The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Second Season (2008/BBC DVD)
Picture: B- Sound: B-
Extras: A Episodes: A
The Sarah Jane Adventures continues
BBC's amazing run of high-quality Doctor
Who content. For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is one of the longest
running series in television history, a product of the BBC, and an excellent
blend of science fiction character driven drama. Along with Torchwood, Sarah
Jane expands the Who universe, but
unlike the former, the show does so in a manner designed for younger viewers. Once again played by the incomparable Elisabeth Sladen, Sarah Jane was
once one of the Doctor's companions, and she traveled the universe with the
Third (John Pertwee) and Fourth (Tom Baker) Doctors during some of the show's greatest
moments back in the 1970's.
Sladen looks simply amazing in the second season of her show, once again
defying the years and passage of time seemingly as easily as her character's
erstwhile Time Lord companion. Just as with season one, the format for this
show includes Sarah and her adopted son, Luke (Tommy Knight) investigating
alien threats and mysteries in and around England. Episodes for this season include: The
Last Sontaran, The Day of the Clown,
Secret of the Stars, The Mark of the Berserker, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith, and Enemy of the Bane.
All of these episodes are well done, and as this reviewer's favorite Doctor Who aliens, "The Last Sontaran" two-parter
showcases all of the race's brutish, angry, and vengeful attributes. However, standing above all of the stories is "The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith".
In it, Sarah Jane wrestles with
some of the key themes of the Doctor Who
phenomenon--chief among them the desire to change the past to achieve some
better outcome. This touching, two-part
story sheds more light on Sarah's early background, and still manages to give
the other regular cast members a chance to shine.
This two-disc
set's ample list of extras includes: interviews with cast and crew, season
synopses for all stories, "Investigating
Tools: a Gadget Glossary", quiz with special footage prize, character
and alien profiles, a photo gallery, audio clips, UK TV spots, and a selection
of trailers. This package is essential viewing for any Who enthusiast, especially those looking to introduce the Who-verse
to younger viewers.
You can read about the
first season at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8173/The+Sarah+Jane+Adventures:+The+C
- Scott Pyle
