Maria is upset by her mother's decision to temporarily move back in with Alan, while rumours of a ghostly nun lead Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde to the Lavender Lawns retirement home. There Luke befriends a resident called Bea Nelson-Stanley, who is far more than her dotty facade would suggest. For decades, Bea has been hiding an alien talisman, which she now entrusts to Luke's care. The talisman is the key to a portal leading to the planet of the Gorgons: the infamous monsters of Greek myth who possess the power to turn people into stone. And the nuns who serve the last Gorgon on Earth will stop at nothing to get it back.

After relying on Gareth Roberts to develop the first two stories for The Sarah Jane Adventures, executive producer Russell T Davies next turned to a newcomer to the Doctor Who family. Phil Ford had recently impressed Davies with his work on the revival of Captain Scarlet, which was broadcast during 2005. Later that year, they'd had a chance to enthuse about each other's projects while attending the BAFTA premiere of The Parting Of The Ways, the season finale of Davies' Doctor Who relaunch. This conversation put Ford in Davies' mind when he was developing The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Ford was delighted to be asked to write for a character whom he remembered fondly from her appearances in Seventies Doctor Who.

Ford's initial suggestion was a story dealing with the mythology of Ancient Egypt, but this notion was discarded in favour of a creature from a different folkloric tradition: that of classical Greece. The Gorgons were monsters which appeared in various incarnations throughout the Greek legendarium. Most famously, they were three sisters -- Medusa, Stheno and Euryale -- who could turn people to stone by looking into their eyes. The Greek hero Perseus beheaded Medusa, who had writhing snakes for hair, by using a mirror (or a polished shield) so that he did not have to look directly at her. Indeed, Medusa had briefly appeared in Doctor Who back in 1968, when she was encountered in the Land of Fiction during the events of The Mind Robber. Ford thought that the concept of the Gorgon was a promising basis for a story, and held particular potential because he felt that it had seen little use in modern fiction. The resulting scripts became known as Eye Of The Gorgon.

In 1963, Phyllida Law (Bea Nelson-Stanley) was considered for a role which evolved into one of Doctor Who's first companions

Ford's narrative was scheduled as the second story of the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It would be made by director Alice Troughton as part of the opening production block alongside its predecessor in the running order, Revenge Of The Slitheen. In fact, much of Eye Of The Gorgon would be shot first, because the production team wanted to help the cast settle into their roles -- especially since Daniel Anthony, playing Clyde Langer, had not appeared in Invasion Of The Bane, the New Year's Day special which had introduced the series. Cast in the role of Bea Nelson-Stanley was veteran actress Phyllida Law, whose extensive television career dated back to the late Fifties. Indeed, in 1963, Law had been under consideration to play Lola McGovern in Doctor Who; this role evolved into one of the first companions, Barbara Wright, and ultimately went to Jacqueline Hill.

Recording for the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures began on April 16th, 2007 at Cardiff Castle. This venue served as several areas of St Agnes' Abbey including the library, the Abbess' room, the bell tower, the secret passage, the cellar, and various corridors; work there continued on the 17th. Scenes in the Great Hall, on the other hand, were filmed at Tretower Court and Castle in Tretower on April 18th and 19th. The latter day also saw cast and crew return to the programme's studio facilities in Upper Boat for Luke and Clyde's exit from the secret passage. On the 20th, the Egerton Grey Hotel in Porthkerry posed as the Lavender Lawns rest home.

After the weekend, exterior scenes at the Abbey were shot on April 23rd in Margam at Margam Country Park, including the vicinity of Margam Castle. The 24th and 25th were spent back at the Egerton Grey Hotel for more Lavender Lawns material. Troughton's focus then turned to sequences on Bannerman Road, which were recorded on Clinton Road in Penarth; this work spanned April 26th and 27th, and May 1st through 3rd. A small amount of filming on the 26th also took place on nearby Sully Terrace, for the scene of Clyde telling Sarah Jane about Luke's abduction.

By this point, the production team had become concerned that Ford's scripts for Eye Of The Gorgon were too short, and so additional material was developed. Most of it could be staged at Upper Boat alongside the other outstanding shots for the serial; filming there occurred from May 21st to 23rd on the sets for Maria's bedroom, Sarah Jane's attic and the secret passage egress. However, the sequence recorded at Sully Terrace had now been extended, and so it was replaced with a new version taped at Ffordd-Y-Gollen in Tonteg. Despite these efforts, Eye Of The Gorgon still ran short, and so Troughton returned to Clinton Road to direct more Bannerman Road scenes on June 25th and July 5th.

• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #23, 24th December 2009, “Episodes 1.3/1.4: Eye Of The Gorgon” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.