The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith (TV story)

The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith is the fifth serial in Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures

Synopsis
When Sarah Jane returns a boy who has slipped through a time fissure back to 1951, she realizes she has found a way to meet the parents she never knew. But is it a trap? Sarah Jane and Luke fall victim to a revenge plot by The Trickster.

Plot
Part 1

Sarah and Luke visit the village via a time portal, that the team had discovered earlier. They arrive in the village on the same day that Sarah Jane's parents are killed in a road accident. In the village, Sarah meets her parents and also changes history when she disables her parents' car's engine therefore stopping them from being killed. History changes and when she arrives back in 2009, London has been destroyed and she meets The Trickster. Meanwhile back in London when Clyde discovers Sarah Jane's house empty and after failing to get either of them on their mobiles he goes to Rani's house and with the aid of Gita gets her out of bed. On entering the house they find that it is empty and Mr Smith has no idea where they might be. He does though have a theory that Sarah Jane may have gone back in time through the time portal. Mr Smith then detects that the box that the Verron Soothsayer had given Sarah Jane before the events of Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? has become active again and is glowing blue. Rani asks how it will protect them and thinking this is an oxo cube, Clyde states that it will use its Oxy goodness. The scene cuts back to Sarah Jane in 1951 next to the memorial.

On taking the box to the portal neither Rani nor Clyde are able to find a way to use it. When the box changes colour to red the time portal opens and out steps Oscar. When Oscar changes into a Graske they run off. They succeed in evading it by hiding behind some bins. Time starts to break down so Clyde puts his arm round Rani and they experience the transition from their version of the future into the new post apocalyptic version created by The Trickster.

The Trickster explains how he gained control of the world. Sarah and Luke tell him they are going to travel through the portal, but the Trickster tells Sarah Jane that the battle is over. When they eventually travel through the portal. When they arrive they notice the clouds changing colour. The weather is changing and so the fête is moved to the village hall. Sarah and Luke arrive at the memorial and see the Big Ben destroyed and so the Trickster appears and tells Sarah Jane it was all her fault as she gave the world to the Trickster.

Part 2

Sarah Jane demands to know how saving her parents could have altered time so drastically, to which the Trickster explains the village was built on a fault in time. Sarah Jane's tampering with a fixed point in time opened this fault, allowing the Trickster to physically enter their reality and ravage Earth for the last half century. Sarah Jane and Luke go back through the fissure as the Trickster gloats he has already won.

Meanwhile, Clyde and Rani explore the ruined London, reduced to rock formations and worked by the last surviving human slaves who are led by the Trickster's Graske. The slaves are being made to mine resources so that the Trickster may create a ship and extend his reach to the rest of the universe. Clyde and Rani implore the Graske to help them restore the original timeline but he explains that if he did the Trickster would punish him; years ago the Graske had nearly died in space, but had been saved by the Trickster in return for eternal servitude. Clyde promises the Graske that if he helps them, they will give him the puzzle box to free him from the Trickster. The Graske agrees and reopens the fissure so that Rani can tell Sarah Jane the new information.

In the past, Sarah Jane's parents come to realise who she is and what she was trying to prevent. However, their touch now instantly withers any organic life they hold and they realise it is their destiny to drive off this day. After telling their daughter how proud they are of her, they both enter the new repaired car and drive off. The Trickster begins to fade, unable to see how the timeline could have been restored. Sarah Jane proudly states that the Trickster's plan never considered that her parents would willingly sacrifice themselves to save the world. The Trickster vanishes, howling in pain.

Back in the modern day, the timeline is restored around the Graske and Clyde, who gives the alien the box. The Graske teleports away, beaming over its newly returned freedom. The fissure reopens as Sarah Jane, Luke and Rani return.

Later at home, Sarah Jane reminisces over her parents. Although she could not save them, she finally knows why they left and is incredibly proud of them. The scene ends with Sarah Jane hugging her son and her picture of her parents saying on the back, "Mr Smith, I need you."

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Mr Smith (voice) - Alexander Armstrong
 * Barbara Smith - Rosanna Lavelle
 * Eddie Smith - Christopher Pizzey
 * The Trickster - Paul Marc Davies
 * Graske - Jimmy Vee
 * Mrs King - Georgie Glenn
 * Oscar - Robert Madge
 * PC Ferguson - Andrew Bullivant

Production crew
to be added

Story notes

 * The Graske appear in this episode. They appeared in SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?' in Series 1, as well as DW: Attack of the Graske and Music of the Spheres.
 * On the BBC iplayer page, Alan, Maria, Paul and Carla are all listed in the credits, even though they did not appear in the televised episode.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 483,000 (CBBC channel)

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Trickster was a name given by Alan Jackson. At the end of part 1, he actual calls himself the Trickster. How did Alan know his name? Perhaps Alan guessed his name (possibly one of many) correctly, or he may not have one and simply refers to himself by the name they know him by or he may have told Alan his name offscreen as in Turn Left the Doctor refers to the 'Trickster's Brigade which presumably was a reference to the Trickster.
 * Wouldn't the reapers reappear like in "Father's Day"? Perhaps the Trickster was powerful enough to stop then coming. The circumstances around the two intrusions are different. There was only one time-traveling set of Sarah Jane and Luke present, not two. The timeline in Father's Day was altered, and the events did not occur as the were supposed to, but here, the Trickster's attack didn't actually alter the timeline, but was rather a part of the events. Without the situation with the Trickster, Sarah Jane's parents would never have left her, hence, this was not so much a break in the timeline but a loop, where the future attack by the Trickster caused the past event of Sarah Jane being abandoned. The Reapers did not come accordingly, because the timeline was not actually altered. If Sarah Jane's parents had not abandoned her, that would cause the Reapers to appear, as the Trickster hints at when he says they would be erased.
 * If the timeline was for Sarah Jane to go back and send her parents off to their deaths, then this would have to be a fixed point in time. This would not have created a paradox to let the Trickster though. Also, nothing had changed because the future of Sarah Jane was always going to be to do this so nothing should have changed. This was shown drastically in The Ghosts of N-Space when Sarah Jane and the Third Doctor went back and played out their cause of events to make the future possible. But if they had not, then the future would have remained the same because it was a fixed point in time. The Tricksters actions, and the change in "present day", were also part of events, without which the earlier events would not have happened. as for what is and is not a fixed point in time, you pretty much have to be a Time Lord to say that with certainty. Also this could be a case of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, meaning time was correcting itself and that this wasn't how the events originally happened.
 * Luke doesn't get questioned for his clothing, which was not in fashion in the 1950s, yet Rani does. Her clothing was much more noticeably different for the period.

Continuity
Eddie and Barbara make sure their deaths happen just like Pete Tyler did. (DW: Father's Day)

DVD and Other releases
to be added