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22ND OCTOBER 2009 - 23RD OCTOBER 2009

(2 EPISODES)

I always look forward to a Joseph Lidster script, irrespective of whether it is

for Big Finish Productions, Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures. Lidster’s name

on the tin promises not only an extraordinary science-fiction story, but a wonderful exam-ination of character too. Last year Clyde Langer enjoyed his strongest story to date in Lidster’s Mark of the Beserker, and this year it’s aspiring investigative journalist Rani Chandra’s turn under the microscope in The Mad Woman in the Attic.

Lidster’s storyline is typically contemporary (Facebook!) and captivating, not to mention rather complex. The story opens with a sequence showing us an old, lonely Rani residing

in Sarah Jane’s old attic in 2059, ruminating on the present-day events that led her to her wretched fate. As the story progresses, we learn that in a fit of pique, Rani ‘wished’ that Sarah Jane and the gang would “leave her alone”, and so the alien Ship whose occupant she had recently befriended granted her wish, tearing Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde out of time and leaving Rani to grow old and bitter alone.

“You find it all so difficult. GCSEs and Judoon. Your parents and Sarah Jane Smith.”

Anjli Mohindra really makes the most of what is given to her in the script. Required to carry the story pretty much single-handedly, Mohindra gives her finest performance to date by far, conveying not only the requisite teenage angst but also a little bit of depth too. The casting

of Souad Faress as the old Rani also worked very well; she may not be the perfect match

for Mohindra in terms of appearance, but Faress really has the youngster’s mannerisms

and intonations nailed.

I was less impressed with the story’s ‘monster’, however. Conceptually, the idea of Eve

and her Ship works brilliantly – I particularly like the whole ‘Time War refugee’ angle – but unfortunately the make-up job is ghastly. They’ve literally just painted the poor woman red.

“He is returning. He is coming back.”

As well as the allusion to the Daleks’ extermination of Eve’s race, Doctor Who fans will

have been pleased to note the montage of classic series clips (The Time Warrior, Planet

of the Spiders, The Hand of Fear, The Five Doctors) featured at the beginning of Part 2

as the Ship looks into Sarah Jane’s memories. Not only is this a charming little nod to the show’s parent series in itself, but it also sets up next week’s landmark story wonderfully, which will see David Tennant’s Doctor make his first appearance in one of Doctor Who’s spin-off series.

On a final note, I have to say that I really enjoyed the story’s flourishing climax. I’m not normally one for dues ex machina, but when you have some genuinely shocking twists

(Toby shacking up with the alien!) and K-9 returning from guarding a Black Hole, what

can you do other than applaud? I also enjoyed Mr Smith’s sigh of resignation when K-9 announced that he was back for good; it certainly bodes well for some amusing banter between the two!

All told then, though I don’t rate The Mad Woman in the Attic as highly as I do The Mark

of the Beserker, it isn’t far behind. If you can forgive a bit of uninspiring make-up and some good old-fashioned Doctor Who-thriftiness, there is plenty to like here. 

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2009

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

The Mad Woman in the Attic is very much a contrast to last week’s Prisoner of

the Judoon. The first episode mostly eschews fun and silliness in favour of the grim and

the creepy, although Part 2 does lighten things up a good deal. Still, it’s a more serious

affair altogether, right from the off, as we begin in 2059 by seeing a teenage boy, Adam, sneaking into an attic on Bannerman road to meet the local mad woman, who lives a her-mit’s life in the attic. It’s no surprise to learn that this is Sarah Jane’s house, but there’s a

chill to hear the woman declare that her name is Rani Chandra.

The elderly Rani takes little persuasion before she starts telling Adam the story of how she ended up alone here. Souad Faress is a great choice for the older Rani, physically and vocally similar enough that it’s possible to believe that this is the same character fifty years on. She does, however, slide into some implausibly young-sounding dialogue as she tells her tale – the words sound like Rani’s, but not like those of a woman approaching her seventies.

Flashing back, we get to see the beginning of events, as Rani feels left out of events conc-erning Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde. Interestingly, she finds herself being outdone by Maria, as her friends relate tales of their former fellow adventurer and talk to her online. It’s not often that a character actually comments on their being a replacement for another. We then learn that Rani has been in contact with her own distant friend – a boy named Sam, back in her seaside home town. An orphan, Sam feels that Rani is his only friend, and feels that she abandoned him, a feeling that is only made worse by her tales of adventures with aliens alongside her new friends. Even as she takes off to go see him, each character is thinking totally of their own feelings, and both Toby Parkes and the lovely Anjli Mohindra put in sympathetic performances that nonetheless make it clear how young these characters are.

Sam has brought Rani here to investigate stories of

a ‘demon’ living in an abandoned funfair – a suitably

creepy location. When he takes off – and it becomes

clear that he knows more than he’s letting on – Rani

continues searching the fair, meeting Harry, the fair’s

caretaker, played by Brian Miller – none other than

Elisabeth Sladen’s husband. It isn’t long before Rani

inveigles her way in to the inner workings of the fair,

discovering zombified vagrants, and a run-down ghost

house. It is in here that she finds Eve, the mysterious

demon… well, actually, a beautiful, red-skinned young

alien. Eleanor Tomlinson puts in a wonderful perfor-

mance as Eve, with plenty of chemistry with both

Mohindra and Miller. Cutting a long story fairly short,

Eve is the last refugee of an extinct species (wiped

out, it is heavily implied, in the Time War itself). After having crashed here, she has been looked after by Harry, who has kept her safe in the only way he knows how: by keeping her shut away from the humans who may harm her. But she’d not just a desperately lonely girl, she is an alien being with powerful psychic abilities and the ability to read the timelines.

While Rani and Eve make friends, Sarah and the gang are busy looking for her. Sarah naturally feels guilty for excluding the girl, while the boys seems pretty oblivious. None-theless, she also feels betrayed upon  discovering that Rani has been telling Sam about

her experiences. There’s a real sense that the team might be starting to come apart. Still,

off the three of them go, confronting Sam and searching for Rani in the fairground. While Luke is curiously sidelined – his scenes with Sam never seem to really go anywhere significant – Sarah and Clyde prove what a fine partnership they’ve developed, with a

good line in banter.

Rani and Eve prove to be getting on fantastically, but this proves to be seriously dangerous in itself. Eve’s abilities are greater than even she realises, and before long, she’s not only reading Rani’s mind, but exploring her timeline. This isn’t a great idea in Rani’s frame of mind, as Eve latches onto her feelings of hurt and isolation, and the last thing she wants to see is her future as the mad woman in the attic. As if this wasn’t enough for the end-of-episode cliffhanger, another face appears in a mirror as Sarah and Clyde confront Harry – another member of Eve’s race, it seems, or another face of her own? It’s hard to say in the rapid events, as we catch glimpses of the future and past of both Luke and Sarah (Jon Pertwee! Tom Baker! David Tennant!).

As previously mentioned, the second episode is less creepy; a more action-based affair. Nevertheless, there is a palpable sense of mystery as we wonder just what is occurring

here – are we seeing flashbacks in 2059, or flash forwards in 2009? How does Rani’s life turn out that way? Just what is Eve up to? This last question is particularly on Sarah’s mind, who’s experience with aliens leaves her suspicious of the girl’s motives. While Rani remains in Eve’s defence, it’s hard to believe that she’s innocent, especially once Rani lets her out

of her room and into the world at large. Not only has she collected vagrants to use as play things, she has some kind of influence on Sam (who, for his part, runs in after a crisis of conscience), and the mysterious face is after Sarah, needing something called the dark-ness from her. Before long, Eve’s powers are running wildly out of control, Rani is one of

her servants, and she is becoming a threat to all around her.

Needless to say, things are sorted out before the end. The face is, in fact, the interface of Eve’s ship, damaged on landing years before. It has now repaired itself to the extant that

it can affect events. By getting Eve to the ship, Sarah, and company are able to get her powers under control, releasing all from her grasp. The young alien is simply unable to control her formidable powers alone. The ship still needs something though – the dark-

ness that Sarah guards. Turns out, this is actually a black hole. One phone call to Mr Smith, patched through to K-9, sorts that out, and with the black hole in the starship’s belly, the

robot dog is free to join the team on a permanent basis. With the ship repaired, Eve can leave the Earth, taking with her Harry and Sam – her new family. Now this would make a wonderful feel-good ending, but it doesn’t end there. As a thankyou, the ship reads Rani’s conflicting feelings about her friends, and removes them from space/time. You might think this would end the episode of something of a downer, but, back in 2059, with the older Rani’s situation and guilt finally explained, there’s a last, wonderful twist that sets everything back the way it should be.

And so ends a particularly fine story, one that broadens what the series can do, lays intriguing hints as to the future – including the Doctor’s upcoming appearance – and provides an astonishingly sophisticated and brave core concept, dealing as it does with themes of grief and isolation. A fine story. 

Copyright © Daniel Tessier 2009

Daniel Tessier 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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