PLOTLINE

When Sarah Jane receives a strange letter from Eddison Clough, her curiosity is aroused. For Eddison possesses a photograph proving he was once close friends with her Aunt Lavinia - but he has no memory of ever having met her. Intrigued, Sarah Jane and Luke go to visit him and, with Clyde and Rani, they explore the village of Wolfenden. The locals seem strange and secretive - especially the Hendricks, a deathly pale family with white hair and white eyes.

COMMENT

In THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - THE WHITE WOLF we have another offering from BBC AUDIO featuring a DOCTOR WHO universe stalwart, creative, likeable and intelligent.

No, not Elisabeth Sladen but Gary Russell.

Russell is (at the time of writing) the Script Editor for the television series, tinkering around with scripts, giving them a polish and setting a "written tone" for the "perfect team" of amateur investigators. This "exclusive to BBC AUDIO" sees Sarah Jane Smith truly going back to her roots as a journalist, sniffing out a good story that eventually ends up with a discover of alien involvement.

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - THE WHITE WOLF is a hybrid of DOCTOR WHO, an episode of STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION and THE X-FILES. Intellectually stimulating, it is astutely plotted (with a number of unexpected twists and turns) and conversationally written with warmth and affection to & by the main characters.

I could say that it is a perfect introduction to the SARAH JANE ADVENTURES brand. I could and will.

The plot revolves around a letter sent by Eddison Clough, an old friend of her Aunt Lavinia, however Sarah Jane cannot recall as if her memory had been erased. Intrigued by this she heads, going undercover as a writer of history books, to Clough's village, Wolfenden. There, the locals arouse her suspicions and discovering, with the aid of Luke & Clyde, that what lies beneath the earth is far more shocking than she could initially thought.

The plotline cleverly splits-up the "perfect team" and allows the young friends of Bannerman Road to enter in to a quest to find the truth. The truth is a seemingly abandoned society of aliens living beneath Wolfenden, secretly harvesting a chemical from the villagers' brains in order to perpetuate their existence whilst they are unable to contact their race (a "mothership" enters Earth's space once every forty or so years).

However, there is another secret amongst the aliens that has to be resolved before Sarah Jane and her team are able to head back to Ealing. And that secret is. well, you'll have to discover that for yourself.

Once again, Elisabeth Sladen's reading is as comfortable as sipping warmed milk on a winter's evening having just put on your softest pyjamas and enveloped your feet in to toasty slippers. It's how life should be.

The production of the audio reading is as restrained as other releases which is a relief. Sladen's reading of Russell's script is not confounded or hidden beneath layers of obtrusive music of sound effects. Yes, additional sound treatment is there but it's subtle and apt.

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - THE WHITE WOLF could have had a better title as the titular canine is coincidental to the storyline; THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGE would have been more suitable. Overall, this release consolidates the television series and the novels released under the brand, and long may it/they continues.

BBC AUDIO release: 8 October 2009