Doctor Who In America/Worldwide.

Invasion of the Bane: Synopsis and Verdict by Robin Pierce

SYNOPSIS

Previous long time companion Sarah Jane Smith has moved on with her life following her meeting with the Doctor in "School Reunion". She’s still an investigative reporter, working from home where she has a loft filled with various alien artifacts and souvenirs from her time with the Doctor.

When a young teenage girl named Maria moves in to her neighborhood, the scene is set for the upcoming series of adventures which the BBC is aiming primarily at kids, under their CBBC banner (Children’s BBC) so in essence, what we have here is "Dr Who lite". Maria is befriended by another neighborhood kid, Kelsey and together they visit the factory where a soft drink called "Bubble Blast" that’s a worldwide phenomenon with 98% of the population hooked on it is being made.

The drink is not what it seems, and the outfit is being investigated by Sarah Jane, who discovers that it’s a front by a group of aliens to take over the planet by taking over the population. The reclusive Sarah Jane reluctantly joins up with the kids to fight the alien threat, and on the way picks up a third, a boy referred to as The Archetype" who has been "grown" by the aliens, led by the evil Mrs. Wormwood. He has been specifically created for the purpose of hosting the attributes of all the factory tour visitors, which have been scanned & programmed into him in an attempt to secure the final 2% of the population resistant to Bubble Blast. The secret ingredient of Bubble Blast is "Bane". Bane is actually the aliens themselves, and as the drink is ingested, so also are the aliens, making the consumers hosts. The Bane themselves are squid-like tentacle creatures with a strong aversion to the kind of frequency found in cell phones, which is eventually (not to mention predictably) their downfall.

At the episode’s end, the Bane is defeated, but we know that we’ll be seeing Mrs. Wormwood again - probably as a recurring villain. Sarah Jane adopts The Archetype, naming him "Luke". If that name has any significance within the Dr Who universe - I missed it, but if anybody out there can shed any light, please get in touch.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Continuity is upheld, as Sarah Jane mentions the Doctor a couple of times, telling her young companions that she traveled with him for a while then met him again a year and a half ago when they’d both changed, yet were the same (as addressed in "School Reunion") and she decided she could stop waiting for him and move on. She’ll never get over him though. K-9 is still around, but written out for a while. He’s repairing a black hole, though is in contact from time to time. Her loft is impressive, with photos of some of the characters from her time as a companion pinned up, Harry Sullivan & The Brigadier were in plain sight, as were TARDIS and Dalek drawings. There was a geek worthy scene where she opens a gate by pointing something looking suspiciously like a smaller, compact version of the sonic screwdriver at it, when asked what it is, she replied "a sonic lipstick".

THE VERDICT

Not too bad. Yes, I was aware that I was watching essentially a children’s programme, but it had certain scenes that raised the ante a little. Example, when the world’s population turns in to mindless zombies shuffling along clutching bottles of Bubble Blast murmuring "drink it" were, I imagine, scary to younger kids. It was like watching a watered down version of "Invasion of the Body snatchers" with "Shaun of the Dead” mixed in.

However the f/x on the CGI Bane in their natural squid-like form were far from convincing. Though this was probably to tone down the scare factor, rather than as a result of budget constraints. Mrs. Wormwood was played with evil relish by ex "Miss Moneypenny" Samantha Bond.

This was a one-off pilot with the series to follow later in the year, but I’d be interested in seeing more episodes.