'The Mark of the Berserker' (Part 1) by Joseph Lidster

At Park Vale School, schoolteacher Mr Cunningham keeps four of his pupils behind after class for detention. One of the boys, Jacob West, seems out of sorts, and his strange behaviour elicits taunts from the others. But when Jacob shouts at them to shut up they do just that – literally; Mr Cunningham tries to intervene, but he too is silenced by a single command from Jacob. The boy is pleased at his display of power, but this quickly turns to panic when he sees that the unusual tattoo on his palm has somehow begun to glow and spread along his arm; he races for the bathroom, narrowly missing Rani, who has also just witnessed these bizarre events. While Rani tries in vain to help the speechless teacher and pupils, Jacob attempts to wash off the tattoo – but to his horror the marks continue to spread over his body and across his face… In desperation, Jacob tears off the pendant he wears around his neck – outside, Rani is amazed to see that Mr Cunningham and his pupils have somehow returned to normal; while they flee the building in terror, Rani goes to check on Jacob, but the boy rushes off; seeing the strange pendant lying on the floor, Rani is compelled to pick it up… Meanwhile, Sarah drops Luke off at Clyde’s house, where he will be staying for the next few days; bidding her son goodbye, Sarah tells Clyde’s mother, Carla, that she is visiting to Tarminster to cover a story on hospital hygiene. Luke is looking forward to staying with his best friend, although Clyde is a little embarrassed at his Luke’s use of the phrase “sleep over”. At the Chandra household, Rani and her father are reduced to ordering takeaways while Gita is away. Rani is surprised when her dad suddenly appears to do exactly what she says, but she soon realises that it must be the pendant’s doing; Rani has some fun making her dad hop on the spot, and doing impressions – firstly Bianca from ‘Eastenders’, and then a lion – but she soon realises the seriousness of the amulet’s powers; after instructing her father to forget recent events, Rani is concerned that her hand now carries a tattoo that matches the design on the pendant. Answering the front door, Rani is confronted by Jacob, who reveals that he knows she has the pendant, a mysterious object that he found behind the school yard, where some old pipes were being dug up. When Jacob tells Rani that he believes the pendant to be evil, Rani decides to take the object to Sarah Jane; however, when she enters her friend’s house she finds the attic deserted and Mr Smith left on standby. Rani leaves the pendant behind in a safe place – unaware that it has begun to glow… The following morning, Clyde, Luke and Carla receive an unexpected visitor: Clyde’s estranged father, Paul has returned to the fold, after leaving his family five years ago so that he run off to Germany with Carla’s sister, Mel. Clyde and Carla are understandably suspicious at Paul’s claims that he has returned to be with his son, but Clyde eventually agrees to spend the day with his father, leaving Luke in Carla’s care. Still bothered by the pendant, Rani decides to investigate the area of the school Jacob spoke about; en route she calls Luke, and asks him to join her. Paul takes Clyde to the park, where they try to break the awkward silences and to try to get to know each other. In an attempt to bond with his dad, Clyde decides to tell him about his adventures saving the world from aliens; when Paul finds his stories unbelievable, Clyde takes him to Sarah’s house, using the hidden spare key to gain access to her attic. Inside, Clyde shows off Sarah’s collection of alien technology, but all Paul can think of are ways of exploiting the artefacts to make money; Clyde persists in telling his dad about the marvels of Mr Smith, failing to notice when Paul pockets the pendant, which is somehow calling out to him… When Clyde and Paul leave Sarah’s house they are spotted by Haresh, who voices his concern at seeing them apparently breaking into his neighbour’s property; Paul just laughs at the headmaster’s objections, and his amusement turns to delight when Haresh suddenly begins obeying his commands; seeing an opportunity for some fun, Paul compels the man to start jogging on the spot, and then perform some push-ups. Arriving on the scene with Luke, Rani correctly guesses that Paul has stolen the pendant from Sarah’s attic; however, Clyde has become swept up in the moment, and becomes angry at his friend’s apparent accusation that his father is a thief. To Luke and Rani’s dismay, Paul uses the pendant to alter Clyde’s mind, compelling his son to forget all about his friends. As Clyde walks away from the people he no longer recognises, a grinning Paul waves goodbye to Rani and Luke – showing them that his hand now carries the mark of the evil pendant…

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Thomas Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Alexander Armstrong (Mr Smith [Voice]), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Jocelyn Jee Esien (Carla Langer), Gary Beadle (Paul Langer), Perry Millward (Jacob West), Huw Higginson (Mr Cunningham), Elijah Baker (Steve Wallace), Jessica Lewis (Detention Girl), Andrew Phillips (Detention Boy)

Directed by Joss Agnew
Produced by Matthew Bouch
Executive Producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner
A BBC Wales production

TX (CBBC):
3rd November 2008 @ 5.15pm
10th November 2008 @ 4.35pm on BBC 1

Notes:
*Featuring Sarah Jane Smith, Luke, Clyde, Rani and Mr Smith