Ambassador Rahnius of the Galactic Alliance teleports into Sarah Jane's attic. He claims to have been despatched to extend the Alliance's gratitude to Sarah Jane for her many accomplishments. But when K·9 appears, he accuses the Ambassador of being a Slitheen in disguise.

Since 1988, the BBC had broadcast the Red Nose Day telethon as part of the Comic Relief charity appeal. Founded by comedian Lenny Henry and writer Richard Curtis, Comic Relief had originally been created to combat famine in Africa, and subsequently expanded its remit to assist various communities of disadvantaged peoples. Red Nose Day had taken place biennially since 1989, with Doctor Who playing a major role on two occasions. Although the programme was no longer in production in 1999, future executive producer Steven Moffat wrote a four-part Doctor Who comedy serial entitled The Curse Of Fatal Death for that year's Red Nose Day. This (presumably) out-of-continuity satire featured incarnations of the Doctor played by luminaries Rowan Atkinson, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley. Almost a decade later, the 2007 Red Nose Day featured a reunion of the stars of the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas special, The Runaway Bride. Here, Donna Noble actress Catherine Tate reprised her Lauren Cooper character from The Catherine Tate Show, opposite David Tennant as a suspiciously familiar substitute teacher.

For the 2009 edition, the Doctor Who team was again approached to participate in Red Nose Day. This time, it was decided that The Sarah Jane Adventures was the perfect vehicle for a lighthearted mini-episode which could be broadcast as part of the appeal. Gareth Roberts, who had most recently contributed Secrets Of The Stars and The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith to the programme's 2008 season, was nominated to write the Comic Relief script. He would be joined by Clayton Hickman, who had been the editor of Doctor Who Magazine for five years and was also a graphic designer, including considerable work on the Doctor Who range of DVDs from BBC Video. Roberts and Hickman had previously collaborated on two comedy-tinged scripts for the range of Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions.

The script was littered with references to a variety of Ronnie Corbett's best-known comedy routines

Around early 2009, Roberts and Hickman began working on a five-minute script, set entirely in Sarah Jane's attic, which would see the Bannerman Road gang face off against a Slitheen. The monsters from Raxacoricofallapatorius had already appeared in the series during 2007, in Revenge Of The Slitheen and The Lost Boy. In the Red Nose Day special, the Slitheen would masquerade as an intergalactic ambassador -- originally called Mandus Globulous Robulus or “Mandy” -- who could be played by a well-known comedy star.

On February 13th, it was announced that beloved comic Ronnie Corbett had taken the role; Corbett was best known for the long-running sketch show The Two Ronnies alongside Ronnie Barker. Roberts and Hickman duly amended the name of Corbett's character to Rahnius Globulous Robulus -- and then just Rahnius -- known as “Rahni”, facilitating a “two Ranis” gag for Anjli Mohindra, who played Rani Chandra. Roberts and Hickman also littered their script with references to a variety of Corbett's best-known comedy routines, not only from The Two Ronnies but also other programmes such as The Frost Report. The script gained the title From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love..., a play on Ian Fleming's 1957 James Bond novel From Russia With Love and its 1963 movie adaptation. Bearing in mind the Slitheen propensity for flatulence, Roberts and Hickman also suggested a punning take on the classic 1939 film Gone With The Wind: “Ron With The Wind”. In the end, no title would be used on screen.

Assigned to direct the mini-episode was Joss Agnew, who had made both The Last Sontaran and The Mark Of The Berserker during the 2008 season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Producer Nikki Smith -- now going by her married name, Nikki Wilson -- was joined in this capacity by Brian Minchin. Minchin had been a script editor on Doctor Who and Torchwood, and had recently been promoted to Torchwood's assistant producer for its 2009 season. From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love... was filmed on a single day, February 19th, on the standing attic set at Upper Boat Studios. Although it would be broadcast in standard definition, it was the first footage for The Sarah Jane Adventures to be recorded in high definition.

• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #23, 24th December 2009, “Special: Comic Relief” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.