The Sarah Jane Adventures - Death of the Doctor, Part One.

From the anticipation of wanting more Who, it was a joy to finally have a bit of the Doctor in the new episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Okay, truth be told it’s a joy to have The Sarah Jane Adventures anyway, being such a cutesy yet brilliantly written childish spin of the Doctor Who franchise and an amazement to realise it’s now in it’s fourth series and creating excellent storylines. There truly is nothing that can go wrong with the show, and the Death of the Doctor proves just that.

With references to old companions Liz Shaw and the Brigadier, who despite being involved in the show two series ago, seems to be stuck back in Peru--that man really needs to take a map with him! Then of course there’s Jo Jones (née Grant), it’s not hard to find that Russell T Davies is a solid fan of the old series, writing an acceptable follow-up personality to Mrs. Jones from her childish innocence back in the seventies which now includes a wide extended family and an on-screen grandson, not to mention a plot that draws Jo and Sarah Jane together for the first time and see them fit together like two perfect pieces in an ever so brilliant companion puzzle.

Speaking of the plot, in a way Russell T can only do, or maybe just a copy of Moffat, the perfect link was used between Death of the Doctor and the previous series’ Doctor episode, The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, with main character Clyde as the perfect link between the companions and the Doctor, not to mention the lovely references, not to just the previous Tenth Doctor, but also the Third and Fourth Doctors, truly connecting to the past and wide expanse of the Who series and including shows like this to link the two programmes. That aside, we must remember the actual plotline of the episode and those big Eagles of this story--the Shansheeth, their part in the tale is still questionable at this time, but overall rather sinister in their looks and demeanour; faking the Doctor’s death and seemingly keeping him prisoner on a planet far away and let’s not forget their title of ‘Intergalactic Undertakers’--suspicious…

Finally of course, there is the Doctor. This being the first ever RTD written Eleventh Doctor episode, it was pleasing to find that Russell wrote the character with as many similarities to the current Doctor that we know, with his harsh-yet-hilarious comebacks, short sightedness and not to mention his witty and extremely long explanations which worked just as perfectly with what little we see of him in the episode as they ever have with the previous fifth series of Who.

Now with the dramatic ending seen, who can guess as to what happens? Well, tomorrow will tell! Part two of the review provided sometime after…