N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
A few tweaks of the format — mainly ditching the obnoxious Kelsey Cooper and bringing in cheeky but likeable Clyde Langer — after the New Year’s Day special and the first series of The Sarah Jane Adventures was off-and-running.
“You never know what you might find. In all the universe, I never expected to find a family.”
Sarah Jane, The Lost Boy, Part Two
Unlike its sister spin-off show Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures finds its feet and its tone early on, helped a little by bringing in a familiar villain — the Slitheen — for a couple of stories, the fact that its central and supporting characters are all strong and engaging, and that the writing is consistent and, more often than not, when it’s good, it’s very good — and in Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, actually pretty darn great!
Indeed, about the only thing I didn’t like about the series — and this really is a minor gripe — was the repetition of the fanfare every time Sarah Jane called for Mr Smith.
But I can live with that, because otherwise The Sarah Jane Adventures is tremendous fun!
