The Sarah Jane Adventures: Sky

I havent watched too many SJA episodes before, mainly the ones with David Tennant and Matt Smith, but after the sad loss of Elizabeth Sladen I felt compelled to watch the final series.

Being a relative noob to the SJA universe, I have to say this was pretty good stuff.

Clyde (Daniel Anthony) and Rani (Anjil Mohindra), who I've seen in previous episodes are both very watchable in their own right rather than being tacked on companions. The new girl Sky (Sinead Michael) is still very young, and it would be harsh to be too critical of her acting, it's a shame that she won't get the same chance as Tommy Knight who plays Luke to grow into her part, but she did pretty well considering the daunting task of joining an established ensemble cast.

Elisabeth Sladen was born to play Sarah Jane Smith, such an enduring character, and I think one of the reasons (without wishing to offend some of her fellow Doctor Who companions) was that she was more than just a pretty girl in a state of constant confusion having to ask the Doctor what's happening in order to drive the narrative of the programme. Hats off to Doctor Who producer Barry Letts who decided to introduce her as an investigative journalist, which allowed her to be more independent and get into dramatic situations through her inquisitive nature rather than being the stereotypical damsel in distress.

The guest cast were entertaining enough, Miss Myers (Christine Stephen-Daly) is suitably over the top as the villain of the piece, equal parts Cruella De Vil and Alexis Colby from Dynasty (maybe it was the '80s get up she was wearing!).

And can I be the only one to have a flashback to The Hand Of Fear, seeing our heroine running around in a nuclear power plant?

A good start to the fifth and final series.