The Empty Planet (TV story)

The Empty Planet was the fourth story in series four of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It featured Rani Chandra and Clyde Langer and Gavin as the main characters.

Part 1
Clyde and Rani wake up one day to discover that they are the only survivors of the human race! The whole of Earth is empty – even Sarah Jane has vanished. But a deserted London holds terrors of its own. Strange forces lurk in the shadows, as mysterious visitors approach!

Part 2
Clyde and Rani meet their enemy, as the Robots arrive on Earth – but what do they want, and where has the human race gone? It’s a race against time, but without Sarah Jane’s expertise, Clyde and Rani must trust each other like never before if they’re to save the whole world

Part 1
Sarah Jane tells Mr Smith to do a maximum scan. Clyde asks what is going on. Rani tells him that Mr Smith picked up an alien energy trace for a second, which then vanished into the signals of every energy source on Earth. When they leave Sarah Jane's house, Rani reminds Clyde of their school assignment. Clyde sees no point in doing the reading, considering they might be invaded. Rani's dad comes to see her in her room, but she asks him to leave so she can finish the assignment. Clyde's mum also comes to see him, and compliments him on his latest cartoon drawings.

As they sleep, the mix of signals and sounds generally being transmitted across Earth is suddenly cut out. Rani wakes up to find her parents missing, and sees no-one outside on the street. Sarah Jane is also gone, and Mr Smith no longer appears to be in the computer that houses him. Rani searches for another person, finding that nothing has a signal anymore. She prays that she is not alone. She hears a knock at the door and opens it to find Clyde. They head into town to look for someone besides them.

They can't find anyone, and realise that if everyone suddenly disappeared there should be crashed vehicles everywhere. There are not, which means that whatever took the humans didn't want to do any damage. They go to a cafe for breakfast and try to figure out why they have not been taken. They decide to go back to the attic, but notice crates being knocked over. They spot another person, who runs away. Giving chase, they follow him to an apartment block. He is a schoolboy called Gavin. Rather than being relieved to see other people, Gavin appears afraid of Rani and Clyde. Rani and Clyde try to convince him they mean no harm, and Rani tells him about aliens to try to gain his trust. Gavin is sceptical. As they try to persuade him to help, a strange noise is heard. Gavin slips away while Rani and Clyde try to work out what it was.

They go back to the cafe and see a strange image on all the screens, even the mobile phones. They hear a noise getting closer and investigate. Rani notices Gavin and goes down an alley; Clyde looks around the corner and sees a yellow robot. He is cornered by it, whilst Rani is cornered by a red robot. The robots both lift their arms and point them directly at Rani and Clyde...

Part 2
Gavin pushes the robot in front of Rani against the wall so they can escape. Clyde runs away from the yellow robot and hides in a store. He gets away from it and meets up with Rani and Gavin. They look at the images on the screens and go in search of the robots, then decide to return to the cafe. Rani and Clyde talk about what makes them different, mentioning time fissures, space travel and the TARDIS, much to Gavins confusion. All of these things pertain to Sarah Jan as well, however. Clyde realises that the Judoon grounded only him and Rani on Earth, so that must be why the robots had to leave them behind. This doesn't explain why Gavin is still there, as he knows nothing about aliens.

The robots suddenly burst into the cafe. The three children escape out the back door. Rani and Clyde tell Gavin to get away, thinking the robots must be after only them. The two split up to distract the robots. They are each cornered once again. The robots scan them, but do not kill them. In the cafe, Clyde shows the robots a newspaper so they can quickly learn the language. The robots reveal that the strange image is a countdown. They demand the "air" and the "sun", saying that if it is not given to them by the end of the countdown the human race will not return. Rani realises that they don't mean 'sun and air' but 'son and heir'. It turns out that Gavin's dad was an alien king, who has now died. The robots have come to take Gavin to their planet. They sent the news in the energy trace form the previous night, but Gavin never received it.

Clyde and Rani search for Gavin, eventually locating him at The Ealing Circle Nature Reserve. The robots are unable to see him. They determine that Gavin is wearing a bio-damper ring to shield his alien half; when this is removed, the robots send him the information again, showing him the planet he is meant to rule. He agrees to go and orders the robots to return everyone to Earth. He names the other two Lord Clyde and Lady Rani as he leaves. Everyone returns to their rightful places. Mr Smith fixes the records to indicate that Gavin has moved to Australia. Clyde and Rani think about the fact that if they had never met Sarah Jane, they would have been in big trouble.

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
 * Carla Langer - Jocelyn Jee Esien
 * Gavin - Joe Mason
 * Red Robot - Paul Kasey
 * Yellow Robot - Ruari Mears
 * Voice of Robots - Jon Glover

Planets

 * Gavin left to become the ruler of an unnamed planet.

Culture

 * Pondering that they may be the only two humans left alive, Clyde and Rani make comparisons to Adam and Eve.

Books from the real world

 * Rani and Clyde are reading Great Expectations as a school assignment.

Story notes

 * The robots are very similar to the Roboidz from Mission: 2110, who are of a similar shape and also come in red and yellow.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * Clyde draws a comic strip featuring the Shansheeth. (SJA: Death of the Doctor)
 * Clyde refers to meeting the Pied Piper of Hamelin. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)
 * Clyde refers to the Judoon grounding him and Rani. (SJA: Prisoner of the Judoon)
 * Gavin is protected by a Bio damper. (DW: The Runaway Bride, SJA: Secrets of the Stars)
 * Clyde and Rani mention travelling in the TARDIS (SJA: Death of the Doctor) and going through a time fissure. (SJA: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith)
 * After hearing the sounds of the Earth, Clyde remarks "Bit noisy, aren't we?" The Tenth Doctor said of Earth "This planet's so noisy!" (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
 * The Robots remove everyone from Earth through the use of a Warp shunt. The Nestene Consciousness used similar technology to send itself to Earth. (DW: Rose)

Timeline

 * This story takes place after SJA: Death of the Doctor
 * This story takes place before SJA: Lost in Time

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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