'Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?' (Part 2) by Gareth Roberts

Finding herself at the seaside on the 13th July 1964, Maria tries to warn the young Sarah Jane from exploring the unsafe pier nearby, but the girl’s friend, Andrea, merely scoffs at her claims and pulls Sarah away. Behind them, unnoticed, the Graske materialises and abducts Maria, taking her to a white void – Limbo – where she is overjoyed to be reunited with Sarah Jane. Meanwhile, Chrissie tells her ex-husband that she has never heard of Maria, leading Alan to realise that their daughter was right all along: there really was a woman named Sarah Jane Smith. After Maria tells Sarah that without her the world will be destroyed by the approaching meteor, Sarah is summoned by the black-cloaked, eyeless figure – The Trickster; the evil creature reveals that he is the embodiment of nothing, existing only to bring order and chaos, on which he thrives. When he tells Sarah that she is his means for destroying all life on Earth, through a deal he once made with Andrea Yates, Sarah protests, but the Trickster ignores her, choosing to read her mind and imagine the chaos he could bring across the stars should he prevent her friend the Doctor from ever having existed. Andrea throws her birthday party, inviting all her friends, including Clyde, Alan and Chrissie; however, the festivities are soon interrupted when the revellers see a televised newsflash reporting that a huge meteor is on a collision course for Earth. After Alan confronts Andrea over the memory of his daughter and Sarah Jane, she takes him to her loft and tells him what happened: how she and Sarah were playing on the abandoned pier when she accidentally fell over the side; clinging on for dear life above the sea far below, her grip failing, Andrea heard the voice of the Trickster, who offered her a way to save herself: by swapping places with Sarah. Terrified, Andrea agreed – the two girls swapped places, and Sarah fell to her death. The Trickster also gave Andrea a box to cause her to forget everything except the accident, but Maria made her remember it all again, and so had to be dealt with. At that moment, the Trickster appears in the mirror and offers to remove Alan; Andrea agrees, knocking the box out of the man’s hand as the Graske materialises and chases him outside. However, with the aid of his skateboarding prowess, Alan overpowers the diminutive alien, before taking it home and tying it up with rope. Back at the party, Andrea’s guests begin to panic when they learn that the government’s attempts to destroy the meteor using missiles fail. Alan uses the Graske’s weapon to bring back his daughter, and a happy reunion ensues; but when he tries to restore Sarah to the timeline, nothing seems to work. In her loft, Andrea summons the Trickster, but the image of Sarah appears inside the mirror instead. As Alan and Maria arrive on the scene, Sarah tries to convince her childhood friend to give up her life so that she can return to save the world, but Andrea refuses, convinced that she should be the one to live; however, when Sarah tells her that she will never be forgotten because it was the memory of losing her best friend that made her fight so much for life, Andrea sees that the Trickster has used her; she summons the creature and, declaring that she has changed her mind and has taken back their deal, hurls the puzzle box at the mirror, smashing it apart and freeing Sarah. Time is immediately restored: back in 1964, Andrea falls to her death, while in the present, Sarah, Maria, Alan and Luke find themselves back in Sarah’s loft. With time running out, Sarah activates Mr Smith and instructs him to activate the EMP to stop the meteor; out on the streets, terrified people watch in amazement as the massive chunk of rock is inexplicably deflected out into space. The threat over, Clyde rejoins his friends in Sarah’s loft – just as Alan demands an explanation for recent events from Sarah…

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), Jason Mohammed (Newsreader),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:
5th November 2007 @ 5.30 pm CBBC
12th November 2007 @ 5.00 pm BBC 1

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