The Sarah Jane Adventures Episodes 20 &
21:
The Temptation Of Sarah Jane
Smith
In August 1951, Eddie and Barbara Smith inexplicably left their infant
daughter, Sarah Jane, by the side of the road. Moments later, they
perished in a traffic accident. In the present day, Sarah Jane discovers
a time fissure which leads back to her home town of Foxgrove in the
summer of 1951. Although she suspects a trap, she and Luke travel back
in time, where Sarah Jane finds herself unable to resist altering the
course of events to save her parents' lives. In the process, she
succumbs to a plot by the Trickster to corrupt history -- leaving Clyde
and Rani to confront the Trickster's minion, the Graske, on a ruined
Earth.
After completing work on Secrets Of The
Stars, Gareth Roberts turned to his second serial for the
sophomore season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Of his
contributions to the first season, Whatever
Happened To Sarah Jane? and its Machiavellian antagonist, the
Trickster, had been particularly well-received. Executive producer
Russell T Davies asked Roberts to develop a rematch between Sarah Jane
and the Trickster -- as well as his servant, the diminutive alien
Graske. Davies suggested that their second encounter should involve the
journalist's parents, who had already been established as having died
when she was very young.
Roberts was working on his narrative in early 2008, although the
original version was substantially different from the finished scripts.
In his original conception, Sarah Jane identified a time fissure at the
disused RAF Twyford, and she used it to travel back to 1951, during the
airbase's heyday -- the place and time of her parents' death in a
mysterious accident. Masquerading as Commander June Barlow to fool Group
Captain Burfield, Sarah Jane became suspicious of research being
conducted by Dr Kendrick. Clyde came through the time fissure to assist
her, but the first episode ended by revealing that this was really the
Trickster in disguise. In fact, her friends were actually being kept
away from the fissure in the present day by the Graske.
Originally, Sarah Jane's parents sacrificed their lives by
crashing a plane loaded with lethal bacteria
In the second installment, Sarah Jane discovered that Dr Kendrick was
working with a lethal type of bacteria, but she did not realise that the
scientist and her parents were already infected. As history was meant to
transpire, they were to sacrifice their lives by crashing a plane loaded
with all the remaining samples of the bacteria. Due to Sarah Jane's
interference, however, these events no longer occurred, and the
infection began to spread uncontrollably. Fortunately, in the present
day, her friends were approached by an old woman named Jinty who had
helped care for the infant Sarah Jane as a twelve-year-old on the base.
Armed with Jinty's information, Luke was able to travel through the time
fissure and help his mother put history back on track.
Over the ensuing weeks, the action of Roberts' story was greatly
simplified, with the military element removed and the setting changed
from the airbase to the rural village of Foxgrove. Luke accompanied Sarah
Jane back to 1951 immediately, rather than passing through the time
fissure only at the adventure's climax. Sarah Jane's parents, originally
called Edward and Gloria Smith, now became Eddie and Barbara Smith --
the latter an homage to Davies' own mother. Roberts' scripts later
became known as The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith.
Roberts' serial would be made alongside the season finale, Enemy Of The Bane, as part of the year's
third and final production block. Assigned to direct was Graeme Harper,
who had previously handled Whatever Happened To
Sarah Jane?. Since then, Harper had worked on five episodes for
the 2008 season of Doctor Who, most recently its finale, The Stolen Earth / Journey's End,
in which Sarah Jane, Luke and Mr Smith had all appeared.
Around the time that The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith entered
production, Tommy Knight was participating in workplace experience with
the BBC's Art Department. Filming for the serial began on June 26th and
27th, at the show's usual studio facilities in Upper Boat. The first day
covered material in the Chandra residence, while the second day dealt
with scenes in the Graske's ship, as well as effects shots of the
Trickster. Due to the late-summer setting of Roberts' story, Harper then
elected to concentrate on Enemy Of The
Bane for several days, before the scenes at Broughton New Town
were recorded at Llanedeyrn Maelfa Shopping Centre in Cardiff on July
16th and 17th.
Sequences in the alternative timeline where the Trickster was victorious
-- dubbed “Futureworld” in the scripts -- were filmed at
Trefil Quarry near Tredegar on July 21st and 22nd. Cast and crew were
meant to return to the quarry for a third day, but swift progress made
this unnecessary; as such, the 23rd was instead dedicated to work on the
attic set at Upper Boat. Next on the itinerary was the story's principal
location: the small town of Llantwit Major, which was dressed as 1951
Foxgrove. Harper's team filmed there on July 24th and 25th, and again
after the weekend from July 28th to 30th. On the last day, some time was
also spent at Clinton Road in Penarth for material on Bannerman
Road.
The schedule on July 31st started with sequences in the Abbey, which was
actually the ruins of Old Beaupre Castle in St Hilary. Harper had then
planned to return to Llantwit Major to record Sarah Jane and Luke
approaching Foxgrove -- material which had been deferred from the
earlier shoot due to rainy weather. However, a suitable site was instead
found nearby at Beaupre Farm, saving the team some travel. The last day
of principal photography for the season was August 1st. Filming for
The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith took place at Clinton Road,
before shifting to Upper Boat for some pick-up shots.
- Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #23, 24th December 2009,
“Episodes 2.9/2.10: The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith” by
Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
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Original Transmission
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Episode 1 |
Date |
17th Nov 2008 |
Time |
5.15pm |
Duration |
28'16" |
· CBBC |
483k |
· BBC1 |
720k |
Appreciation |
82% |
Episode 2 |
Date |
24th Nov 2008 |
Time |
5.15pm |
Duration |
27'51" |
· CBBC |
593k |
· BBC1 |
800k |
Appreciation |
85% |
Cast
Sarah Jane Smith |
Elisabeth Sladen (bio) |
Luke Smith |
Tommy Knight (bio) |
Mr Smith |
Alexander Armstrong (bio) |
Clyde Langer |
Daniel Anthony (bio) |
Rani Chandra |
Anjli Mohindra (bio) |
Haresh Chandra |
Ace Bhatti (bio) |
Gita Chandra |
Mina Anwar (bio) |
Barbara Smith |
Rosanna Lavelle |
Eddie Smith |
Christopher Pizzey |
The Trickster |
Paul Marc Davis |
The Graske |
Jimmy Vee |
Mrs King |
Georgie Glen |
Oscar |
Robert Madge |
Voice of the Graske |
Philip Hurd-Wood |
PC Ferguson |
Andrew Bullivant |
Crew
Written by |
Gareth Roberts (bio) |
Directed by |
Graeme Harper (bio) |
|
Created by |
Russell T Davies (bio) |
Producer |
Nikki Smith |
Co-producer |
Phil Ford (bio) |
1st Assistant Director |
Lloyd Elis |
2nd Assistant Director |
Anna Evans |
3rd Assistant Director |
Sarah Davies |
Location Managers |
Jonathan Allott |
Iwan Roberts |
Production Co-ordinator |
Clare Rutteman |
Continuity |
Llinos Wyn Jones |
Script Editor |
Gary Russell |
Camera Operator |
Steve Rees |
Focus Pullers |
Steve Rees |
Tom Hartley |
Grip |
Dave Holliday |
Boom Operator |
Jeff Welch |
Gaffer |
Mark Hutchings |
Stunt Co-ordinator |
Abbi Collins |
Supervising Art Director |
James North |
Standby Art Director |
Ciaran Thompson |
Standby Props |
Phill Shellard |
Graphics |
BBC Wales Graphics |
Costume Supervisor |
Arabella Rhodes |
Assistant Editor |
Lee Bhogal |
Post Production Supervisor |
Nerys Davies |
Post Production Co-ordinator |
Marie Brown |
Colourist |
Jon Everett |
Sound Editing |
Bang Post Production |
Dubbing Mixer |
Mark Ferda |
Title Music |
Murray Gold |
Music |
Sam Watts |
Casting Directors |
Andy Pryor CDG |
Andy Brierley |
Production Executive |
Julie Scott |
Production Accountant |
Dyfed Thomas |
Sound Recordist |
Julian Howarth |
Costume Designer |
Stewart Meachem |
Make Up Designer |
Emma Bailey |
Visual Effects |
Craig Higgins |
Special Effects |
Any Effects |
Prosthetics |
Millennium FX |
Editor |
Ceres Doyle |
Production Designer |
Arwel Wyn Jones |
Director of Photography |
Rory Taylor |
Production Manager |
Phillipa Cole |
Associate Producer |
Debbi Slater |
Series Producer |
Matthew Bouch |
Executive Producers for BBC Wales |
Russell T Davies (bio) |
Julie Gardner |
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