The Sarah Jane Adventures - The Mark of the Beserker

STORY PLACEMENT

THIS STORY TAKES

PLACE BETWEEN THE TV
STORIES "SECRETS OF

THE STARS" AND "THE
TEMPTATION OF SARAH
JANE SMITH."

WRITTEN BY

JOSEPH LIDSTER

DIRECTED BY

JOSS AGNEW

RATINGS

0.9 MILLION

RECOMMENDED

PURCHASE

'THE COMPLETE SECOND

SERIES' DVD BOX SET

(BBCDVD2919) RELEASED

IN NOVEMBER 2009.

BLURB

Rani comes across a

pendant that seems to

harbour mysterious

powers. Whoever is in

possession of it is

able to influence the

memories, thoughts

and actions of those

around them. With

Sarah Jane away,

Rani leaves the

pendant in the attic.

Meanwhile, Clyde's

estranged father,

Paul, pays his family

a visit. In a bid to

impress his dad,

Clyde tells him about

hunting aliens and

takes him to Sarah

Jane's house…

| | | |

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3RD NOVEMBER 2008 - 10TH NOVEMBER 2008

(2 EPISODES)

Joseph Lidster is without a doubt one of the most promising young writers to break into the Whoniverse in the last few years. His Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions have been, without exception, exceptional; and his scripts for Torchwood were every bit their equal, both on television and on radio.

“Dad, I save the world.”

In the audio dramas that he has penned, Lidster has done wonders with companions such as Ace (in The Rapture), Tegan (in The Gathering) and Peri (in The Reaping), and here he does the same for Sarah Jane’s young sidekick Clyde Langer. The Mark of the Beserker introduces us to Clyde’s mother for the first time, as well as his estranged father, Paul, who is superbly played by Gary Beadle (‘Paul off Eastenders’, to most people). For something that holds itself out as a children’s programme, the human drama in this story is certainly

not lacking in sophistication; at times, it’s really quite moving.

The science-fiction element of this story is first-rate too. All the great Doctor Who staples

are present and correct, from the awesome pre-title sequence (was it just me that thought Jacob looked like a mini-Mike Yates?) all the way up to the pendant that dominates the will of all others before eventually consuming the wearer and turning him into a brainwashed

soldier.

There are lots of little touches that I liked in this story too. For such a grim tale, The Mark of the Beserker is not without humour (the whole gimmick with Rani’s Dad doing the press-

ups amused me) and, better still, it sees Alan and Maria return to make a brief appearance and help save the day; Alan having to hack into the UNIT network to steal information on the Beserkers.

In the end, the only thing missing from this story is Sarah Jane herself, but the fact that I barely registered this says a lot about Lidster’s skill as a writer as well as Sarah Jane’s companions’ strength of character.

And so, with both Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures down, the way I see it

Lidster only needs one more for the full set…

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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