February 8, 2022

Retro Rewind: The Sarah Jane Adventures “The Lost Boy” Review

Gustaff Behr takes a look back at the sixth story of the spin-off series.

The Sarah Jane Adventures was a spin-off series of Doctor Who which ran for five seasons, from 2007 to 2011. The show followed former companion, Sarah Jane Smith, after being reunited with the Tenth Doctor, and her friends/companions as they deal with alien incursions…all from an attic in Ealing, London. Retro Rewind travels back in time to see how this decade and a half old show holds up today. Has it aged like a fine wine or some chicken that’s been left out in the sun for too long? This is Series 1, Episode 9 and 10: The Lost Boy!

The Lost Boy was written by Phil Ford and aired 12-19 November 2007. It was unique in that it featured the return of the Slitheen, as well as revealing Mr. Smith to be a villain who had been biding his time assisting Sarah Jane until the right moment. It also introduced the Pharos Institute, a recurring organization in the series.

On my initial viewing back in the late 00s, I was convinced that Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane Smith? should have been the finale as it featured the coolest villain. But upon rewatch, I appreciate why The Lost Boy is the season finale. Thematically, it fits spectacularly.

I also never realized just how dark this story is for a children’s show. Instead of being artificially created like we’ve been led to believe, we are introduced to the idea that Luke is a normal amnesiac human boy that has simply been abducted and experimented on by the Bane. The implications are as follows: A regular family has had their child taken away, the boy’s savior is also unwittingly his second kidnapper. This kind-hearted savior is now forced to give up “their” child by the “real” parents and is made to think that instead of being a good parent, she has only been psychologically damaging the poor boy further. She still does the right thing and sends the child away, who is scared and confused because the only memories they have are of their “false” parent, because that is what she morally believes is true, only to discover that the “real” parents are false and mistreating the child even further.

…This is some really dark stuff.

And yet, it fits perfectly. Sarah Jane’s arc this entire season has been opening up her heart, starting a family and learning how to be a parent. To have all that taken away from her and see her close off her heart is gut-wrenching. You can see in her conversation with Maria that same practical coldness she first exhibited in Invasion of the Bane. And the worst part is her feelings make sense. This is absolutely what you’d expect from someone who didn’t have much in the way of friends or family to begin with.

Tommy Knight gives just as great a performance, though I feel he was better in the first half than the second half. He portrays the kind of terror and confusion a child in Luke’s position would exhibit convincingly. Even his false parents do a stand-up job whilst pretending to be heartbroken over his disappearance. When the female Slitheen verbally attacks Sarah Jane in the street, you really feel for her at that point.

The deception of Luke’s heritage is given so much thought by the narrative as well. Mr. Smith does a DNA test and the audience and Sarah Jane have no reason to think he is being deceitful. Instead, it leaves us confused about how he can make such a blunder because halfway through the first episode, we know something is up. Mr. Smith, as a villain, is not given much backstory, but he also doesn’t need it. He is basically a computer program performing what he was created to do. His motives are that he wants to free his race from the Earth’s crust. Completely understandable, except it means killing the human race. This places the serial in a morally grey zone; as does wiping Mr. Smith’s memory and convincing him to willingly be your slave. Yup, Sarah Jane Adventures is a definitely a children’s show, folks!

You can tell the serial is being extra serious when the Slitheen toilet humor is dropped. Expanding their mythos by allowing them to pose as skinny people is a great way of surprising the audience. Still though, it means that this show has now killed and skinned two children.

Definitely a kid’s show!

Maria and Clyde are given less to do in this episode, but each still manages to shine. The highlight moment for me is probably when Maria just casually walks past a disgruntled Sarah Jane and proclaims that Luke has simply been abducted by aliens. That Cheshire Cat grin of hers!

Unfortunately, the serial isn’t perfect. For one thing, it’s strange that the “Luke is missing” news report shows up five months after the supposed incident and nobody mentions how unusual that is. The Pharos Project’s security system is impressive, but highly impractical being placed outside instead of inside where all the fancy toys are. But the most grating part of this episode is Slitheen Junior. The child actor who portrays him is atrociously bad. He comes across as whiny in every scene he is in. The writing for him doesn’t help either. We’re told he is a genius rivalling Einstein, but at one point he literally tells– who I can only assume to be himself and Luke –that Luke is escaping!

Another gap in logic is how quickly Maria’s dad, Paul, goes from trying to move away to protect her to hanging back. True, Maria makes a good counterargument: Some aliens are bad and some are good, comparing them to how there are good humans and bad humans, but it still feels just a little too convenient. In the same breath, I will admit that it was great to see Paul becoming an unofficial member of the team.

Overall, The Lost Boy is a great season closer. It ties together all the plot threads set up in previous episodes and delivers a surprisingly dark tale that strangely feels right at home in a show like The Sarah Jane Adventures.

So…after so many years, how do you regard The Lost Boy?