18 –The Gift | |||
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The Sarah Jane Adventures story | |||
Cast | |||
Starring | |||
Others
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Production | |||
Directed by | Alice Troughton | ||
Written by | Rupert Laight | ||
Script editor | Gary Russell | ||
Produced by | Nikki Wilson Phil Ford (co-producer) | ||
Executive producer(s) | Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Piers Wenger | ||
Music by | Sam Watts | ||
Production code | 3.11 and 3.12 | ||
Series | Series 3 | ||
Running time | 2 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
First broadcast | 19 November 2009 | ||
Last broadcast | 20 November 2009 | ||
Chronology | |||
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The Gift is the sixth and final serial of the third series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures . It first aired in two parts on CBBC on 19 and 20 November 2009.
The story features Tree and Leef Slitheen-Blathereen, descendants of an offshoot branch of the Slitheen family of Raxacoricofallapatorius that the protagonist Sarah Jane Smith has faced several times before in the series. They gift Sarah Jane and the Earth a Rakweed plant that spreads spores to both quickly grow and wipe out humanity for profit.
Tree and Leef Slitheen-Blathereen, who are descendants of an inter-clan marriage of the Slitheen and Blathereen families of Raxacoricofallapatorius many generations ago, stop the plans of two other Slitheen that try to compress the Earth and teleport them away to be executed. Claiming to be law-abiding bounty hunters, Tree and Leef offer a plant called Rakweed as a gift over dinner with Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, and Rani. They supposedly did this out of altruistic reasons to help feed the Earth, but are actually helping the addictive weed to spread and overwhelm London, and eventually Earth, with spores that will cause humanity to fall into a coma they will never wake up from. Tree and Leef intend to profit greatly from turning Earth into a Rakweed farm.
The next day, Luke stays at home after inhaling the spores, while Clyde and Rani go to school; Clyde surreptitiously takes K9 with him, intending to cheat on his biology exam. As the test begins, a Rakweed plant has quickly grown in a pot and causes a teacher to fall ill. Just before another Rakweed plant unleashes its spores on Rani and Clyde, the school bell starts ringing, destroying the Rakweed. They then realise that the Rakweed's weakness is noise of a certain frequency, which interferes with its communication signals and prevents it from growing, thus killing it instantly. Mr Smith activates all sound-producing devices in London at the same frequency as the school bell after K9 transmits the frequency for the school bell to Mr Smith. Within seconds, all bells, alarms, radios and car alarms go off and ultimately all the Rakweed in London is destroyed before it is too late. Enraged at their plans being ruined, Tree and Leef teleport to Sarah Jane's attic and threaten to kill everyone. Mr Smith generates the same frequency, destroying the partially digested Rakweed in their stomachs. The resultant build-up of methane gas causes them to explode. Clyde is asked by Sarah Jane to clean the attic as a punishment for him attempting to use K9 to cheat at his exam.
"Part 1" was seen by 822,000 viewers, while "Part 2" was seen by 788,000. [1]
Author | Trevor Baxendale |
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Series | Doctor Who novelisations |
Publisher | Pearson Education |
Publication date | September 2010 |
ISBN | 978-0-435-91468-4 |
Pearson Education published a simplified novelisation of this episode by Trevor Baxendale under the title Blathereen Dream for school literacy programs in September 2010. [2]
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series Doctor Who and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien time traveller the Doctor while trying to break a story on a top secret research facility, and subsequently becomes his travelling companion on a series of adventures spanning the breadth of space and time. After travelling with The Doctor in four seasons of the show they suddenly part ways, and after this she continues to investigate strange goings-on back on Earth. Over time, Sarah Jane establishes herself as a committed defender of Earth from alien invasions and other threats, occasionally reuniting with The Doctor in the course of her own adventures, all the while continuing to work as a freelance investigative journalist.
The Slitheen are a fictional family of Raxacoricofallapatorians, massive, bipedal extraterrestrials, from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They are adversaries of the Ninth Doctor and later Sarah Jane Smith. The Slitheen are a family of egg-laying calcium-based aliens from the fictional planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. Though their family name is Slitheen, their species is named Raxacoricofallapatorians. The Slitheen are instinctive hunters, who are trained from a young age to be ruthless criminals whose main motivation is profit. They were convicted in their home world and are not willing to return to their planet in fear of receiving a death sentence.
"School Reunion" is the third episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It first aired on BBC One on 29 April 2006.
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC science fiction programme Doctor Who and is aimed at a younger audience than Doctor Who. It focuses on the adventures of Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist who, as a young woman, had numerous adventures across time and space with the Doctor. Following Sladen's death in 2011, the BBC confirmed that the show would not return for a sixth series.
Luke Smith is a fictional regular character played by Tommy Knight in the British children's science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off of the long-running series Doctor Who. Luke is a regular character in The Sarah Jane Adventures both in television and audio adventures. He has also appeared in three episodes of Doctor Who: the two-parter "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008), and the Tenth Doctor's finale episode "The End of Time, Part Two" (2010).
Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? is the fourth serial of the first series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It first aired on the CBBC channel on 29 October and 5 November 2007.
The Lost Boy is the fifth serial of the first series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It first aired on the CBBC channel in two weekly parts on 12 and 19 November 2007. This episode was intentionally named after Dave Pelzer's The Lost Boy.
Revenge of the Slitheen is the first serial of the first series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the second story of the show overall following the special episode "Invasion of the Bane". The first part aired on BBC One on 24 September 2007, with the second premiering immediately after the first on the CBBC Channel. This serial is notable for introducing Clyde Langer into the cast – he would remain for the rest of the series.
The Last Sontaran is the first serial of the second series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. The first part of the two-part story aired on BBC One on 29 September 2008, with the second part premiering immediately after the first on the CBBC channel. This serial marks the departure of Maria Jackson, played by Yasmin Paige.
The Day of the Clown is the second serial of the second series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast in two weekly parts on the CBBC channel on 6 and 13 October 2008. The Day of the Clown introduces main character Rani Chandra and her parents, Haresh and Gita Chandra, and they would stay for the rest of the series.
The Mark of the Berserker is the fourth serial of the second series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast in two weekly parts on CBBC on 3 and 10 November 2008. Due to Elisabeth Sladen's commitments elsewhere, main character Sarah Jane Smith has a minor role in this serial, making the episodes similar to the 'Doctor-lite' episodes of Doctor Who which do not feature The Doctor heavily, as well as the Torchwood episode "Random Shoes", which had minor roles for most of the main cast.
"From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love" is a special one-off episode from Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was the first Doctor Who spin-off to produce a special for Comic Relief and was broadcast on 13 March 2009 as part of Red Nose Day 2009.
The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith is the third serial of the third series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. The two-part story was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 and 30 October 2009. It guest stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, marking the first appearance of parent programme Doctor Who's main character in a spin-off show. The episode includes the final scenes David Tennant recorded during his first tenure as the Doctor.
The Mad Woman in the Attic is the second serial of the third series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. The two-part story was first broadcast on BBC One on 22 and 23 October 2009, and marks the return of John Leeson as K9.
The Eternity Trap is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was first broadcast on CBBC on 5 and 6 November 2009. It is the fourth serial in the third series. The story involves the scientific investigation of a haunted house.
The Nightmare Man is a two-part story of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures, which was first broadcast on CBBC on 11 and 12 October 2010.
The Empty Planet is a two-part story of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures, which was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 2 November 2010. It is the fourth story of the fourth series.
Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith is the sixth and final serial of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It first aired in two parts on CBBC on 15 and 16 November 2010. It is the last story to feature John Leeson as the voice of K9, and as of December 2022, the last to feature the character in any televised media.
The Man Who Never Was is a two-part final story of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which was broadcast on CBBC on 17 and 18 October 2011. It is the third story of the fifth series and the final appearance of all the main cast, marking the last posthumous appearance of Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.