Mona Lisa's Revenge (TV story)

Mona Lisa's Revenge was the fifth story in the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. As the title suggests, it revealed that Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting, The Mona Lisa, was a hostile entity. Furthermore, Clyde Langer's exemplary art skills, which Luke Smith had noticed in TV: 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. Clyde, Rani and Luke are at the gallery on a school trip as the Mona Lisa rampages with a Sontaran blaster, taken from another painting. Sarah Jane 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 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 Jane 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 noticing 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 Jane 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 Jane 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 Jane 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 Jane'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 Jane's car outside. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane enters the chamber where Phyllis is held, where she is discovered when Lionel and the Mona Lisa arrive. The Mona Lisa tells Sarah Jane 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 Jane from the painting. When she refuses, Luke pushes her over and escapes with Sarah Jane'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 tell 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 Jane 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 Jane and the group reflect on the day's events. Sarah Jane 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 Jane 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

Species

 * Clyde's painting features a Sontaran weapon.

Individuals

 * Frequent references are made to Leonardo da Vinci.

Relics

 * The heist of the Cup of Athelstan is mentioned by Harding.
 * A Mystery Chinese Puzzle designed by Guiseppe di Cattivo is on display in the gallery. It is later destroyed by Harding after he realises it is the key to releasing the Abomination, but by Luke's orders, Clyde replicates the box through a sketch, which Mona Lisa changes into a physical object. The duplicate is removed from existence after the Abomination is erased by the facsimile of K9.

Real world

 * The Dark Rider cannot speak because he has no mouth, but a mask painted on, rendering him mute. Because of this, Clyde calls the highwayman "." Silent Bob is the titular highly-reserved in speech character from the comic Clerks alongside his more vocal friend Jay, though he is not mute; rather he speaks when he has something profound to say.
 * When Luke gives Clyde's drawing of the puzzle box to the Mona Lisa, Clyde tells him, "I don't know right what you're doing, my Padawan, but you've gone right over to the Dark Side." This is a reference to Star Wars.
 * Clyde tells Rani that every shady thing that happens isn't always because of an alien. He says his bike was not stolen by "E.T. the ASBO." E.T. is the titular alien from Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and ASBO is an acronym for Anti-Social Behaviour Order.
 * When Rani criticizes Cylde's troubles with reading a map, Clyde defends himself by saying he was once in the "Cubs", referring to the Cub Scouts, a younger division of Scouting which sometimes precedes entrance into the Boy Scouts, an organisation founded by Lord Baden Powell that acts to instill young boys with skills useful in life and the wilderness, such as reading maps and orienteering. Clyde also mentions he got himself kicked out.

Story notes

 * Jeff Rawle (Lionel Harding) previously played Plantagenet in TV: Frontios. This is the third time that a guest star from the classic series of Doctor Who has appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
 * Suranne Jones (Mona Lisa) would later play Idris in TV: The Doctor's Wife.
 * Though John Leeson is credited as the voice of K9, the real K9 does not make an appearance in this episode. Instead, a look-alike sketch Clyde made of him is briefly brought to life and returned to drawing form near the end of Part 2.
 * Similar to the above, Mr Smith does not appear in Part 2 at all, but Alexander Armstrong was still credited for voicing him, likely because the "previously" segment features scenes where Mr Smith was heard speaking.

Ratings
Part 1=1.12

Part 2=0.92

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 TV: The End of the World).

Production errors

 * The International Gallery is located in London, but outside, the bay mark for buses is in Welsh (Bysiau).
 * 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.
 * The Mona Lisa stole the blaster from Clyde's painting but if you look at his painting in Part 1, as she tells Lionel that he can touch her, the blaster is still there.

Continuity

 * A similar plot, involving Edvard Munch's The Scream, was used in AUDIO: Dust Breeding.
 * The Mona Lisa painting appeared in TV: City of Death. There are two possible deliberate references to the earlier story. Firstly, in the opening scene of Part One, there are paintings labelled "Face of Time" on the classroom walls. In Part One of City of Death, an artist drew Romana II's face as a clock. A Chinese puzzle box also appears in both stories.
 * 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).
 * TV: Fear Her featured a similar story of paintings coming to life.
 * The Bane are mentioned. (TV: Invasion of the Bane, Enemy of the Bane)
 * Odd Bob the Clown and the meteor that brought him to Earth are mentioned. (TV: The Day of the Clown)
 * The statue at the bottom of the stairs of the International Gallery appears to be the same one as the statue seen in the Musee D'Orsey where Amy and the Doctor went to a Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. (TV: Vincent and the Doctor)
 * Luke discovered Clyde's superior art skills when he stayed over at the Langer household while Sarah Jane went undercover to catch a runaway Travist Polong. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker)
 * Haresh mentions ASBO-like behaviour coming from his students. The Tenth Doctor previously said that he expected to see "happy-slapping hoodies and ASBOs" while posing as a teacher at Deffry Vale High School. (TV: School Reunion)
 * 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)