plate as last year, J337 KAE) now displays a 2009 tax sticker. We are also introduced to the Bloomin’ Lovely delivery van. But just where the heck does Haresh park it (we mean, he has an entire empty lot to choose from but appears to hide it somewhere round the back).
The Lis Sladen Fan Club of the Universe
Can we just take a moment to tell you how wonderful your editors think Lis Sladen is. Why this woman has never won an Academy Award is beyond us. She is so delightfully creepy as the Androvax controlled Sarah Jane that we actually thought she was someone else.
CGI… NOT!!
With the advent of HD SJA, some of the special effects are top notch (like the Solar System spanning season intro), while some (like the Genetec globe poorly realised on top of their building) are, well a decent attempt… if you don’t look too closely… and close one eye. The spaceship also looks like something out of Star Trek… the animated series that is.
Sarah Jane’s Got the Coolest Duds
Don’t know if its just the cool leather jacket or how the punchy red shirt offsets all the black, but our Sarah’s got it going on. No wonder Captain Jack (and maybe a few others) want her. Pwar. Rani’s outfit on the other hand, well let’s just say that shirt isn’t the most flattering thing she’s ever worn. But we like her cherry earrings.
“And He Goes… And She Goes…”
“Blah, blah, blah” – Sarah Jane says the same boring season intro speech. Kids may love repetition, but if the creators don’t cotton on that the audience has got it by now they could lose all of us by making them everyone think they’re watching the same episodes over and over…
“A body entering the Earth’s atmosphere generates temperatures in excess of 1600 degrees centigrade. No way was it something cool Clyde.” – Luke
“Yeah, yeah, still got a long way to go with that humour thing my young padawan.” – Clyde
“Attention. Noise exceeds permitted levels. Turn down.” – Tybo, while pointing his gun at guy in car next to him
“Have nice day.” – Captain Tybo
“Gita Chandra, florist, Bloomin’ Lovely.” – Gita
“Bloomin’ marvelous.” – Security Man
“Sarah Jane really does have a habit of meddling. It’s a pity she didn’t take up knitting instead.” – Androvax
“No no. No blo mo. Oo.” – Captain Tybo
“Rhinoceros-men? Come on sir.” – Clyde
“Gita said no one would believe us, and why would they – we live in Bannerman Road. What’s gonna happen to us?” – Haresh
Assimilating Earth Culture
Luke is still learning the ways of the force (metaphorically) at Clyde’s feet (probably literally). Clyde seems to think the 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids might be real. Rani compares the Judoon to Jack Bauer, the sexy Californian superhero of the Counter Terrorist Unit in 24 (2001-present). We can see the connection. Clyde makes a poor reference to E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1983), but the less said about that the better.
Things That Don’t Make Sense (even to a six-year old)
• What the hell is wrong with the writers? Why do they think nanoforms, or really, REALLY tiny robots, would destroy the world? It seems like they’ve been, at best, watching too many bad Sci-Fi (or is that SyFy) channel movies, or at worst taking us 30 years back to the 70s cries of “computers will be the end of humanity”. Why on Earth would nanoforms destroy unless they were programmed to, and who would do that. Ok, maybe some intergalactic escaped super-criminal, but who else? And as Luke proves, its fairly easy to just reprogram or even “switch off” the little blighters. • Genotecs slogan “A new genesis begins” is obviously intended to be clever but is actually really dumb and carries redundancy to new heights of synonymical proportions. • The life pod crashed near UNIT but they didn’t spot a life pod being ejected? Just… wow. • Why does Luke want to leave the Judoon life pod for UNIT to clear up. He used to be just as excited as his friends for a little adventure. • Sarah’s also back on this weird kick that her name is Sarah Jane. Funny how she went by just Sarah for all those years she was with the Doctor. • What exactly does Androvax do when he taps people’s heads? And why does he seem to only be able to do it to one person at a time? • Why do the police show up suddenly, and then just as suddenly run off? They must be pretty crappy at their job. • Mr Smith knows its not Sarah, but still obeys her because she looks right – and then Luke manages to talk him out of it – what the Heck? • How does Gita plan to stay in business if she thinks dropping off two van loads of plants for free with no prior arrangement is a good thing. If she and Haresh hadn’t run into the Judoon I’d love to see her try to explain herself to the local police. • It’s no wonder that Genetec investors aren’t going to see a return for over a hundred years if the company is going to go to the trouble of putting their logo on absolutely EVERYTHING (their logo is even on the USB hub) in their building. That’s a bit over the top. • It’s a conceit that lots of shows give into for dramatic effect, but even if Androvax hears Sarah in his/her head, there is no way he would see her talking to him in a reflection. Or be able to stop that voice just by breaking the reflective surface. The whole show is brought down several notches by this as it makes Androvax seem like he only has an IQ of 60 to make such a stupid assumption. • How long was Androvax gone from his world? Suns don’t just go cold and planet’s freeze overnight, you know. If his race was that advanced why wouldn’t they have built a spaceship to take them to another world. Come on, if those pathetic short-skirted Humans in The Ark (1966) could do it we don’t see why Androvax’s race couldn’t. • Clyde getting annoyed that he’s been grounded to Earth is just idiotic (but a bit fun).
Mr Smith Says…
The US government allegedly recovered an alien spaceship in Roswell, New Mexico in early July 1947. Although several key witnesses and evidence were less than credible, the story has become a part of popular culture ever since – gaining notoriety in 1995 when a fake alien autopsy video, supposedly from shortly after the crash, was sold to TV companies internationally. For further information, why not go to your local library and ask for The Roswell Incident by Charles Berlitz and William L Moore? Or just watch pretty much any science fiction television series. They’ve almost all made some reference to it at some point. K9’s (and your editors) favourite example being the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Little Green Men, which proves it was the Ferengi all along.Snafus
The Judoon twice start cataloging the Humans the meet (Sarah at one point, and later Haresh), but why do they then just stop? The last time we saw the Judoon it was made very clear that they have no authority on Earth, so why didn’t they take the Genetec building to the Moon like they did with the hospital in Smith and Jones (2007).
Also Known As
Terence Maynard has been in a bunch of stuff over the last 15 years, but we remember him best as Van Helsing in Young Dracula (2006-8). Robert Curtis has never been on TV before, but we’re excited to see he’ll be in Hamlet this Christmas. Well, what we’re actually excited about is to see David Tennant in Hamlet, but we’re sure Bob’ll be good too. Scarlett Murphy was in Genie in the House in 2008, and Mark Goldthorp is a TV newcomer.
Photographic Proof
