N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

You almost have to admire Maria’s Mum gall!

Prior to the events of Invasion of the Bane, Chrissie Jackson had dumped Dad Alan, precipitating the Jacksons’ move to Bannermen Road, and was living with the as-yet-unseen Ivan, but the minute Chrissie has a barney with her new fella, she turns up at Alan and Maria’s new place with an overnight bag, expecting to be put up until it all blows over.

Making the Mum the selfish one in the divorce makes for an interesting dynamic in a children’s show — and also, perhaps only coincidentally, offers a nice contrast to Martha’s parents’ situation in the main show, where it’s Dad who’s shacked up with a new squeeze!

“When weirdo nuns turn up on your doorstep asking about freaky glowing alien gizmos, one thing you never do is tell them you’ve got one.”

Clyde, Eye of the Gorgon, Part One

Maybe it’s the 25-ish minute episode length but Eye of the Gorgon is yet another Sarah Jane Adventure that feels like classic Doctor Who, especially the terrific first episode, which is superbly paced and builds to a cracking cliffhanger.

Even the cult-ish like behaviour of the nuns in service of the Gorgon feels like something Letts and Dicks or Hinchcliffe and Holmes might have served up for the Third or Fourth Doctor. There’s even a link to Egypt in the tales offered by Bea (excellent support from Phylidda Law).

Eye of the Gorgon is great fun, although I did think the nuns’ wimples must affect their peripheral vision something chronic if they can’t see Luke and Clyde lurking in plain sight by the abbey door.