Players
Ronan Vibert (Professor Nicholas Skinner); Clare Thomas (Lucy Skinner); Anthony O’Donnell (Kaagh).
NOT South Croydon
The Tycho Radio Telescope is located in Goblins Copse.
Blink and You’d Miss It
Mr Smith does an impression of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Sarah Jane compares Tycho to the Mary Celeste, which we all know the Daleks were responsible for.
Generation Gap
Sarah Jane’s more than a bit rude when Maria reveals her dad’s new job offer. Perhaps Maria’s a bit too young to see the sadness in Sarah’s eyes. She’s come to enjoy her time with her young friend and is very sorry to see her go. But a couple of points off for reacting so poorly to dear old Maria.
Commander Kaagh’s Laws of Battle
First Law of Battle – Think like your enemy
Second Law of Battle – Anticipate them
Third Law of Battle – Always have a plan B
Another Rule – Infiltrate deep within your enemy (Oi, sounds kinky)
and then infiltrate deeper still (see above)
Things That Embarrass Us
In almost every daytime shot it is painfully obvious that the radio telescope is CGI’’d in. Badly. Is that supposed to be a French accent Luke is doing as Napoleon?
A Little Learning is… As Little as Possible
Luke and Clyde are planning to recreate the Battle of Waterloo via video games for their class assignment. However, Luke’s version of Bonaparte is definitely trouncing Wellington’s army this time around. This is all because Mrs Pittman doesn’t think the Battle of Hoth isn’t historical accurate. Well, it was a long time ago, in a galaxy far away… so how the hell does she know if George Lucas’ docu-drama on the subject was historically true or not?! Is she a Time Lord or somethin’.
K9 Says…
Master Clyde refers to Kaagh is “Bilbo” referring to the diminutive Hobbit Bilbo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings prelude, The Hobbit.
Classified/Top Secret
Sarah Jane still leaves her windows unlocked with all the alien devices and Mr Smith just there for the taking. She also mentions the para-military group she used to work with called UNIT. Judging by the kids responses she’s been telling them a few classified secrets.
Mode of Transport
Chrissie’s boyfriend, Ivan let’s her borrow his little red sports car. Plate number L525 GFJ. There’s also Kaagh’s spaceship. Is it just us, or were the Sontaran Spheres more impressive in the classic series. Not to mention tha it doesn’t look a thing like the ones seen in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky.
The Sarah Jane Utility Belt
Sonic Lipstick… Sonic Lipstick… Sonic Lipstick (sing it to the music in your head… no, well we still love it and couldn’t wait to get our Character Options Sonic Lipstick and use it every day to open the garage door. So there! Pbbbbth!). Sarah and Lucy build a fairly reasonable jamming device too, but Character Options will never be able to market that. (Maybe a Luke Smith Voice Changing Helmet® for all teenagers hitting puberty though.)
Eldrad Must Live (and everybody else must die)
“Everybody Lives!” Yah… hey, wait a minute, this wasn’t written by Stephen Moffatt.
Birds Clyde Thinks Are Fit
Our man Clyde takes an immediate shine to Lucy. Love her t-shirt; hate the pastel anorak though.
Sarah Jane’s Got the Coolest Duds
But Maria’s trackies and jeans jacket combo leave a lot to be desired. Like Sarah’s boots though.
“And He Goes… And She Goes…”
Chrissie’s reaction to Alan’s new job offer:
“America? You’ve only just finished decorating” – Chrissie (God, we’re gonna miss her the most)
“Footballs? So we’re not talking about spaceships then?” – Maria
“Don’t be so sure. The Volcansian Hoards of Metavorka Six travel in space craft about the size of a coffee cup.” – Sarah Jane
On Seeing Kaagh for the first time:
“Oh, I’m so off baked spuds.” – Clyde
“Half-forms? What trouble can they cause.” – Kaagh
“You should ask my teacher.” – Clyde
“You have encountered my kind and survived. You are indeed an extraordinary female.” – Kaagh
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” – Sarah Jane
Trying to open the bunker door:
“First time in my life I wish I carried a lipstick.” – Clyde
“I don’t believe you Alan. I know when you’re lying; I’ve always known. Maria’s in danger isn’t she and it’s got something to do with Calamity Jane.” – Chrissie
Let’s See That Again
The shots of Kaagh’s ship being blasted away from the mothership, and the destruction of the latter were lifted straight from the Mill’s hard drive files from The Poison Sky.
Things That Don’t Make Sense (even to a six-year old)
What does the cyclic wave pattern over Rigel Beta Five have to do with anything? All that technology in his helmet and Karg doesn’t have any infra-red heat detectors so Clyde and Luke can just hide under a bush three metres away with no problem. Get real! Karg’s plan to just drop satellites onto nuclear reactors is so good, why didn’t the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet waste all that time installing ATMOS devices when they could just have easily done this? The logs to block the door with are conveniently cut into easily movable sizes and stacked neatly for Luke to find when the half-form, uhm kids are trying to escape Kaagh.
Snafus
The Battle of Hoth is from The Empire Strikes Back, not Star Wars (yeah, we know we’re being pedantic, but then you’re the one reading a web page about a spin-of series about a character that left the parent series three decades ago). When Luke gets out of the car at the Tycho station there’s a bit if tissue he’s been dragging on his foot and leaves behind in the car park. We thought Britain had higher standards on littering. Then it’s gone in the next shot. Perhaps Maria picked it up and stuffed it in her pocket for later.
Also Known As
Ronan Vibert doesn’t look like anyone’s Dad in most of the stuff he was in, or here either really. You can check him out in The Bill (1989), Birds of a Feather (1990), Jeeves and Wooster (1992), Between the Lines (1994), Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999), Highlander: The Raven (1999), The Pianist (2002), Hex (2006) and Hotel Babylon (2007).
We wondered what else Clare Thomas had done and instantly went and got DVDs of everything she’d been in, including The Railway Children (2000), Fungus the Bogeyman (2004) and Young Dracula (2006-8). Then we realised none of them were any good – you can buy ’em cheap from us on Ebay if you want.
Anthony o’Donnell looked a bit less like a baked potato when our Mums and Dads saw him in The Onedin Line (1976), Crown Court (1976), The Sweeney (1978) and Santa Claus (1985). We particularly enjoyed it when he was in T-Bag and the Rings of Olympus (1991), The Tommorow People (1995), The Magical Land of the Leprechauns (1999), Hotel Babylon (2006) and Gavin & Stacey (2008). OK, so maybe he did look like a baked spud in a couple of those, but we’re not telling you which ones.
Photographic Proof
