Children of Steel (audio story)

Children of Steel was the ninth Sarah Jane Adventures audiobook release. It was written by Martin Day, produced for AudioGO and read by Daniel Anthony. It accompanied the CBBC broadcast of series 5, and was one of only two releases in the range read by someone other than Elisabeth Sladen, as the actress had died earlier that year.

Publisher's summary
A steam-powered robot causes chaos for Sarah Jane and friends, in this exclusive audio story read by Daniel Anthony.

Sarah Jane is thrilled when she successfully bids for a Victorian brass head in an antiques auction. On taking the metal model home, Mr Smith informs her that it contains a research probe from the future.

Sarah Jane speculates that the probe was used as the 'brain' that powered the 'Difference Golem'; a mechanical servant built by eccentric inventor Sir Joseph Montague. She suggests destroying it, to prevent such advanced technology from falling into the wrong hands, but Rani persuades her that this would be wrong, as the golem could have been sentient. So she, Rani, Sky and Clyde travel to Holcote House, the former residence of Sir Joseph, in search of its body. But they are soon to discover that meddling with artificial intelligence can have dangerous consequences...

Plot
Sarah Jane Smith, Clyde, Rani and Sky go to an antiques auction. Clyde thinks the auction was boring until Sarah sees the head of the Difference Golem Adam, which is alien.

Sarah Jane wants to buy the head, but also another woman is interested in it. When the bidding is over 130 pounds the woman suddenly stops bidding and Sarah Jane gets the head for 140 pounds.

Since Sarah Jane only got the head of Adam she tries to find his body. Mr Smith tells her that the head was sold by Oliver Guide who lives at Holcote House. The Bannerman Road gang decides to look there for the body. Oliver Guide shows them his cellar.

Since the metal body is difficult to find Sky uses her electric power to find it. After body and head are put together Sky activats Adam with her electric power. Adam becomes alive. He tells them that when he was deactivated part of him was still aware of the passing months and years and part of him still existed in the darkness. He felt lonely.

Sarah Jane asks Adam to come with them when suddenly the woman from the auction appears in the cellar. She attacks Adam and soon both are gone.

Sarah Jane and her friends finally find Adam in a fabric. Adam has already activated may other Difference Golems and is going to activate more. Adam lets them come to live by putting parts of his mind into the robots, whom he calls his children. He soon realises that each time he gives them the spark of life he is diminished by the process. Sometimes he even seems to forget who he is. Rani convinces Adam that he can't keep up dividing a brain like that. Adam is pleased that Rani calls him a "him" instead of an "it". He listens to her, takes the research probe out of his brain and gives it to his daughter who promises to bring the probe back to the future. Adam's mechanical body is now just as lifeless as his children. However he lives on and manages to get the daughter that later travels back in time to bring him or the probe back to the future.

Characters

 * Sarah Jane Smith
 * Sky Smith
 * Rani Chandra
 * Clyde Langer
 * Oliver Guide
 * Adam
 * Adam's daughter
 * Joseph Montague
 * James Montague

Worldbuilding

 * Karel Capek invented the word robot in 1920.
 * Sarah Jane mentions the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the Grandfather paradox.
 * During the Bloody Sunday demonstration in Trafalgar Square in 1887, three protesters were killed.
 * James Montague showed the game ducks and drakes to Adam.
 * Clyde Langer thought that Holcote House was the sort of place where one might have expected to find Hercule Poirot trying to solve a murder.
 * Adam's daughter was a tall woman, dressed from heads to foots in a dark pink striped suit as immaculate as if she just went off the catwalk in Milan. Clyde initially wondered if she might have been sent by UNIT.
 * Charles Babbage built the difference engine.
 * A research probe is an energy matrix of Earth origin which was used sometime after the 21st century for time travel experiments by scientists. It is used to explore and gather data.
 * Eden is a factory which is built in the Victorian era.
 * Clyde Langer tells Sky Smith about some cool robots which are invented in Japan.

Continuity
to be added