The Mad Woman in the Attic
Encyclopedia
The Mad Woman in the Attic is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures
. It was first broadcast on BBC One
on 22 and 23 October 2009. It is the second serial of the third series.
and Luke are long gone and Mr Smith
is no longer functional. A teenage boy, Adam (Gregg Sulkin
), investigates the attic, and learns that the "mad woman" is Rani Chandra
, who had fought aliens with Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde
.
Rani has a flashback of 2009 in her childhood, aged 15, in Sarah Jane's attic, at which time she overreacted when the group were not paying her much attention. Sarah Jane told her that a flash of lightning that struck the BT Tower
was unimportant. Rani then received an email from an old friend, Sam, from her home town by the beach, whom she had told about her encounters with aliens.
The e-mail explained that people had been disappearing; Rani meets up with Sam, who sends her to investigate rumours of a demon in an abandoned funfair. Rani then meets Harry, the caretaker, whom she accompanies after lying to him about having a twisted ankle. Harry becomes frightened and tells Rani to leave, but she then sees people with red glowing eyes seemingly enjoying the funfair rides.
Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde investigate Sam, who has lived at St Anthony's Children's Home since his parents died in a car crash in 2001. Leaving Luke with Sam, Sarah Jane and Clyde go to the funfair where they discover the red-eyed people on the rides. Rani is shut in a room with Eve, a girl with red skin, who "just wants to play" and reveals that she is kidnapping lonely people to make them have fun. Rani is then convinced that she does not need to depend on Sarah Jane and that she should leave her forever. She then glimpses her future... as the mad woman in the attic.
Harry, Clyde and Sarah Jane then take Eve back to the beach, and K-9 gives Ship the black hole energy it needs to leave, also allowing K-9 to return home permanently. Rani is let free. Sam and Harry are invited to leave Earth with Eve.
As Sarah Jane and her friends are about to leave, Ship grants Rani's wish that Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde would leave her alone, not understanding that it was not intended literally, and they disappear.
Adam reveals that he is the child of Sam and Eve, and he gives the older Rani the opportunity to change her past. Rani's timeline is altered so that Ship does not fulfil her wish. She is then shown in her alternative future, enjoying the company of her children and grandchildren. In this future it is implied through dialogue that she has just returned from a trip to Washington where she and Luke were catching up with Maria.
. He had previously portrayed Dugdale in the Fifth Doctor
serial Snakedance
.
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...
. It was first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 22 and 23 October 2009. It is the second serial of the third series.
Part 1
The story opens with a "mad woman" in the attic, in the year 2059 in Ealing, where Sarah JaneSarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
and Luke are long gone and Mr Smith
Mr Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Mr Smith is a fictional extraterrestrial computer voiced by Alexander Armstrong which appears in the British children's science fiction television series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with further minor appearances in the final two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who...
is no longer functional. A teenage boy, Adam (Gregg Sulkin
Gregg Sulkin
Gregg Sulkin is an English actor. He made his film debut in the 2006 British release Sixty Six, and subsequently became known for appearing in the Disney comedy series As the Bell Rings and Wizards of Waverly Place. In 2010, he starred in the television movie Avalon High.-Life and career:Sulkin...
), investigates the attic, and learns that the "mad woman" is Rani Chandra
Rani Chandra (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Rani Chandra is a fictional character played by Anjli Mohindra in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who...
, who had fought aliens with Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde
Clyde Langer
Clyde Langer is a fictional character played by Daniel Anthony in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures...
.
Rani has a flashback of 2009 in her childhood, aged 15, in Sarah Jane's attic, at which time she overreacted when the group were not paying her much attention. Sarah Jane told her that a flash of lightning that struck the BT Tower
BT Tower
The BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, United Kingdom, located at 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia W1T 4JZ, London Borough of Camden. It has been previously known as the Post Office Tower, the London Telecom Tower and the British Telecom Tower. The main structure is tall, with a...
was unimportant. Rani then received an email from an old friend, Sam, from her home town by the beach, whom she had told about her encounters with aliens.
The e-mail explained that people had been disappearing; Rani meets up with Sam, who sends her to investigate rumours of a demon in an abandoned funfair. Rani then meets Harry, the caretaker, whom she accompanies after lying to him about having a twisted ankle. Harry becomes frightened and tells Rani to leave, but she then sees people with red glowing eyes seemingly enjoying the funfair rides.
Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde investigate Sam, who has lived at St Anthony's Children's Home since his parents died in a car crash in 2001. Leaving Luke with Sam, Sarah Jane and Clyde go to the funfair where they discover the red-eyed people on the rides. Rani is shut in a room with Eve, a girl with red skin, who "just wants to play" and reveals that she is kidnapping lonely people to make them have fun. Rani is then convinced that she does not need to depend on Sarah Jane and that she should leave her forever. She then glimpses her future... as the mad woman in the attic.
Part 2
Rani sees her future as a mad woman living in the attic of Sarah-Jane Smith and wants to change it. She leads Eve out of the 'haunted mine' ride. Eve takes control of the rides again, but Harry tells her to stop, as it will kill her, according to Ship. Eve then possesses Rani, like the other people in the fairground.Harry, Clyde and Sarah Jane then take Eve back to the beach, and K-9 gives Ship the black hole energy it needs to leave, also allowing K-9 to return home permanently. Rani is let free. Sam and Harry are invited to leave Earth with Eve.
As Sarah Jane and her friends are about to leave, Ship grants Rani's wish that Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde would leave her alone, not understanding that it was not intended literally, and they disappear.
Adam reveals that he is the child of Sam and Eve, and he gives the older Rani the opportunity to change her past. Rani's timeline is altered so that Ship does not fulfil her wish. She is then shown in her alternative future, enjoying the company of her children and grandchildren. In this future it is implied through dialogue that she has just returned from a trip to Washington where she and Luke were catching up with Maria.
Continuity
- When Ship looks into Sarah Jane's past, clips of her childhood from first and second season episodes, 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:...
, 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...
and Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? is the fifth story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the seventh and eighth episodes of the show's first series...
; these are followed by scenes of her time with the Doctor from the Third DoctorThird DoctorThe Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
serials The Time WarriorThe Time WarriorThe Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
(her introduction) and Planet of the SpidersPlanet of the SpidersPlanet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
, and when she returned to Earth in the Fourth DoctorFourth DoctorThe Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
serial The Hand of FearThe Hand of FearThe Hand of Fear is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 October to 23 October 1976...
(these clips also include footage of Jon PertweeJon PertweeJohn Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
as the Third DoctorThird DoctorThe Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
and Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
as the FourthFourth DoctorThe Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
); she is also shown with K-9 Mark III from The Five DoctorsThe Five DoctorsThe Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
and with the DalekDalekThe Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s in "The Stolen EarthThe Stolen Earth"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
". Scenes of the near future show the TARDISTARDISThe TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
' arrival in the Smiths' attic in the following serial, 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 a very brief glimpse of David TennantDavid TennantDavid Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
as the Tenth DoctorTenth DoctorThe Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
running through its doors. This episode marks the first use of clips from the "classic era" of Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
in The Sarah Jane Adventures, though still images of Sarah Jane and Brigadier Lethbridge-StewartBrigadier Lethbridge-StewartBrigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
from the series have been seen previously. It is the second time classic series clips have been used in revived "WhoniverseWhoniverseWhoniverse, a portmanteau of the words "Who" and "universe", is a word used to describe the fictional setting of the television series Doctor Who, K-9 and Company, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K-9, as well as other related stories...
" programmes (silent footage having been shown in "The Next Doctor") and the first time they have been used with sound. - Footage of the TARDIS from The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith marks the first appearance of the TARDIS in any Doctor Who spin-off, aside from a drawing previously seen in the Smiths' attic; (the TARDIS' sound effect was used at the end of the TorchwoodTorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
episode, "End of DaysEnd of Days (Torchwood)"End of Days" is the thirteenth episode and the first series finale of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It originally aired on BBC Three on 1 January 2007, alongside the previous episode, "Captain Jack Harkness". The episode was written by Chris Chibnall and directed by...
"). - Scenes from Luke's past are from "Invasion of the BaneInvasion of the Bane-Sladen and Doctor Who:Elisabeth Sladen, who previously played Sarah Jane between 1973 and 1976. In 1981, she was offered the role again to ease the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, which she declined, but agreed to star in the pilot for the spin-off series K-9 and Company, which...
" (his activation) and The Last SontaranThe Last SontaranThe Last Sontaran is the first story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and is a continuation of events from Doctor Who two-part story "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky"...
(MariaMaria JacksonMaria Jackson is a fictional character played by Yasmin Paige in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. She is a 14-year-old girl who discovers that her new neighbour, Sarah Jane Smith, is aware of...
's departure). - In the future, Rani Chandra is living in Sarah Jane's former home at 13 Bannerman Road. In the present day, she lives in Maria JacksonMaria JacksonMaria Jackson is a fictional character played by Yasmin Paige in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. She is a 14-year-old girl who discovers that her new neighbour, Sarah Jane Smith, is aware of...
's former home at 36 Bannerman Road. - The Last Great Time War is referenced by Eve, although no names are mentioned, the allusions to "timelines" are clear.
Cast Notes
Brian Miller, who portrayed Harry Sowersby, was the husband of series star, Elisabeth SladenElisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
. He had previously portrayed Dugdale in the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
serial Snakedance
Snakedance
*In post-production, episode four of this story overran very badly. As a result, it had to be completely restructured. Originally the door for a third Mara adventure was to be left open, with closing scenes discussing the ultimate fate of the Great Crystal. Furthermore, a sequence in which the...
.