'Sarah Jane' S02E12: 'Enemy Of The Bane - Part Two'

Published Tuesday, Dec 9 2008, 18:00 GMT | By Ben Rawson-Jones | 5 comments

'Sarah Jane' S02E12: 'Enemy Of The Bane - Part Two'

Sterling performances from two warring matriarchs go some way towards rescuing the Sarah Jane finale, but can't prevent it from being a damp squib. Or should that be damp squid given the Bane's tentacular nature?

Samantha Bond's Wormwood and Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane share a number of tasty verbal duels throughout the episode, which is certainly better than the first part. The tussle over Luke is superbly portrayed by both actresses, with both delivering passionate, emotive pleas to the poor lad.

However, for a finale this story lacks the necessary impact and oomph. The action sequences are surprisingly poor, especially Kaagh's pursuit of Luke, and the lacklustre CGI is glaringly exposed in broad daylight through the Bane, who possess neither presence nor menace in their true state.

The Brigadier's introduction to a new audience continues to be unworthy of such a great and iconic character, although it is pleasing to see him reel off one round (rapid of course) from his walking stick towards the pantomime villain Major.

Overall, the season finale is nowhere near as good as last year's thrilling and exhilarating equivalent. Although still superior children's television even during its worst episodes, the 'Enemy Of The Bane' simply didn't give a talented cast the story they deserved.

> What do you think of the episode? Share your views

More: TV, Sarah Jane Adventures

Your Views

5 Comments

Your Responses

dilan tomas aberdare april 2009 , on April 24th, 2009
i though it was excellent and it was great to see the brigadier in it and the bane. mrs wormwood is a good villan in this but why the sontaran. the brig should have had a bit more to do in the story but overall a excellent sarah jane adventures one of the best.

Bob Jones, Swindon, on December 11th, 2008
A bit of an anti-climax if you ask me, but on the whole, good series. Still doesn't reach the heights of Doctor Who.Probably, as Mark said, because it is aimed at children. Series 3 should contain a bit more gun slinging, as Doctor Who and Torchwood already have.

Bob, on December 10th, 2008
The rest of the series has been so good. This was a huge disappointment after the amazing temptation of Sarah Jane Smith this was awful especially the ending I was expecting so much more. Mind you better than watching Pitt and Kantrop!

Colin, Chatham, on December 9th, 2008
The end to clearly the best ever Doctor Who spin off show. Sarah Jane has after her years with the Doctor become a bit of of the Doctor herself and this years adventures have been on the most part top notch and it is good that Doctor Who friends and foes can pop up in this show. Well done to Elizabeth Sladen and everybody else involved in this wonderfull show, and it is just a shame that its not on an a Saturday tea time to get the audience it deserves.

Mark Anthony Craig, Wirral, UK, on December 9th, 2008
Overall, this could be a cracking little series. It's great that Torchwood and Sarah Jane succeed as spin-offs to the phenomenal Doctor Who - and Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane having her own series was well overdue. The stories have been okay, and the acting okay - what tends to let it down is the scripts treating the viewers as if they are idiots ...... well, children at least. Yes, the series is aimed primarily at children, but does it have to keep descending into juvenile verbal sparring. What attracts children to Doctor Who is that it doesn't lower its script standards - it works in many ways at many levels. By playing to the lowest common denominator, Sarah Jane Adventures came sometimes insult everyone above the age of 11 ..... which is a great shame as the plot elements and characterisations are there to appeal to a much wider audience. Television has - throughout the last 30 years - offered us many "childrens" programmes which haven't consciously dumbed themselves down, and have been much better for doing so. Don't the BBC realise that children like watching shows that aren't tweaked to bring things down to their level .... children aspire to watch things that treat them with a bit more intelligence, which is why the parent programme Doctor Who is so popular amongst them. So my advice to the producers is to make series 3 more like a drama for all ages, and not lower its script integrity to pander to 7-8 year olds. And the recent weekend repeats in a decent timeslot for us adults to watch was also a very good idea.

Gaming Interview