Eye of the Gorgon (TV story)

Eye of the Gorgon was the third story in the first series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It consisted of episodes 3 and 4 of the series.

Synopsis
A haunted nursing home leads Sarah Jane to a mysterious order of nuns with an ancient - and alien - secret...

Part 1
At the local nursing home, Lavender Lawns, elderly women claim they have seen a mysterious nun who appears and vanishes like a ghost. Clyde informs Sarah Jane of the story and Clyde, Luke and she investigate. Meanwhile, Chrissie Jackson moves back into her ex-husband's house, but only makes more trouble for the family.

Back at Lavender Lawns, an old lady gives Luke an ancient talisman. It is really the key to a portal in space and time. An order of nuns are hiding an age-old creature, the Gorgon. When Sarah Jane refuses to give the talisman to the nuns, they kidnap Luke and Clyde and take the Gorgon and Maria to Sarah Jane's house, where the Gorgon turns Maria's father to stone.

Part 2
Having gotten what they came for, the nuns and Gorgon leave. Luke and Clyde escape via a secret passage. Mr Smith tells Maria and Sarah that Alan is retrievable until 16:00. Luke and Clyde see the Gorgon stumble, but cannot prevent the talisman beginning the process of joining the Gorgon homeworld with Earth. The Gorgon - a parasite inside the Abbess - chooses Sarah Jane as its next host.

Chatting with Bea, Maria learns the talisman can revert those turned to stone. Clyde distracts the nuns long enough for Luke to grab the talisman, closing the portal. However, Sarah Jane and both boys are recaptured and locked in another room, though Sarah Jane is taken and tied next to the portal. Luke and Clyde escape again and join Sarah Jane just as the Gorgon begins to transfer itself. Maria arrives and uses a mirror to revert the transfer and turn the Gorgon - and Abbess - to stone, freeing the nuns of mind-control. Maria disconnects the talisman and the portal shuts down forever. The talisman brings Alan back to flesh-and-blood and Chrissie leaves, returning to Ivan.

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith — Elisabeth Sladen
 * Maria Jackson — Yasmin Paige
 * Luke Smith — Tommy Knight
 * Clyde Langer — Daniel Anthony
 * Voice of Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * Alan Jackson — Joseph Millson
 * Chrissie Jackson — Juliet Cowan
 * Bea Nelson-Stanley — Phyllida Law
 * Sister Helena — Beth Goddard
 * Mrs Gribbins - Sarah Crowden
 * Mrs Randall — Doreen Mantle
 * The Abbess — Audrey Ardington

Culture

 * Sarah Jane Smith, while attempting to guess where the abbey was, mentions Agatha Christie.
 * Sister Helena makes a punning reference to the song "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?", which is performed by a chorus of nuns in the musical .

Spacecraft

 * There is a silhouette/scale drawing of a Jagaroth ship on the wall in Sarah's attic.

Species

 * Bea Nelson-Stanley says that "the Sontarans are the silliest race in the galaxy" and look like potatoes.
 * Bea also says that the Sultan of Ishkanbar saw a Yeti once.

Story notes

 * The building used as Lavender Lawns is the same building used as the hotel where Donna Noble, her mother Sylvia Noble and her grandfather Wilfred Mott were staying when London was destroyed on 25 December 2008 in TV: Turn Left.
 * Phyllida Law (Bea Nelson-Stanley) would later play Belldonia, the Dowager Empress of Peladon, in AUDIO: The Bride of Peladon.
 * Sarah Crowden (Mrs Gribbins) is the daughter of Graham Crowden, who played Soldeed in TV: The Horns of Nimon.
 * Audrey Ardington (The Abbess) would later play Mrs Poggit in TV: Amy's Choice.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 1.1 million viewers BBC1,
 * Episode 2 - 411,000 viewers

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * Sarah Jane's house number should be 13 Bannerman Road, but in these two episodes the door number is 21.

Continuity

 * Sarah Jane met the Sontarans twice before. (TV: The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment)
 * The Gorgon's attack on Alan Jackson resembles Petrifold Regression. (TV: New Earth)
 * The Second Doctor encountered a fictionalised version of Medusa, another Gorgon, in the Land of Fiction. (TV: The Mind Robber)
 * The sonic lipstick does not work on wood, similar to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. (TV: Silence in the Library)
 * The idea of the nuns hiding an alien is very similar to TV: Tooth and Claw, in which the monks hide the werewolf.
 * The First Doctor encountered a different type of Gorgon in the company of John and Gillian. (COMIC: The Gaze of the Gorgon)

Home video releases

 * This was to be released on a vanilla DVD along with Revenge of the Slitheen on 17 March 2008, but the release was cancelled. It is featured in the Series One box set, which was released in North America on 7 October 2008 and in the UK on 10th November 2008.