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“INVASION OF THE BANE: A STRONG START FOR SARAH JANE'S NEW ERA”

With Torchwood catering to an adult audience, The Sarah Jane Adventures is Doctor Who’s answer for younger viewers. Spinning out of the events of School Reunion, this series brings back Elisabeth Sladen as the beloved investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, now living on Bannerman Road and dedicating her life to uncovering alien mysteries. While she still has K9 by her side, the show introduces a new team of young companions, with Sarah Jane taking on a mentor role rather than being the sidekick she once was.

The series kicks off with the hour-long special Invasion of the Bane, a well-paced introduction that balances world-building, character development, and an engaging alien invasion plot. The episode takes its time establishing Sarah Jane’s world, her new neighbours, and the eerie Bubble Shock factory, where something sinister lurks beneath the surface. The tension builds gradually, allowing for a solid introduction to the show’s central elements—including Maria, the inquisitive girl who stumbles upon Sarah Jane’s secret life, and the mysterious boy known as the Archetype, later named Luke Smith.

A STRONG CAST AND WELL-DEFINED CHARACTERS

Elisabeth Sladen proves she is more than capable of leading her own show, portraying an older, wiser Sarah Jane who has lost none of her charm, determination, or investigative spirit. This version of Sarah Jane is fiercely independent but also deeply compassionate, and her evolution from a lonely figure into a mentor is handled beautifully.

The child actors are surprisingly strong, making their characters feel natural and relatable. Yasmin Page stands out as Maria, whose journey from an uncertain newcomer to a brave and determined ally is well-developed. Tommy Knight, as Luke, brings an interesting dynamic to the group—his sharp intellect and lack of basic human experiences make him both amusing and compelling. Samantha Bond is a delightfully campy villain as Mrs Wormwood, balancing menace with theatrical flair, while Jamie Davis as Davey feels slightly off-key compared to the rest of the cast.

The story also cleverly explains K9’s absence. In-universe, Sarah Jane has him stationed elsewhere, maintaining a black hole, while behind the scenes, his creator Bob Baker was attempting to launch a K9 spin-off (which eventually resulted in the ill-fated Australian K9 series).

A WELL-CONSTRUCTED STORY WITH STRONG VISUALS

Invasion of the Bane benefits from a well-paced structure, using its extended runtime effectively to set up the series while delivering a compelling standalone adventure. The Bane—a monstrous, tentacled alien species—are a great concept, and the main creature is effectively designed, feeling both threatening and visually striking. The scene where the Bane attacks the children in Sarah Jane’s home is a standout moment, blending action and suspense brilliantly.

What’s particularly refreshing is that, despite being a children’s show, The Sarah Jane Adventures never feels cheap. The production values are solid, with visual effects on par with contemporary Doctor Who, fitting music, and dynamic cinematography that enhances the tension. The domestic approach—rooting the story in Maria’s family struggles and her discovery of Sarah Jane as a mysterious next-door neighbour—grounds the series in a relatable way, reminiscent of Doctor Who’s RTD era.

A STRONG START WITH A MEMORABLE FINALE

The episode builds towards an exciting climax, with Sarah Jane and Maria facing off against Mrs Wormwood and her plan to use Bubble Shock to convert humanity into Bane. The final confrontation, culminating in a dramatic explosion, provides a satisfying conclusion and sets the tone for the series to follow.

Overall, Invasion of the Bane is a confident and engaging debut, successfully establishing The Sarah Jane Adventures as a worthy Doctor Who spin-off. It respects its younger audience without talking down to them, delivering a fun, action-packed, and meaningful story.

📝VERDICT: 8/10

A well-crafted introduction to The Sarah Jane Adventures, Invasion of the Bane is never childish but always engaging. With a strong cast, solid production values, and a mix of action, humour, and heart, it sets up the series beautifully while delivering an entertaining adventure in its own right.

There's some lovely ideas in this episode. It feels a lot like a Third Doctor/UNIT story (where was UNIT during all of this?), and the foundations for what would become a great show are definitely there. It's just a shame the tone is very uneven, and there is lots of overacting. Also the direction with all the weird camera movements gave me a bit of a headache, and thank goodness one particular character didn't make it to the main series.

A great start to the series! I didn't mind the bit of kid cheesiness to it,but actually thought it was very mature story telling. I also loved her reflections on the Doctor,and all the easter eggs.

Invasion of the Bane is a pleasant enough watch and a decent start to the series. Sarah, Maria, and her dad are all pretty great, and the story works well enough for what they are going for with this clearly younger oriented series. It is something revisiting this show after we've lost Elisabeth Sladen, and there's definitely a bittersweet sense of nostalgia to the show now. Tommy Knight is a little awkward in the show in these early episodes, and the Kelsey character reeks of being a pilot artifact that thankfully doesn't last outside of this story. Child acting can be a no-win situation for the actor, production, and the audience, and this is a good example of that. I don't think it speaks much about Kelsey's actor, Porsha Lawrence-Mavour, more so the larger system and people behind the scenes that created the situation.

Still, it's a fun enough and serviceable start to a rather memorable Doctor Who spin-off that seems to have gotten a lot of affection from the fan community these days. I think it is deserved, evident even in lesser episodes like Invasion of the Bane.

Pilots often feel a little off from what a show will become and this is no exception. While a good little episode taken on its own, it doesn’t quite feel like an episode of The Sarah-Jane adventures, not so much for any faults in and of itself, just for not quite meshing in the context of the rest of the show.

While all of the new characters are pitch perfect from the get go, or in the case of Luke as close as it is reasonable to get just after being born, outside of the scenes with Mrs Wormwood, Sarah-Jane feels a little off to me in a way I can’t quite put my finger on. A little too hard edged in perhaps not quite the right ways, and I suppose that's what the episode is going for, to see her softened by Maria and Luke, and later Clyde, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing. To an extent it feels as though they haven’t yet figured Sarah out as the main protagonist, as the leader of this small band of alien fighting kids, any coldness towards them or attempts to keep them out of the danger feel to me as though they are out of annoyance more than any desire to keep them out of harm's way.

The plot of this story is also pretty thin, which isn’t really an issue as this is the first episode, the plot is not as important as introducing us to the characters, but it does leave you with the impression that this is a Doctor Who plot with a Sarah-Jane Adventures coat of paint, making it pretty unrepresentative of what the show will be like moving forward. I think the primary reason for this is the sense of scale, while other Sarah-Jane Adventures episodes have aliens with plans to take over or destroy the world, the initial steps of those plans usually feels very local to Bannerman Road, or sometimes even hyperfocused on Sarah and the kids, and I don’t get that sense here.  Bubbleshock is already a large company getting endorsements on Blue Peter, and while I would never question the capabilities of Sarah-Jane and friends, alien invasions of this nature and scope are not really within their typical wheelhouse.

As someone who grew up on this show I do like the episode overall, and certainly it introduces all of its characters in a version of themselves that is either already perfect or will be with some minor tweaks which is the most important thing, but it is a story what just does not quite feel like it belongs to the Sarah-Jane Adventures as a whole.