4 Sarah Jane Adventures Foes that Should Appear in New Who

Guest contributor Connor Hamilton shares his list.

The Sarah Jane Adventures introduced a number of villains and monsters, with some that previously featured in Doctor Who, i.e. the Slitheen. However for a show that, in the space of five series, managed to introduce to us multiple amounts of villains, it’s a huge surprise that none that originated from her show have made an appearance into Doctor Who. The potential of the villains in SJA is incredible, so in this article I want to take a look at a few that I’d like to see appear in Doctor Who.

4. The Bane

The Bane are an alien race from the Bane World, who biologically were like shelled Cephalopods. Their squid like appearance made for them to be quite a creepy foe, and their tentacles and suckers made them rather quick and vicious when attacking. In The Sarah Jane Adventures, the Bane were on Earth in an attempt to invade it, creating a highly addictive drink called ‘Bubble Shock’. 2% of the population weren’t affected and were presumed immune to the enzyme placed inside the drink. However when Sarah Jane investigated, she discovered an archetype was being made to experiment on, to help make the drink effective to all humans, allowing complete control over the entire human race. The archetype was later adopted by Sarah Jane and was called Luke Smith, who she refers to as her son. The Bane could become human using image translators and were a very clever species that were never fully wiped out.

An Earth invasion of the Bane once again is not unlikely and it’d be a very interesting story to see done by Doctor Who. This would most likely benefit from being a UNIT story, however due to the fact that the Bane can become any sort of person they chose using the image translators, the Bane could quite easily shape-shift their way into UNIT, which could cause one hell of a problem for the Doctor and the human race. A definitely strong alien that would be a shame to let go to waste.

3. The Berserker

The Berserker is actually one of my favourite aliens from Sarah Jane’s show. The Berserker Pendant is a piece of alien technology that was left behind on Earth by the race of Berserker. The pendant allows a Berserker to build an army and when in possession, you can instruct and control anybody to do whatever you say. Horrifically this kind of amazing power comes with a price, the more the Pendant is used, the more you become like a Berserker. The Berserkers are a warrior race that visited Earth and Vikings, mistaken in their visit for warrior humans in animal skins.

The possibilities are endless for such a villain, and with the Pendant still remaining on Earth, thrown into the water by Clyde Langer, anybody could get their hands on it, and then hell would once again break loose. This is a story Doctor Who could tackle in two ways, with either somebody finding the Pendant and like in SJA, becoming possessed and having the ability to tell people what to do. A threat that sounds empty, however the fearful words of the possessed Paul Langer that he could just instruct Sarah Jane and the team to walk straight into the ocean and drown themselves, makes the power of the Berserker much more real. The other option is having the Doctor, like he is in Series 9, go to Viking era and meet the Berserker, who were described to us in the SJA as inhabitants of the Earth in that time period. Either way, with the Pendant still out there and the Berserker race still living amongst the stars, a return is 100% possible and I’d back it all the way.

2. The Shansheeth

Yes, the Doctor has actually met the Shansheeth, however Doctor Who as a show, hasn’t. An intriguing alien race described to us as ‘Galactic Undertakers’, but if you asked Jo Grant she’d simply describe them as ‘absolutely beautiful.’ The Shansheeth resemble Earth vultures, however their posture is similar to ours as humans.

In The Sarah Jane Adventures, a tribe of Rogue Shansheeth stole the Doctor’s TARDIS and trapped him in a place where he’d meet certain death if he wasn’t saved. In an attempt to enter his TARDIS, the Shansheeth invited companions such as Sarah Jane and Jo Grant, as well as Rani, Clyde and Luke, to mourn the Doctor, after the tribe informed them he had sadly passed away. Sarah refused to believe it, and so did Jo Grant, however the funeral they’d attended was later revealed as a trap that saw the two companions vivid memories of their travels with the Doctor used against them, to help mentally create a TARDIS key. In the end the plan failed, and the Rogue group was killed, with an apology later given from the leading group of the Shansheeth, for their rogue kind.

I’d love to see them return, primarily because they were actually quite cool creatures and the thought of Galactic Undertakers should one day be revisited. I can’t specifically think of how they could return, however I could bet the Shansheeth who kidnapped Sarah Jane and Jo weren’t the only rogue Shansheeth in the Universe, and with their professions so close to the hard hitting subject of death, the Shansheeth could become so very evil in their ways, using death against the man who faces it everywhere he goes.

1. The Trickster

The Trickster is an immortal alien and part of an extra-dimensional group known as the Pantheon Of Discord who was banished from the known universe for having qualities which made them crave chaos and to alter reality at their will. The Trickster found himself fond of using Earth to create chaos, and in doing so he was feeding off of the energy of his actions, allowing him to enter the world fully.

The Trickster was definitely Sarah Jane’s arch nemesis and he tried to kill or banish her multiple times. One time he managed to take her life by replacing her with a friend of hers who died at a young age, allowing the woman who should be dead to live Sarah Jane’s life. Another time he lured her into the past where she learnt the truth behind her parents death. The last attempt caused havoc on her Wedding Day with a man whose alliance with the Trickster was broken after he truly fell in love with Sarah Jane and sacrificed himself so she could live. It also saw him meet the Doctor, a man who he’s been dying to erase from time, an undeniably effective way to wreak havoc across the Universe and the ultimate achievement for the Trickster.

The Trickster should return again, but this time his attempts should be to try and wipe out the Doctor like he originally planned. In an act of revenge at the Doctor foiling his plans at Sarah Jane’s wedding, the Trickster has multiple reasons to return, and though the story of the Doctor being wiped from the universe has already been done, the possibility of messing with the Doctor’s life is still available. I’m sure the Trickster has a few tricks left up his sleeve. A worthy villain who would ultimately be wasted if he didn’t get a story or two in Doctor Who.

These are just a few villains out of many that I’d like to see make the journey from Sarah Jane Adventures to Doctor Who, with others like the Gorgon and Kudlak as other possible aliens worthy of a follow-up. Let me know in the comments which SJA villains you’d like to see, and why they are worthy of a return.