Misplaced Pages

02 – Revenge of the Slitheen
The Sarah Jane Adventures story
The Slitheen adult and child chasing Luke, Clyde and Maria
Cast
Starring Elisabeth Sladen – Sarah Jane Smith Yasmin Paige – Maria Jackson Tommy Knight – Luke Smith Daniel Anthony – Clyde Langer Alexander Armstrong – Mr Smith
Others Joseph Millson – Alan Jackson Juliet Cowan – Chrissie Jackson Martyn Ellis – Blakeman Ian Midlane – Jeffrey Pamela Merrick – Wendy Imogen Bain – Janine Anton Thompson McCormick – Carl Jimmy Vee – Carl Slitheen Paul Kasey – Jeffrey/Blakeman/Janine Slitheen Lachele Carl – American Newsreader
Production
Directed by	Alice Troughton
Written by	Gareth Roberts
Script editor	Lindsey Alford
Produced by	Matthew Bouch
Executive producer(s)	Phil Collinson Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Music by	Sam Watts
Production code	1.1 and 1.2
Series	Series 1
Running time	2 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast	24 September 2007 (2007-09-24)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Invasion of the Bane" Followed by → Eye of the Gorgon
List of serials

Revenge of the Slitheen is the first serial of the first series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the second story of the show overall following the special episode "Invasion of the Bane". The first part aired on BBC One on 24 September 2007, with the second premiering immediately after the first on the CBBC channel. This serial is notable for introducing Clyde Langer into the cast – he would remain for the rest of the series.

Plot

Maria Jackson, Luke Smith, and Clyde Langer begin their first day at Park Vale School. Maria and Clyde have recently moved to Ealing, and Luke, having been artificially created the previous day, has never attended school before. After discovering the food is mouldy and the school's new technology block has a strange metallic smell, Sarah Jane investigates a company that has created the school's new technology block the next day, discovering the same rotting of fresh food and the smell happened at buildings in several other countries.

At lunchtime, Luke unknowingly helps members of the Slitheen family, disguised as teachers and a student, solve a problem in an unstable capacitor system that can switch off the sun by converting its heat and light into energy. Seeking revenge on Slitheen members that were killed on Earth, they intend to have the atmosphere "snatched away", and profit off the remains of the planet while remaining safely inside a secret room in the technology block buildings. After hours, Maria and Luke investigate the technology block in their school, and are followed by Clyde, who finds them to be strange. Maria and Clyde are hunted by Slitheen disguised as the teacher Mr Jeffrey and genius pupil Carl. Sarah Jane is attacked by a Slitheen who disguised herself as a company secretary, Janine. Luke finds the secret room and is confronted by the Slitheen commander, his headmaster Blakeman.

Sarah Jane escapes and saves Maria, Luke, and Clyde, sealing the Slitheen in the school. Luke figures out that the school is only part of the capacitor that reaches around the world, and Clyde figures out that the Slitheen are negatively affected by vinegar. The team heads off back to the school with squeezy bottles of vinegar. After Maria uses the vinegar to blow up Blakeman, they then head over to the secret room. As Luke did not predict they were using the capacitor on the Sun, the Slitheen are forced to reset the system. Luke overloads the system with Sarah Jane's sonic lipstick, electrocuting Janine and Jeffery to death, while some of the other Slitheen teleport away. Later, Sarah Jane informs her friends that UNIT are clearing up the technology in the secret room. She accepts Clyde into the team.

Continuity

Upon realising who she's dealing with, Sarah Jane quotes Rose Tyler's remarks on "Slitheen in Downing Street" from the episode "School Reunion".

The Headteacher says 'For the Love of Clom', referring to Raxacoricofallapitorius's twin Planet first mentioned in "Love & Monsters". He also mentions the Blathereen, another family from their planet who would later be seen in the series in the episode "The Gift".

Cast notes

The American Newsreader played by Lachele Carl previously appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London", "World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Sound of Drums".

Novelisation

This was the second of eleven Sarah Jane Adventures serials to be adapted as a novel. Written by Rupert Laight, the book was first published in paperback on 1 November 2007.

Notes

1. Maria moving into her new road and Luke's creation are both depicted in the 2007 episode "Invasion of the Bane".
2. As depicted in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "World War Three".

References

1. "The Sarah Jane Adventures". BBC. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
2. "Radio Times". 22–28 September 2007: 79. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Revenge of the Slitheen – Sarah Jane Adventures – From The Makers of Doctor Who. No.2 – BBC Childrens Books . ASIN 1405903988.

External links

• Sarah Jane Adventures homepage
• "Revenge of the Slitheen" at IMDb

Novelisation

• Revenge of the Slitheen title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• The Sarah Jane Adventures episodes
• Films with screenplays by Gareth Roberts (writer)
• Slitheen television stories
• 2007 British television episodes
• Television episodes set in schools