...NEW (SORT OF) DR WHO TONIGHT, 4:50pm, 'THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES'...

[ARRISARRIS]

...will this be closed to the type of spin-off from Dr Who we would like?...

[Floyd-the-k]

God only knows. I love Sarah Janes Smith, so here's hoping. I like the three Torchwood episodes I've seen so far, but wouldn't want SJM to be like that

[SamuelAWilkinson]

That was really surprisingly watchable. Just goes to show, if RTD can stop whining about people being in love and trying to cram in swearwords to make things look grown up, he's actually capable of writing a decent adventure.

[Concrete Block 15]

One word - MILF!

[Leigh S]

Theres still some awful retconning of Sarah loves Doctor that just doesn't work for me - the idea that she wasted 30 years of her life pining for the Doctor is pretty horrible when you think about it.  

Didn't catch the bit on how they blew up the aliens with mobile phones - Joe wasn't playing ball - so can't comment on whether this was a standard lame RTD get out.

The character stuff seemed pretty forced - we make SJS really rude at the beginning so she can learn not to be by the end - oh dear.

Still, on the plus side, there was a friendly dad.  

[ARRISARRIS]

...did anyone else spot Sarah Janes Gonk in the background of her attic???...

[Bico]

So it was Sarah Jane versus the makers of Slurm, then?  It's nothing that hasn't been done to death by American kids' tv shows for years now - it was RTD trying to do a British Big Wolf On Campus in the same way that he's trying to do a British Buffy with Doctor Who (and a Welsh Angel with Torchwood).

If you're tired from all the festive merrymaking, you might be forgiving enough to let it being so derivative slide, but I suspect that it's intended audience (kids) are far more aware of their own (American-influenced) pop-culture than a fortysomething writer of gender-issue drama, and will judge Sarah Jane Adventures against that which it mercilessly recycles.

[The Amstor Computer]

...did anyone else spot Sarah Janes Gonk in the background of her attic???

...is it just my lovely New Year flu kicking in, or does that sound incredibly filthy to anyone else... ;-)

[WoD]

Anyone know if (and when) this gets a repeat - or has a copy on DVD for my boy?

[Trout]

I enjoyed it a lot. It was good fun, bearing in mind it was children's TV.

I thought her attic was pretty cool.

- Trout

[Adrian Bamforth]

Didn't care to watch it, not my kind of thing,  but just caught the end in time for the familiar reliance on (particularly unconvincing) TV newsreaders to tie up the plot.

Trouble is, we'll never really know if it would have stood up on its own since it's needlessly tied in to the Doctor Who fad. It would have been fairer to other writers trying to break into TV to make it unconnected and then see if the kids took to it on it's own terms.

ADE

[DavidXBrunt]

My niece and nephew watched the first 45 minutes over breakfast today and are interested enough to want to watch the end so it seems to have worked.

[LARF]

Better than Touchwood (or Whoback Mounting as my other half now refers to it after the debacle of the other night).

Pretty good, I thin it works because it's aimed at kids so the incredulity of the whole thing is shrink wrapped in a 'Just for kids' coating.

And 'yes' you would wouldn't you?

[WoD]

Matthew...thanks for the DVD...you are a star!!

[Rex Banner]

You're welcome. Glad to help.

Plus bonus, you get a picture of our fish.