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“REVENGE OF THE SLITHEEN: A FART-FUELLED SCHOOL INVASION”

The Sarah Jane Adventures officially kicks off with Revenge of the Slitheen, a two-part story that serves as both a sequel to the Slitheen’s Doctor Who appearances in Series 1 and an introduction to the show’s ongoing format. With Sarah Jane guiding a team of young companions, the series leans into the familiar Doctor Who dynamic—only with children taking centre stage.

The return of the Slitheen means a mix of grotesque horror and childish humour, and while their skin-shedding reveal remains as effective as ever, their over-the-top antics can be a bit much. This time, the invaders are disguised as school staff, setting up a classic “something’s not right with the teachers” mystery that gets the kids—and Sarah Jane—investigating.

A BALANCED TEAM, BUT SOME AWKWARD DYNAMICS

The episode does a great job of establishing the everyday lives of Maria, Luke, and Clyde. Their struggles with school, friendships, and home life make them feel real, and the domestic scenes between Maria and her father, Alan, are particularly strong, grounding the story in relatable emotion. It’s also nice to see Sarah Jane interact more with Alan, showing that she’s not entirely isolated from the world of adults.

Luke’s struggles with fitting in are a major theme, though his habit of spouting facts and figures is a bit more grating here. Meanwhile, Clyde’s introduction is a bit rocky—Daniel Anthony’s performance is uneven, and his cheeky, too-cool attitude is initially more irritating than charming. However, by the end of the story, he shows promise as a solid addition to the team. Maria, unfortunately, feels sidelined, which is a shame given how central she was in Invasion of the Bane.

THE SLITHEEN: CAMPY, CREEPY, AND KIND OF RIDICULOUS

The Slitheen remain as silly as ever, with their grotesque, fart-fuelled disguises and pantomime villainy. Their motivations are clear enough, but their over-the-top performances make them feel even more ridiculous than they did in Doctor Who. Martyn Ellis, in particular, hams it up as the Slitheen-possessed school headmaster, making it hard to take them seriously as a threat.

However, the introduction of a Slitheen child adds an interesting new wrinkle, giving Sarah Jane a more complex moral dilemma. While the Slitheen’s plot—draining Earth’s energy for profit—feels abstract and underdeveloped, the episode does a decent job of fleshing out their backstory.

A DECENT START, BUT A WEAKER CLIMAX

Part 1 builds up slowly, mostly setting the stage rather than delivering real stakes, but it does end on a strong cliffhanger. The Slitheen chase is fun, and their transformation scenes are still unsettling, but the real action doesn’t kick in until Part 2.

When the story does pick up, the kids play a more active role, and Sarah Jane firmly establishes herself as their leader and protector. However, the climax doesn’t land as effectively as Invasion of the Bane, feeling a bit messy and rushed.

📝VERDICT: 6/10

Revenge of the Slitheen is a serviceable start to SJA’s episodic format, reintroducing a familiar foe while further developing Sarah Jane’s young team. The school setting works well, and there are some great character moments, particularly for Maria and Luke. However, the Slitheen’s exaggerated performances, Clyde’s shaky introduction, and a slightly underwhelming finale keep this from being a standout.

A fun but flawed series opener that doesn’t quite outshine its blobby green villains.

A perfectly serviceable set of episodes. Knowing this is meant for children makes it much easier to watch and be less intensely critical of. That being said I found Clyde a tad grating. I have complete faith that he will develop into a character I like but his introduction is left to be desired. While his skepticism provides a balance to the outlandish circumstances, it’s almost like the writing over corrects and leans far too much into “teen boy who wants to be cool and makes constant quips” that the balance falters at times. I do appreciate his dynamic with Maria though.

While not as great as the first episode, I still found this one fun. It was nice seeing a followup of the Slitheen episode from DW, and seeing the aftereffects/ramifications of what the Doctor leaves behind.

I understand this was geared towards a younger audience, but a lot of Doctor Who already is like that and doesn't have to be such a bother to revisit in adulthood. The Slitheen were never exactly well regarded monsters, but here, they are just worse, more obnoxious, and less threatening than their show counterparts. They kind of ruin what could otherwise be a strong start to the first season proper. It is the sort of thing that should work for something like a spin-off - bringing on a main series villain hardly feels unwelcome in principle. In practice, however, they picked such lousy monsters it feels like we're instead just watching Doctor Who leftovers, including the Slitheen costumes are looking awfully rough by this point.

I like Clyde and he feels like a better retool of Invasion of the Bane's Kelsey. The show is still very awkward here around stuff like Mr. Smith's overly long sequence that is both elaborate and thoroughly unimpressive, but to its credit, it is hardly unwatchable either. Sarah, Maria, Clyde, Luke, and Maria's family all make up for things in a lot of ways. It's very inconsistent though and definitely a story that can be skipped pretty easily on repeat viewings.

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?