'Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?' (Part 1) by Gareth Roberts

Enjoying a day out at the skateboarding park, Sarah, Luke, Maria and Clyde are astounded when Maria’s dad, Alan, shows off his prowess on a board. Maria takes plenty of photos, but when Sarah has her picture taken, she experiences a moment of unease – unaware that nearby a black-cloaked figure is watching her… Accompanied by Luke and Maria, Sarah returns to her loft, where her computer, Mr Smith, is monitoring Meteor K67; this huge chunk of rock is on a collision course for Earth via a radar blind spot that renders it undetected by the authorities, but when it comes in range in twenty hours, Mr Smith will use an electromagnetic pulse to bounce it back into space. After Luke leaves, Sarah gives Maria a gift: a puzzle box given to her by a soothsayer, who told her to give it to the person she trusts the most, and to “remember”. Maria is touched, and spends the evening trying to open the box, but only with partial success. Meanwhile, on the street outside Sarah’s house, the black-hooded figure appears and fires a strange weapon; Sarah’s car disappears, and her house is filled with an odd light. Maria awakes with a start from a bad dream, and the puzzle box – now glowing – falls unseen to the floor… The next morning, Maria is surprised to learn that her father has no recollection of Sarah Jane Smith or her adopted son Luke. Puzzled, Maria goes to Sarah’s house, only to find a strange woman named Andrea Yates residing there, who appears to have been in residence for some time. In a panic, Maria races upstairs, but the loft is empty – even Mr Smith has gone. After Alan arrives to take his confused daughter home, Maria tries to show him who Sarah is, but her pictures from the day before only show Maria, Alan and Andrea. Unable to find Sarah or Luke’s phone numbers, Maria calls Clyde, but he doesn’t know of Sarah either. Then Maria remembers the meteor due to hit Earth, which only Sarah can stop… In desperation, Maria searches the Web and finds a poem written in memory of a thirteen-year-old girl named Sarah Jane Smith, who died in 1964. Heading to the local library with her dad, Maria learns that the schoolgirl fell to her death from a pier while her friend, Andrea Yates, watched on helplessly; as Maria looks at the text, the names of the two girls momentarily swap, and she hears the voice of her lost friend. When Maria voices her suspicion that Andrea has done something to Sarah, Alan decides to take his daughter to a doctor, forcing Maria to shrug off her actions as merely an attempt to get attention. Maria promises to apologise to Andrea, but instead she confronts the woman over the death of her school friend, a key moment when history changed. Andrea is shaken by the sudden recollection of the tragic events, and throws Maria out of her house; as she leaves, Maria vows that she will find a way to bring Sarah back. Andrea makes for her loft, where she removes a similar puzzle box from an old crate; turning to a mirror, she sees the black-hooded form, a pale creature with sharp teeth and no eyes – The Trickster. Referring to a bargain that they once made, the being tells Andrea that although a barrier protects Maria, there is a way to remove her from time... Maria sees an image of Sarah in her bedroom mirror, but this spectral form quickly fades. Finding the puzzle box under her bed, Maria realises it has prevented her from forgetting her friend; she goes to tell her father, unaware that Andrea has called Alan away to help her with preparations for her birthday party. Heading downstairs, Maria sees a diminutive figure materialise out of thin air: a Graske! The goblin-like alien tries to shoot her, but Maria manages to avoid being hit; she races outside, but drops the box in her haste; the Graske gives chase and corners Maria under a bridge, where its weapon strikes the girl with twin wires. As the Grask and his captive vanish into thin air, Alan returns home and finds the puzzle box; he is immediately buffeted by noise and distortion, as all around him, every trace of Maria’s life vanishes. Alan comes to just as his ex-wife arrives, and he is shocked to learn that Chrissie has never heard of their daughter… Elsewhere, the Graske leads Maria along a rocky structure high up in the clouds; the young girl manages to remove the wires affixed to her and promptly disappears – only to reappear at the seaside. Asking two passing schoolgirls where she is, Maria is shocked to learn that one of the girls is none other than a thirteen year-old Sarah Jane Smith…

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Yasmin Page (Maria Jackson), Thomas Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Joseph Millson (Alan Jackson), Juliet Cowan (Chrissie Jackson), Alexander Armstrong (Mr Smith [Voice]), Jane Asher (Andrea Yates), Paul Marc Davies (The Trickster), Jimmy Vee (The Graske), Jessica Ashworth (Young Sarah Jane), Francesca Miller (Young Andrea), Philip Hurd-Wood (Voice of the Graske)

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

TX:
29th October 2007 @ 5.30 pm CBBC
5th November 2007 @ 5.00 pm BBC 1

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