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Sarah Jane Smith #1.1-2.4
Sarah Jane Smith: The Complete Series 1-2
Years after the Doctor returned her home to Earth, Sarah Jane Smith is still haunted by her past. Dark forces are moving against her, looking for revenge. Is Sarah ready to face her destiny?
1.1 Comeback by Terrance Dicks: Six months after the last part of her undercover investigative TV series for Planet 3 Broadcasting went out, Sarah Jane Smith is running scared. Living under false names, her true identity compromised, she has few friends and fewer clues as to her pursuers. Enter three people who will change her life: the mysterious Mr Harris, old friend Ellie Martin and a guardian angel in the shape of the roguish Josh Townsend. Now, all roads lead to the village of Cloots Coombe in Wiltshire but will she find answers she needs there?
1.2 The Tao Connection by Barry Letts: The body of an old man is found floating in the Thames, although the DNA of the corpse corresponds to an 18-year old friend of Josh and Ellie. Sarah Jane heads towards West Yorkshire in a bid to discover what killed the man, why someone is kidnapping homeless teenage boys and whether there is a link between that and the retreat of philanthropist Will Butley which hosts The Huang Ti Clinic. Sarah discovers that there is more to ancient dark sorcery than she previously believed.
1.3 Test of Nerve by David Bishop : Sarah Jane Smith receives a mysterious gift with a cryptic message. The London Underground will suffer an horrific terrorist attack during rush hour unless Sarah can find and stop those responsible. As rush hour draws closer, the terrifying reality of the threat becomes all too apparent. One friend is murdered and another abducted. Sarah must be willing to sacrifice everyone and everything she holds dear to save the city. This is one deadline she cannot miss!
1.4 Ghost Town by Rupert Laight: Sarah and Josh set off for a well-deserved break in a remote Romanian village, hidden deep in the Carpathian Mountains. They're staying with Sarah's old friend, Yolande Benstead, a retired journalist and ex-pat who lives in an eerie mansion with no one but her mysterious manservant for company. By chance Sarah has arrived at an appropriate time - the village has become the setting for a top-secret International Peace Conference. Sarah is awoken in the night by a terrifying apparition. Is it a ghost or just a figment of her imagination? What is that unbearable noise? And will the others believe her story It's down to Sarah and Josh to piece together the mystery that surrounds this ghost town...
1.5 Mirror Signal Manoeuvre by Peter Anghelides: A bio-warfare scandal from the 1940s takes Sarah to a remote island in the Indian Ocean. She pursues the scoop with a fellow journalist from her former company, Planet 3. But why won’t she contact her friends back in the UK? The more she investigates, the less Sarah recognises that she is the story. Josh and Natalie discover that Sarah has been searching for pursuers in the rear-view mirror for so long that she hasn't noticed who’s now in the driving seat. A long way from home, and far from safe, will Sarah see the dangers in her present and the enemies from her past before it’s too late?
2.1 Buried Secrets by David Bishop: Sarah Jane Smith believes her days as a crusading investigator are behind her, safe from those who tried to destroy her. But others believe she has a destiny and they will stop at nothing to prevent her fulfilling it.
2.2 Snow Blind by David Bishop: Sarah travels to Antarctica where her friend, Will is part of a research team studying global warming. But someone at Nikita Base is a murderer and everybody has a guilty secret. When a massive storm severs all communications, the killer strikes and the truth is revealed. Will anyone get off the ice alive?
2.3 Fatal Consequences by David Bishop: Sarah has been attacked, stalked and shot by the acolytes of a doomsday cult. When she tries to turn the tables, she discovers the Crimson Chapter has a weapon that could claim millions of lives - and her own actions may have instigated their genocidal plan.
2.4 Dreamland by David Bishop: Sarah Jane Smith is still dealing with the tragic consequences of recent events when she is offered the chance of a lifetime - a place on the world's first tourist flight into space. The trip's sponsor, Sir Donald Wakefield, believes it is her destiny. But after her recent experiences, what does Sarah still believe in?
This release features several instances of mild swearing which may not be suitable for younger listeners.
1.1 Comeback by Terrance Dicks: Six months after the last part of her undercover investigative TV series for Planet 3 Broadcasting went out, Sarah Jane Smith is running scared. Living under false names, her true identity compromised, she has few friends and fewer clues as to her pursuers. Enter three people who will change her life: the mysterious Mr Harris, old friend Ellie Martin and a guardian angel in the shape of the roguish Josh Townsend. Now, all roads lead to the village of Cloots Coombe in Wiltshire but will she find answers she needs there?
1.2 The Tao Connection by Barry Letts: The body of an old man is found floating in the Thames, although the DNA of the corpse corresponds to an 18-year old friend of Josh and Ellie. Sarah Jane heads towards West Yorkshire in a bid to discover what killed the man, why someone is kidnapping homeless teenage boys and whether there is a link between that and the retreat of philanthropist Will Butley which hosts The Huang Ti Clinic. Sarah discovers that there is more to ancient dark sorcery than she previously believed.
1.3 Test of Nerve by David Bishop : Sarah Jane Smith receives a mysterious gift with a cryptic message. The London Underground will suffer an horrific terrorist attack during rush hour unless Sarah can find and stop those responsible. As rush hour draws closer, the terrifying reality of the threat becomes all too apparent. One friend is murdered and another abducted. Sarah must be willing to sacrifice everyone and everything she holds dear to save the city. This is one deadline she cannot miss!
1.4 Ghost Town by Rupert Laight: Sarah and Josh set off for a well-deserved break in a remote Romanian village, hidden deep in the Carpathian Mountains. They're staying with Sarah's old friend, Yolande Benstead, a retired journalist and ex-pat who lives in an eerie mansion with no one but her mysterious manservant for company. By chance Sarah has arrived at an appropriate time - the village has become the setting for a top-secret International Peace Conference. Sarah is awoken in the night by a terrifying apparition. Is it a ghost or just a figment of her imagination? What is that unbearable noise? And will the others believe her story It's down to Sarah and Josh to piece together the mystery that surrounds this ghost town...
1.5 Mirror Signal Manoeuvre by Peter Anghelides: A bio-warfare scandal from the 1940s takes Sarah to a remote island in the Indian Ocean. She pursues the scoop with a fellow journalist from her former company, Planet 3. But why won’t she contact her friends back in the UK? The more she investigates, the less Sarah recognises that she is the story. Josh and Natalie discover that Sarah has been searching for pursuers in the rear-view mirror for so long that she hasn't noticed who’s now in the driving seat. A long way from home, and far from safe, will Sarah see the dangers in her present and the enemies from her past before it’s too late?
2.1 Buried Secrets by David Bishop: Sarah Jane Smith believes her days as a crusading investigator are behind her, safe from those who tried to destroy her. But others believe she has a destiny and they will stop at nothing to prevent her fulfilling it.
2.2 Snow Blind by David Bishop: Sarah travels to Antarctica where her friend, Will is part of a research team studying global warming. But someone at Nikita Base is a murderer and everybody has a guilty secret. When a massive storm severs all communications, the killer strikes and the truth is revealed. Will anyone get off the ice alive?
2.3 Fatal Consequences by David Bishop: Sarah has been attacked, stalked and shot by the acolytes of a doomsday cult. When she tries to turn the tables, she discovers the Crimson Chapter has a weapon that could claim millions of lives - and her own actions may have instigated their genocidal plan.
2.4 Dreamland by David Bishop: Sarah Jane Smith is still dealing with the tragic consequences of recent events when she is offered the chance of a lifetime - a place on the world's first tourist flight into space. The trip's sponsor, Sir Donald Wakefield, believes it is her destiny. But after her recent experiences, what does Sarah still believe in?
This release features several instances of mild swearing which may not be suitable for younger listeners.
Audiobook
Published January 1, 2020
9 people want to read
About the author
David Bishop
129 books39 followersDavid James Bishop is a New Zealand screenwriter and author. He was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000.
He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.
In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.
In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.
He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.
In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.
In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 22, 2023
Once upon a time … a young investigative journalist met The Doctor, and traveled with him over two different incarnations. Then he abruptly decided to leave her and go his merry way. But he never forgot about her. He even, inexplicably, sent her a robot dog to keep her company. Still, investigating curiosities on Earth didn’t hold a candle to the curiosities she had encountered in both time and place while traveling with The Doctor. She was fortunate to meet up with him against, but the circumstances resulted in her actually meeting several other of his incarnations. But after this encounter, sadly she was off on her own again. Now her robot dog companion, K-9, is no where to be found, but Sarah Jane perseveres. And while she would encounter The Doctor yet again in the future. This was a period when The Doctor was no where to be found.
1.1 Comeback (July 2002) - This is a fun little tale that offers a glimpse at what Sarah Jane was up to during the period when there was no Doctor Who on the air. Nothing too spectacular, but a fun kick-off for her solo adventures (3/5).
1.2 The Tao Connection (August 2002) - Mixed feeling about this one. A bit dated in some aspects and some of the portrayals are bit too camp and stereotyped for me (2/5).
1.3 Test of Nerve (September 2002) - I’m thinking I need to readjust what I’m expecting for these stories. Im used to everything related to Doctor Who from Big Finish fooling a similar narrative structure and type, but these don’t follow quite the exact same pattern (3/5).
1.4 Ghost Town (October 2002) - In this one Josh keeps making allusions to Scooby-Doo, much to the irrigation of Sarah Jane, and as I’m not a fan of that particular franchise, it kept pulling me out of the narrative. This series was made after the events of the Doctor Who TV movie from 1996 and before the new rebooted Doctor Who series began. So it falls somewhere after the ludicrous and preposterous K-9 & Company and Sarah Jane’s return to the Whoniverse and her series Sarah Jane Investigates. So the tone of this audio series nothing like anything we’ve really ever had from Sarah Jane before. But the distracting Scooby-Doo references were just that, distracting (2/5).
1.5 Mirror Signal Manoeuvre (November 2002) - Another one that doesn’t quite deliver as much as I’d expected. This one closes off the first series for this range, and it would be three years before the next one was released. Perhaps that tells me something, maybe this range wasn’t overly well received when it was first being released. In any case, this is a big wrap-up with lots of reveals and twists along the way. Too bad it wasn’t everything I’d been hoping for (2/5).
Took a couple weeks off before I started Series Two. If my timing is correct, this second series was released in the months leading up to the reappearance of Sarah Jane in the second season episode School Reunion from the new Doctor Who in late April 2006.
2.1 Buried Secrets (November 2005) - Well, this one felt a little better. “Series Two” seems to be off to a good start (3/5).
2.2 Snow Blind (February 2006) - Sarah Jane trapped on the Antarctic ice, with a threat to life and limb from near at hand, and our ongoing mystery deepens. This one was nicely done (3/5).
2.3 Fatal Consequences (March 2006) - The veil of mystery begins to part, the tangle nest of enigmas begin to unravel. Things get dark pretty quickly with this one. Building to an exciting climax (3/5)!
2.4 Dreamland (April 2006) - Picking up right where things in Fatal Consequences left off, the (come on, you knew this was coming) Big Finish for this series is pulling out all the stops and sending Sarah Jane into space (3/5). (And it has nothing to do with the animated story Doctor Who: Dreamland, that came out several years later.)
So, some mixed feelings about this series. It’s well done, and certainly another high quality series from Big Finish. Unfortunately it leaves things on an unresolved cliffhanger that Sarah Jane’s appearance, a month later (at least by publication dates), in the second season episode School Reunion from the new Doctor Who makes virtually irreconcilable. I’m now wondering if there was an intended fifth episode for this season that was meant to resolve the cliffhanger, but it was derailed by Elizabeth Sladen’s reappearance in the new TV series. Shall we just chalk this series off to be erased by the events of the Time War and leave it at that?
1.1 Comeback (July 2002) - This is a fun little tale that offers a glimpse at what Sarah Jane was up to during the period when there was no Doctor Who on the air. Nothing too spectacular, but a fun kick-off for her solo adventures (3/5).
1.2 The Tao Connection (August 2002) - Mixed feeling about this one. A bit dated in some aspects and some of the portrayals are bit too camp and stereotyped for me (2/5).
1.3 Test of Nerve (September 2002) - I’m thinking I need to readjust what I’m expecting for these stories. Im used to everything related to Doctor Who from Big Finish fooling a similar narrative structure and type, but these don’t follow quite the exact same pattern (3/5).
1.4 Ghost Town (October 2002) - In this one Josh keeps making allusions to Scooby-Doo, much to the irrigation of Sarah Jane, and as I’m not a fan of that particular franchise, it kept pulling me out of the narrative. This series was made after the events of the Doctor Who TV movie from 1996 and before the new rebooted Doctor Who series began. So it falls somewhere after the ludicrous and preposterous K-9 & Company and Sarah Jane’s return to the Whoniverse and her series Sarah Jane Investigates. So the tone of this audio series nothing like anything we’ve really ever had from Sarah Jane before. But the distracting Scooby-Doo references were just that, distracting (2/5).
1.5 Mirror Signal Manoeuvre (November 2002) - Another one that doesn’t quite deliver as much as I’d expected. This one closes off the first series for this range, and it would be three years before the next one was released. Perhaps that tells me something, maybe this range wasn’t overly well received when it was first being released. In any case, this is a big wrap-up with lots of reveals and twists along the way. Too bad it wasn’t everything I’d been hoping for (2/5).
Took a couple weeks off before I started Series Two. If my timing is correct, this second series was released in the months leading up to the reappearance of Sarah Jane in the second season episode School Reunion from the new Doctor Who in late April 2006.
2.1 Buried Secrets (November 2005) - Well, this one felt a little better. “Series Two” seems to be off to a good start (3/5).
2.2 Snow Blind (February 2006) - Sarah Jane trapped on the Antarctic ice, with a threat to life and limb from near at hand, and our ongoing mystery deepens. This one was nicely done (3/5).
2.3 Fatal Consequences (March 2006) - The veil of mystery begins to part, the tangle nest of enigmas begin to unravel. Things get dark pretty quickly with this one. Building to an exciting climax (3/5)!
2.4 Dreamland (April 2006) - Picking up right where things in Fatal Consequences left off, the (come on, you knew this was coming) Big Finish for this series is pulling out all the stops and sending Sarah Jane into space (3/5). (And it has nothing to do with the animated story Doctor Who: Dreamland, that came out several years later.)
So, some mixed feelings about this series. It’s well done, and certainly another high quality series from Big Finish. Unfortunately it leaves things on an unresolved cliffhanger that Sarah Jane’s appearance, a month later (at least by publication dates), in the second season episode School Reunion from the new Doctor Who makes virtually irreconcilable. I’m now wondering if there was an intended fifth episode for this season that was meant to resolve the cliffhanger, but it was derailed by Elizabeth Sladen’s reappearance in the new TV series. Shall we just chalk this series off to be erased by the events of the Time War and leave it at that?
Displaying 1 of 1 review