Enemy of the Bane

Enemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series. This episode was originally intended to be a crossover with the modern Doctor Who series; Davies reveals in his non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale that former companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) was intended to appear in the two-parter, but had to be replaced with classic series character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) "at the last minute" due to Agyeman's role in the ITV series Law & Order: UK,^[2] making this the last episode to have Courtney as the Brigadier prior to his death in 2011.

Plot

Part 1

Gita is kidnapped from her florists late one night by Mrs Wormwood, who leaves a cheque with her name on it. In the morning, Rani calls upon Sarah Jane to help her find her mother. Upon investigating the flower shop, they discover the cheque and take it back to Mr Smith for analysis. Mr Smith's scan reveals that the sort code and account number are fake, but are actually a code. When translated, they give an address of an abandoned warehouse. Rani and Sarah Jane find that the door is open and find Gita in a trance. Mrs Wormwood enters and remarks on Rani being taller than Maria. Mrs Wormwood tells Sarah Jane she needs her help. She says that since the Bane's plan to take over the Earth failed, she has been exiled and is being hunted. The Bane attacks, but they manage to escape.

Sarah Jane takes Mrs. Wormwood back to her house. Mrs. Wormwood says that an ancient immortal, Horath, tried to take over the galaxy, but was defeated three thousand years previously. Unable to destroy him, Horath's body and consciousness were separated and placed at opposite ends of the galaxy. Mrs. Wormwood says that the Bane have discovered Horath's consciousness, and are trying to find his body, which is located on Earth. Once united, she says the Bane will be able to conquer the galaxy. The only clue to the body's location is in the Tunguska Scroll, which is kept in UNIT's Black Archive, a secure storehouse of alien artifacts.

Sarah Jane visits her old friend, retired Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, to get his help to enter the Archive. Sarah Jane and Rani obtain the Tunguska Scroll, which has information on the location of the body of Horath. UNIT personnel stop her, but she uses her sonic lipstick and escapes with Rani and the Brigadier. Meanwhile, Luke is talking to Mrs. Wormwood about his creation (against Sarah Jane's and Clyde's wishes) when the Bane attack the house. Mrs Wormwood is about to escape when a Bane tries to eat her. Sontaran Commander Kaagh shoots it and reveals himself to be her agent.

Part 2

Mrs Wormwood saves Luke and Clyde, trying to tell him something, then Rani and Sarah Jane arrive. Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, Rani, the Brigadier and Mrs Wormwood all hide in Gita's flower shop so that UNIT cannot find them. Mrs Wormwood asks Sarah Jane for the Scroll but she refuses. Commander Kaagh arrives and forces Sarah Jane to give it up by threatening Luke, Clyde and Rani. With the scroll in hand, Mrs Wormwood kidnaps Luke and he is forced to go with her and Commander Kaagh, who is violent towards Luke and tries to kill him. Mrs Wormwood, Kaagh and Luke arrive at a factory where Kaagh has hidden his space pod. He places the Consciousness of Horath in a scroll. Mrs Wormwood says to Luke that he could be a ruler of a galaxy as her son. Luke tries to escape with the scroll, resulting in him nearly being shot by Kaagh, but Mrs Wormwood saves him at the last second. Meanwhile, the others go to Sarah Jane's house to speak to Mr Smith, to try to find the whereabouts of Luke and the scroll. Once they find out, they borrow Gita's van and go after them. Mrs Wormwood, Luke and Kaagh arrive at a stone circle where they force Luke to insert the scroll. They cannot do it themselves as only a human can enter the force-field. Sarah Jane then arrives, and Luke is forced to choose between Mrs Wormwood, his creator and Sarah Jane, his adopted mother. Kaagh, ashamed of his submission to Mrs Wormwood, pushes her into the portal and he is dragged in with her.

Continuity

Mrs Wormwood last appeared alongside the Bane in the series one episode "Invasion of the Bane". Commander Kaagh last appeared in the series two story The Last Sontaran. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart last appeared in the Doctor Who serial Battlefield, although he had a brief cameo in the charity special Dimensions in Time. This is the first time that Sarah Jane and the Brigadier have met on screen since The Five Doctors, almost exactly 25 years earlier (aside from the 1995 direct-to-video, Downtime).

The Brigadier references several of his previous adventures including Day of the Daleks, The Invasion, Terror of the Autons and Terror of the Zygons. Clyde makes a reference about the events about his dad in The Mark of the Berserker.

The Brigadier refers to the recent change in public awareness of aliens (in episodes such as "Aliens of London", "The Christmas Invasion", "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", and "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End"). Sarah Jane mentions that even Queen Victoria knew about aliens. This is a reference to the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw" and the charter of the Torchwood Institute. Like Rose Tyler in "Tooth and Claw", Rani makes a joke about Her Majesty's apocryphal quote, "We are not amused."

The Brigadier has just returned from his trip to Peru; this visit was mentioned in the Doctor Who episode "The Poison Sky" when the Doctor asked where he was. He is said to be back in Peru during the events of "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" and "Death of the Doctor".

Outside references

Mrs Wormwood introduces herself as "Wormwood, Mrs Wormwood", a play on the line "Bond, James Bond" used in the eponymous series of films. Samantha Bond, who plays Mrs Wormwood, played the iconic Miss Moneypenny in the four Bond films which starred Pierce Brosnan.

At one point Mrs Wormwood exclaims, "...Luke, I am your mother!" a reference to Darth Vader's famous revelation to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back: "No, I am your father!" (frequently mis-quoted as "Luke, I am your father!")

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Sarah Jane Adventures

• Enemy of the Bane on TARDIS Data Core, an external wiki
• The official BBC The Sarah Jane Adventures website
• Press Pack information regarding Enemy of the Bane at the BBC Press Office website
• Enemy of the Bane at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Enemy of the Bane at Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• "Enemy of the Bane" at the Internet Movie Database