I know that this isn’t a particularly good story in anyone else’s estimation, and I understand why, but alas I have been in love with this show and these characters for perhaps longer than I have loved Doctor Who, and I remember being terrified of the Slitheen and that it was this episode specifically that sparked that fear. Disliking Sarah-Jane Adventures episodes where the main bad guy is the Slitheen is fundamentally impossible for me, for the simple fact that they transport me back to watching this show at 8 years old like nothing else does, so this review is about to be biased beyond belief, do not let it lead you to believe this episode is something I would strongly recommend unless you are already in love with the show. Although I do genuinely believe this and less mature episodes like this, are better than people give them credit for.

First of all, Clyde is here, my favourite SJA character, seeing him reluctantly befriend Maria and Luke makes this episode. He’s so desperate to make cool friends, which Maria and Luke are not but he cannot help but like them and get along with them before he even knows about their deal with aliens. And of course because he’s Clyde and he’s awesome he does end up popular in later episodes.

I also think this is a darker episode than people give it credit for. Yes the Slitheen look and act silly, but there is a reason they petrified me as a small child. Its not as up front with most of them, but with the science teacher they make it pretty clear he was a person who got murdered and now there’s this thing living inside his skin. And then of course there is the child Slitheen who ends the episode begging for his life. Absolutely wild.

Aside from that, it is one of those episodes of The Sarah-Jane Adventures that is very ‘children’s show’ for lack of a better term, but that doesn’t make it bad. It makes sense that it's a turn off for a lot of people, but I think at times really negative opinions of the episode forget that it isn’t for them, this is good kids TV, I know this because I loved (and was terrified by) it as a kid, just the kind with limited appeal for adults. Because the show has a lot of episodes with more mature themes in episodes that are easier to get behind as an adult, its easy to dismiss these simpler stories. Not every episode is, or even should be, Whatever Happened to Sarah-Jane?