The Empty Planet
Encyclopedia
The Empty Planet is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures
which has been broadcast on CBBC
on 1 and 2 November 2010. It is the fourth story of the fourth series.
The confusing mix of signals is suddenly cut out. Rani wakes up to find her parents missing, and there is no-one in sight outside. Sarah Jane is also gone, and Mr Smith no longer appears to be in the computer that houses him. Rani searches for another person, finding that nothing has a signal anymore. She prays that she is not alone, when she hears a knock at the door and opens it to find Clyde. They head into town to look for someone besides them.
They can't find anyone, but realise that if everyone suddenly disappeared there should be crashed vehicles everywhere. There are not, which means that whatever took the humans didn't want to do any damage. They go to a cafe for breakfast and try to figure out why they have not been taken. They decide to go back to the attic, and see crates being knocked over. They spot another person, who runs away, and chase him to an apartment block. He is a schoolboy called Gavin, who rather than being relieved is afraid of them. Rani and Clyde try to convince him they mean no harm, and Rani tells him about aliens to try to gain his trust. Gavin is sceptical, but before they can persuade him to help, a strange noise is heard and he slips away whilst Rani and Clyde try to work out what it was.
They go back to the cafe and see a strange image on all the screens, even the mobile phones. They hear a noise getting closer and go investigate. Rani notices Gavin and goes down an alley; Clyde looks around the corner and sees a yellow robot. He is cornered by it, whilst Rani is cornered by a red one. The robots reveal their guns and prepare to fire...
The robots suddenly burst into the cafe. They escape out the back door and tell Gavin to get away, splitting up to distract the robots. They are cornered once again and the robots scan them, but do not kill them. In the cafe, Clyde shows them a newspaper so they can quickly learn the human language. They reveal the strange image is a countdown. They demand the air and the sun, saying that if it is not given to them by the end of the countdown the human race will not return. Rani realises that they don't mean 'sun and air' but 'son and heir'. It turns out that Gavins dad was an alien king, who has now died. The robots have come to take Gavin to their planet and sent the news he is a prince in the energy trace, but Gavin never received it.
Clyde and Rani search for Gavin, eventually locating him at The Ealing Circle Nature Reserve. They find that Gavin is wearing a bio-damper to shield his alien half; when this is removed, the robots send him the information again and show him the planet he is meant to rule. He agrees to go and orders the robots to return everyone to Earth. He names the other two Lord Clyde and Lady Rani as he leaves. Mr Smith fixes the records so that Gavin has officially moved to Australia. Clyde and Rani think about the fact that if they had never met Sarah Jane, they would have been in big trouble.
, Sarah Jane is only briefly seen. With Luke Smith and K-9
off at Oxford, Rani and Clyde are the principal characters, with one or both appearing in every scene.
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
which has been broadcast on CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
on 1 and 2 November 2010. It is the fourth story of the fourth series.
Part 1
Sarah Jane tells Mr Smith to do a maximum scan. Clyde asks what is going on; Rani says Mr Smith picked up an alien energy trace for a second, which then vanished into the signals of every energy source on Earth. When they leave Sarah Janes house, Rani reminds Clyde of their school assignment, which Clyde sees no point in considering they might be invaded. Rani's dad comes to see her in her room, but she asks him to leave so she can finish the assignment. Clyde's mum also comes to see him.The confusing mix of signals is suddenly cut out. Rani wakes up to find her parents missing, and there is no-one in sight outside. Sarah Jane is also gone, and Mr Smith no longer appears to be in the computer that houses him. Rani searches for another person, finding that nothing has a signal anymore. She prays that she is not alone, when she hears a knock at the door and opens it to find Clyde. They head into town to look for someone besides them.
They can't find anyone, but realise that if everyone suddenly disappeared there should be crashed vehicles everywhere. There are not, which means that whatever took the humans didn't want to do any damage. They go to a cafe for breakfast and try to figure out why they have not been taken. They decide to go back to the attic, and see crates being knocked over. They spot another person, who runs away, and chase him to an apartment block. He is a schoolboy called Gavin, who rather than being relieved is afraid of them. Rani and Clyde try to convince him they mean no harm, and Rani tells him about aliens to try to gain his trust. Gavin is sceptical, but before they can persuade him to help, a strange noise is heard and he slips away whilst Rani and Clyde try to work out what it was.
They go back to the cafe and see a strange image on all the screens, even the mobile phones. They hear a noise getting closer and go investigate. Rani notices Gavin and goes down an alley; Clyde looks around the corner and sees a yellow robot. He is cornered by it, whilst Rani is cornered by a red one. The robots reveal their guns and prepare to fire...
Part 2
Gavin pushes the robot in front of Rani against the wall so they can escape. Clyde runs away from the yellow robot and hides in a store. He gets away from it and meets up with Rani and Gavin. They look at the images on the screens and go in search of the robots, then decide to return to the cafe. Rani and Clyde talk about what makes them different, mentioning time fissures, space travel and the TARDIS, much to Gavins confusion. Clyde realises the Judoon grounded only him and Rani on Earth, so the robots had to leave them behind. This doesn't explain why Gavin is still there as he knows nothing about aliens.The robots suddenly burst into the cafe. They escape out the back door and tell Gavin to get away, splitting up to distract the robots. They are cornered once again and the robots scan them, but do not kill them. In the cafe, Clyde shows them a newspaper so they can quickly learn the human language. They reveal the strange image is a countdown. They demand the air and the sun, saying that if it is not given to them by the end of the countdown the human race will not return. Rani realises that they don't mean 'sun and air' but 'son and heir'. It turns out that Gavins dad was an alien king, who has now died. The robots have come to take Gavin to their planet and sent the news he is a prince in the energy trace, but Gavin never received it.
Clyde and Rani search for Gavin, eventually locating him at The Ealing Circle Nature Reserve. They find that Gavin is wearing a bio-damper to shield his alien half; when this is removed, the robots send him the information again and show him the planet he is meant to rule. He agrees to go and orders the robots to return everyone to Earth. He names the other two Lord Clyde and Lady Rani as he leaves. Mr Smith fixes the records so that Gavin has officially moved to Australia. Clyde and Rani think about the fact that if they had never met Sarah Jane, they would have been in big trouble.
Continuity
- Clyde theorises that he and Rani are the only native humans remaining on Earth because they were grounded by the JudoonJudoonThe Judoon are a fictional extraterrestrial species of mercenary police from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs. They first appeared in the episode Smith and Jones in 2007....
in Part 2 of Prisoner of the JudoonPrisoner of the JudoonPrisoner of the Judoon is the first serial of the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast on the 15 and 16 of October 2009. It features the Judoon, the intergalactic police introduced in the 2007 Doctor Who episode "Smith and Jones".-Part 1:Sarah Jane Smith continues to...
. Clyde was nevertheless briefly off-world in the preceding serial, Death of the DoctorDeath of the DoctorDeath of the Doctor is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 25 and 26 October 2010. It is the third story of the fourth series. This episode features the return of Katy Manning to the role of Jo Grant and a guest appearance by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor...
. - Clyde and Rani speak of having travelled through time (The Temptation of Sarah Jane SmithThe Temptation of Sarah Jane SmithThe Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith is a story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 17 and 24 November 2008. It is the fifth serial of the second series.-Part 1:...
) and having been in the TARDISTARDISThe TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
(remaining stationary in The Wedding of Sarah Jane SmithThe Wedding of Sarah Jane SmithThe Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 and 30 October 2009. It is the third serial of the third series. It guest stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, marking the first appearance of parent programme Doctor Whos...
and travelling in Death of the Doctor). - In justifying his claim of authority, Clyde notes that he has known Sarah Jane longer, having met her in Revenge of the SlitheenRevenge of the SlitheenRevenge of the Slitheen is the second story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It comprises the first and second episodes of the show's first series, aired on BBC1, broadcast in two parts on September 24 and October 1, 2007, with the second being broadcast a...
whereas Rani did not join the group until The Day of the ClownThe Day of the ClownThe Day of the Clown is the second story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures The two-part serial was broadcast on 6 October and 13 October 2008; "Part One" on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on 6 October; "Part Two" on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on 13 October...
. - Gavin makes Rani a lady at the end of Part 2. In the following serial, Lost in TimeLost in Time (The Sarah Jane Adventures)Lost in Time is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which has been broadcast on CBBC on 8 and 9 November 2010. It is the fifth story of the fourth series.-Part 1:...
, she is continually addressed as Lady Rani in the court of Queen JaneLady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
, having been mistaken for a newly summoned lady-in-waiting.
Production
As in The Mark of the BerserkerThe Mark of the Berserker
The Mark of the Berserker is a story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 3 and 10 November 2008. It is the fourth serial of the second series...
, Sarah Jane is only briefly seen. With Luke Smith and K-9
K-9 (Doctor Who)
K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
off at Oxford, Rani and Clyde are the principal characters, with one or both appearing in every scene.