Mona Lisa's Revenge (TV story)

Mona Lisa's Revenge was the fifth serial of series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was written by Phil Ford and directed by Joss Agnew. As the title suggests, it revealed that Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting, The Mona Lisa, was a hostile entity. Furthermore, Clyde's exemplary art skills, which Luke had noticed in The Mark of the Berserker, became a central point of this story, as did Clyde's experiences with alien life having influences on what he drew, and the subject of art in general.

Synopsis
Strange forces bring the Mona Lisa, on exhibit at an art gallery in London, to life. Luke, Clyde and Rani are at the gallery on a school trip as the Mona Lisa rampages with a Sontaran blaster, taken from another painting. Sarah comes to the rescue but ends up trapped in a painting. It's all down to Clyde, Rani and Luke to save the day as the Mona Lisa searches for her brother, the Abomination, hidden in another place in the art gallery.

Part 1
In art class, Luke and Clyde discuss his drawing abilities when Mr Chandra enters to tell Clyde that his painting has won first prize in a competition to see the Mona Lisa at the International Gallery. Although pleased, Clyde does not recall submitting his work to a competition. Luke had secretly entered it himself.

At the gallery, Lionel Harding and Phyllis Trupp examine a newly arrived painting from Paris. Despite her clearly having feelings for him, Lionel ignores Trupp's attempts at a kiss and the two leave moments before the Mona Lisa's hand reaches out.

Luke rushes home to tell Sarah about the competition. She interrupts him over the state of his bedroom. Luke snaps and accuses her of wanting him to be perfect, the way the Bane had created him. The next day, after arriving at the gallery, Luke confides his troubles to Clyde and Rani before being led away by Phyllis. After they notice a Chinese Puzzle Box, Lionel arrives to show Clyde his winning painting. Meanwhile, Phyllis reveals her feelings whilst looking at the Mona Lisa, who reaches out to grab her.

Clyde's painting, showing three women holding Sontaran blaster guns, is shown to the class, who applaud his work. Despite feeling slightly embarrassed, Clyde says that he takes comfort in drawing and asks Luke not to tell Sarah that he drew K9. Lionel takes the class to see the Mona Lisa, but is shocked to find Phyllis in the portrait and calls security. Mr Chandra ushers the class out of the gallery, but Luke, Clyde and Rani sneak away to investigate.

Meanwhile, Mr Smith informs Sarah of the incident at the gallery to distract her from worrying about Luke. She decides to investigate despite a lack of alien activity. After revisiting Clyde's painting, Rani notices one of the Sontaran guns is missing. Moments after Lionel arrives, the Mona Lisa appears and holds the missing gun on them. She opens fire on the group before cooperating with Lionel.

Sarah arrives at the gallery, having spoken with Haresh. She notices two different alien energies in the gallery. Meanwhile, Luke is adamant in his resolve not to seek Sarah's help and the three discover the police and gallery staff trapped inside various paintings. Mona Lisa remembers Lionel from his previous visits to the Louvre. She tells him to help find her "brother", a painting done at the same time and place. It is in the gallery. As they try to escape, Luke notices Sarah's car outside. Meanwhile, Sarah enters the chamber where Phyllis is held, where she is discovered when Lionel and the Mona Lisa arrive. The Mona Lisa tells Sarah not to interfere, referencing Luke's earlier conversations, and imprisons her in a painting. Luke, Clyde and Rani arrive too late to save her after they hear her screaming.

Part 2
Luke, Rani and Clyde beg the Mona Lisa to release Sarah from the painting. When she refuses, Luke pushes her over and escapes with Sarah's painting. Rather than chase after them, the Mona Lisa brings the Dark Rider from his painting to eliminate them. The three youngsters avoid his shots, while Lionel and the Mona Lisa proceed through the gallery to locate her "brother", The Abomination, whose groans and grunts echo through the building. Mona Lisa pauses on her quest when she catches sight of a window. She asks to step outside. Lionel opens the window for her, but she panics when her outstretched arm returns to its painted self. The two enter an unfinished room in the gallery, where Clyde walks in on them. He tries to hide, but is captured by the Dark Rider after overhearing their plans to release The Abomination.

Luke and Rani try to figure out why the Mona Lisa is alive. Clyde is forced to accompany Mona Lisa and Lionel as they try to find the hidden painting in the basement. Luke and Rani realise the paint used to create both paintings came from a sentient rock that fell to Earth. Meanwhile, the Mona Lisa, Lionel, Clyde and the Dark Rider discover the caged Abomination painting in a locked cabinet. However, the puzzle lock is missing. Luke realises the Chinese Puzzle Box is needed to release The Abomination. He is confronted by the Mona Lisa and Lionel. The Mona Lisa tells them she has Clyde in her possession. Upon receiving the box from Luke, Lionel smashes the box. Before she can shoot Lionel, Luke tells her of another way to release The Abomination.

Mona Lisa takes Luke and Rani to Clyde, whom Luke tells to draw a new Chinese Puzzle Box. Despite his and Rani's concerns, Clyde draws a new one. The Mona Lisa animates the box and uses it to open the cabinet holding The Abomination. As the door opens and the energy is released, Luke opens the sketchpad to the drawing of K9, allowing it to animate. The drawn K9 zaps The Abomination, which prevents it from escaping, sending the Mona Lisa and the Dark Rider back into their paintings forever. Clyde is left puzzled when he looks round for K9 and discovers he has vanished. Everyone who was imprisoned in the paintings is now released, and Luke and Sarah are reunited, as well as Lionel and Phyllis. Despite his apologies and eagerness to start a relationship, Phyllis angrily leaves Lionel in the chamber while Sarah and the group reflect on the day's events. Sarah almost feels sorry that Mona Lisa is a consciousness trapped in a painting, though being trapped in a painting has soured her opinion of the woman. She praises Luke for being her clever, resourceful, and dependable son, who notes he is also messy and promises to clean his room when they get home. In the meantime, Sarah thinks she needs to have a chat with Clyde about featuring Sontaran blasters in his artwork. He looks at her discouragingly until she puts her arm around him, letting him know she's just teasing, and the group smiles.

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * Voice of K9 - John Leeson
 * Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
 * The Mona Lisa - Suranne Jones
 * Mr Harding - Jeff Rawle
 * Miss Trupp - Liza Sadovy
 * Highwayman - Paul Kasey
 * Lizo Mzimba - Himself

Individuals

 * Mona Lisa insults the model of the painting.
 * Giuseppe di Cattivo, William Bonneville and Hieronymus Bosch are famous painters.
 * Galaxia is one of the superheroes painted by Clyde.
 * Luca Pacioli wrote the book De Divina Proportione.
 * Jonathan is a pupil at Park Vale Comprehensive School. Mrs Taylor is the art teacher at the same school.

Real world

 * Clyde says his bike was not stolen by "E.T. the ASBO."
 * Clyde refers to Star Trek.

Other

 * Peapod-soulmates.com is a dating website.
 * 11T is Rani, Clyde and Luke's class.

Story notes

 * Though John Leeson is credited as the voice of K9, the real K9 does not make an appearance in this episode. Instead, a sketch Clyde made of him is briefly brought to life and returned to drawing form near the end of part two. Similarly, Mr Smith does not appear in part two at all, but Alexander Armstrong was still credited, likely because the "previously" segment features scenes where Mr Smith was heard speaking.
 * Writer Brian Dooley was originally tasked with writing the script for this story. He came up with the basic premise of artwork coming to life. However, his script was revised to the point that only Phil Ford was credited onscreen. Early drafts also incorporated characters from other well-known works of art, such as the Lady of Shalott, a tragic Arthurian sorceress created by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in an 1833 poem and most famously depicted on canvas by John William Waterhouse in 1888; the Lady would take up arms as a henchwoman for Mona Lisa.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 1.10 million viewers, with an AI score of 84. (DWMSE 28)
 * Part 2 - 0.92 million viewers, with an AI score of 86. (DWMSE 28)

Filming locations

 * The Mona Lisa chamber at the International Gallery is a redress of the Temple of Peace Hall (Platform One meeting room set from The End of the World).

Production errors

 * In the vault, after everything has been reversed, Rani says, "And that's the last of her". As she says, "I hope", a boom microphone can be seen at the top of the shot. This appears to have been corrected on the DVD release, with the microphone having apparently been digitally erased.
 * The Mona Lisa stole the blaster from Clyde's painting, but if you look at his painting in part one, as she tells Lionel that he can touch her, the blaster is clearly seen to be still there.

Continuity

 * The Mona Lisa painting (and several copies thereof) was central to a plot by Scaroth to change the fate of his race, the Jagaroth. The Doctor, in his fourth incarnation, foiled the plan. (TV: City of Death)
 * Luke discovered Clyde's superior art skills when he stayed over at the Langer household while Sarah Jane went undercover to catch a runaway Travast Polong. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker)
 * The statue at the bottom of the stairs of the International Gallery appears to be the same one as the statue seen in the Musée d'Orsey where Amy and the Doctor went to a Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. (TV: Vincent and the Doctor)
 * Clyde remembers the design of a Sontaran blaster from his altercations with Sontaran Commander Kaagh, who often and actively wielded one. (TV: The Last Sontaran, Enemy of the Bane)
 * Harding refers to the Cup of Athelstan being stolen from the International Gallery by Lady Christina de Souza at Easter in 2009. (TV: Planet of the Dead)
 * Odd Bob the Clown and the meteor that brought him to Earth are mentioned by Luke. (TV: The Day of the Clown)
 * With Mr Smith, Clyde will later make a record of his encounter with Mona Lisa for the Alien Files. (TV: SJAF 5)

DVD releases

 * It was released in the Complete Collection Series 1-5 boxset release (Region 2 release: 6th February 2012).