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

This is not the first time Sarah Jane has been replaced. Whereas she was taken out of existence in Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? by Jane Asher, here’s she put out to pasture by Julie Graham.

“I’m old and I’m tired and dangerous”

Sarah Jane, Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith, Part One

The first sign something is awry is Sarah Jane’s not applying the handbrake on her Figaro. It’s a nice touch, after which everything goes downhill for SJ pretty quickly, suggesting the Qetesh’s soul stealing stomach is a potent guzzler.

Elsewhere, Ruby’s AI Mr White goes all deepfake, Luke’s Oxbridge scarf returns and Clyde ends up trapped in a golf ball in space and he only has the air he came with. (Not sure how that works – or what it means – actually.) When he does get back to Earth, he gets slimed!

We also learn that Sarah Jane was 23 when she met the Doctor. I don’t think we knew that before. Her reminiscences and her illness are all the more poignant given the last adventure to be broadcast before Elisabeth’s Sladen’s untimely death.