Revenge of the Slitheen

Revenge of the Slitheen is the second story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It comprises the first and second episodes of the show's first series, aired on BBC1, broadcast in two parts on 24 September and 1 October 2007,^[1][2] with the second being broadcast a week earlier 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

Part 1

Maria and Luke start their new school, but find all is not as it seems. Aided by Sarah Jane and their new friend Clyde, they find the Slitheen, who are enemies of The Doctor, disguised as teachers who have taken control of the technology block and are trying to switch off the Sun. Luke unknowingly gives the Slitheen the code to start the machine, and they start to absorb the power of the Sun. Sarah Jane investigates the company controlling the science block, and Maria, Luke and Clyde investigate the school. Sarah Jane is attacked by a Slitheen who disguised herself as a company secretary, Janine. Luke finds a secret room and is confronted by the Slitheen commander, his headmaster Blakeman, whilst Maria is hiding under a computer desk after being spotted by Jeffrey. Jeffrey removes his human disguise in front of Maria, but the only thing visible to her are his green feet. Maria runs away, and meets up with Clyde, who runs away too. They are rescued by the School genius Carl who then reveals he is, too, a Slitheen.

Part 2

They all manage to escape and head back to Sarah Jane's house. Clyde figures out that the Slitheen are negatively affected by vinegar, and the team head off back to the school with squirty bottles of vinegar. After Maria uses the vinegar to blow up the Slitheen commander Blakeman. Then they head over to the secret room where Luke tricks the Slitheen by telling them the machine won't take the power of the Sun. He turns the machine off and uses the sonic lipstick to cause the machine to malfunction. As the room explodes, the continental Slitheen, still disguised, escape whilst Janine is electrocuted and explodes and Jeffery and Carl are trapped. They beg for Sarah's help, and she tries to open the door, but Jeffery is killed when the technology explodes. However, at the same time, Carl escapes using a teleport. Sarah Jane is highly affected by this, as she is unaware of the teleport and thinks Carl is dead with his dad. Afterwards, she tells Clyde about her travels with The Doctor, and then accepts him into the team.

Continuity

• One of the Slitheen mentions the "Intergalactic Police", implied to be the Judoon, stopping them, and the Judoon are later mentioned by name as trying to 'force them out'. The Judoon were first seen in the Doctor Who episode "Smith and Jones" and later in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", The End of Time, "The Pandorica Opens", and "A Good Man Goes to War". They would later appear in the series 3 story Prisoner of the Judoon.
• Another Slitheen mentions purchasing the plans to their device from a Wallarian, a race mentioned by a character in the classic series story Carnival of Monsters.
• While on the phone to UNIT, Sarah Jane says "Love to the Brig". Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, commonly referred to as "the Brigadier" or "the Brig", was a recurring character during the classic series of Doctor Who, and the question of whether he has survived to the new series has been a popular question among fans.
• This is the second time (after "School Reunion") that Sarah Jane investigates a school with aliens disguised as teachers.
• Some of the aliens in Mr. Smith's files include: Abaddon, the Butterfly People, the Bane, Krillitane, the Beast and the Torchwood Pterodactyl.
• One of the Slitheen mentioned the Blathereen, another Raxacorricofallapatorian family from the New Series Adventures book The Monsters Inside.
• One of the Slitheen says: "For the love of Clom". Clom is the home planet of the Abzorbaloff mentioned by the creature in the 2006 series episode "Love & Monsters", as being the twin planet of Raxicoricofallapatorius, the homeworld of the Slitheen.
• The Slitheen masquerading as the Headmaster refers to Earth as a "Level Five" planet. Romana uses this terminology in City of Death, as did the Titanic's computer in "Voyage of the Damned", and the Doctor in "Partners in Crime" and "The Eleventh Hour".

Slitheen

The Slitheen previously appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London", "World War Three" and "Boom Town" and in the interactive episode "Attack of the Graske".^[3][4][5][6] In the first two episodes, the Slitheen used Downing Street as a base to destroy (and sell the remains of) Earth. Rose Tyler later used the phrase "Slitheen in Downing Street", echoed in this episode, in "School Reunion" to out-boast Sarah. The Slitheen that perished at the end of "World War Three" (and Margaret Blaine, who regressed into an egg in "Boom Town") were described to have been on a normal, routine job. As was used here and during "World War Three," vinegar is harmful to their physiology.

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.^[7]

References

External links

• Revenge of the Slitheen on TARDIS Data Core, an external wiki

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Sarah Jane Adventures

• Sarah Jane Adventures homepage
• Revenge of The Slitheen at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Revenge Of The Slitheen at Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• "Revenge of the Slitheen" at the Internet Movie Database