Enemy of the Bane (TV story)

Enemy of the Bane is the sixth and final serial in Series Two of The Sarah Jane Adventures.



Synopsis
Gita Chandra is kidnapped by Mrs Wormwood, in a ruse that turns out to be a snare for Sarah Jane. Mrs Wormwood has joined forces with another of Sarah Jane's enemies; as they prepare to settle old scores with her, she turns to an old friend for help.

Part 1
Gita Chandra is working late on a special floral commission, but when the client arrives for it, it is Mrs Wormwood. She paralyses Gita, certain that the disappearance of Rani's mum will lure Sarah Jane Smith onto the case.

Sarah Jane warily agrees to meet with Mrs Wormwood at a deserted building. The former Bane operative explains that she took the blame for her species' failed attempt at invading the Earth (SJA:Invasion of the Bane), and has been exiled from her people and world.

Mrs. Wormwood says she will help as she was blamed for the destruction of the Bane Mother. She is contained, and after a conversation with Luke, she is set free. The Bane try to destroy Sarah's house, and later she teams up with Commander Kaagh from the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet. She hadn't been working for the Bane, but she had been working with Kaagh.

Part 2
Mrs Wormwood saves Luke and Clyde, and then Sarah Jane arrived. So that UNIT cannot find them, Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, Rani, the Brigadier and Mrs Wormwood all hide in Gita's Flower shop. Mrs Wormwood asks Sarah Jane for the Scroll but she refuses. Commander Kaagh arrives and forces Sarah Jane to give it by threatening Luke, Clyde and Rani. With the scroll in hand, Mrs Wormwood forces Luke to go with her and Commander Kaagh. Mrs Wormwood, Kaagh and Luke arrive at a factory where Kaagh has hidden his space pod. He places the Consciousness of Horath in a scroll. Meanwhile the others go to Sarah Jane's House to speak to Mr Smith, to try to find the whereabouts of Luke, Mrs Wormwood and Kaagh. Once they find out, they borrow Gita's van and go after them. Mrs Wormwood, Luke and Kaagh arrive at a stone circle where they force Luke to insert the scroll. Sarah Jane arrives. Mrs Wormwood betrays Kaagh and he stops her by jumping into the portal and dragging her in with him.

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Mrs Wormwood - Samantha Bond
 * Kaagh - Anthony O'Donnell
 * Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
 * Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
 * Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
 * Major Cal Kilburne - Simon Chadwick

Production crew
To be added

Story notes

 * Mrs Wormwood returns along with the Bane. They last appeared in Invasion of the Bane.
 * Commander Kaagh from The Last Sontaran returns.
 * "Brigadier" Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart returns for the first time in 19 years, having last appeared on television in the 1989 Doctor Who adventure Battlefield. His appearance in this story marks 40 years in the role, having first appeared as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart back in the 1968 serial, The Web of Fear, and makes him the longest serving single character in Doctor Who thus far second only to the Doctor himself.
 * The last on-screen appearance of the Brigadier other than the appearance of a photograph in Invasion of the Bane and a few name-drops (Revenge of the Slitheen, DW: The Poison Sky) was in the independent spin-off production, Downtime in 1995.
 * The Brigadier shoots a Bane operative dead with a gun hidden in his cane. Before this episode aired it was said that he would kill Kaagh with it.

Ratings
To be added

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Mrs Wormwood's phonic disruptor can make Bane explode, then why at the factory only stun them. It may not have had the power at the time and the exploding happened directly after an energy recharge.
 * In Part 2 when the two members of the Bane Kindred explode Clyde and Luke are covered in left over Bane Slime. As the episode goes on it is no longer seen. (They could have been washed - and do in fact have wet shirts afterward.)
 * In The Last Sontaran, Sarah Jane took Kaagh's gun off him and left it in her attic, so in this story how come he had it back? (He could have created another one.)
 * When Kaagh stops Mrs wormwood he falls in the portal too why didn't he just push her into the portal.(he was ashamed of been defeated in the last sontaran so he committed suicide)

Continuity
Sir Alistair is a Special Envoy for UNIT, and often serves on diplomatic missions, such as his recent trip to Peru (DW: The Poison Sky). He doesn't trust UNIT as it stands today ("Homeworld security", poor human rights seen in TW: Fragments etc.), but still maintains a Level One (highest) security clearance.

When arguing against UNIT dealing with a more dangerous Earth these days, Sir Alistair refers to several enemies UNIT battled against in his day, concluding "it doesn't get more hostile than that". The events he alludes to are;
 * DW: The Invasion
 * DW: Spearhead from Space
 * DW: Terror of the Autons
 * DW: Day of the Daleks
 * DW: Terror of the Zygons

Of all the above mentioned enemies, only the Zygons have yet to appear in the new series of Doctor Who, although they were featured in TDA: Sting of the Zygons.

Major Kilburn mentions that the Sir Alistair's wife let him in. Her name is not specifically mentioned, however, so it is uncertain whether it is Doris, or that he may have re-married.

The concept of Horath's body and consciousness being separated is similar to what was done to Nephthys in MA: The Sands of Time.

DVD and Other releases
to be added