I am – Hercules!! Seems the late holiday season brought British airings of the “Torchwood” season finale and the “Sarah Jane Adventures” pilot. Both, we gather, are spinoffs of the BBC’s “Doctor Who.” “Corwin” explains the big news with “Torchwood.” Beware spoilers:

Hi Herc, Sorry if your mailbox is already full with this info: The Torchwood finale ends with Captain Jack (unseen, but very obviously) back in the Tardis!!! Or at the very least *a* Tardis. Throughout the series, one of the little mysteries thrown in is why Captain Jack is so attached to a disembodied hand he keeps [alive?] in a sort of stasis jar. I won't spoil the episode itself but right at the end Gwen, second lead in the series, asks Jack what he would be tempted by. He says "the right kind of Doctor". A few moments laters he walks past the aforementioned jar and it starts getting all glowy. He looks at it like he can't really believe what he thinks it means. Then papers and things start getting blown about and he hears this noise. And gets a great big grin on his face ... because it's the absolutely unmistakeable sound of a materialising Tardis! Seconds later the rest of the team wander into the room and he's gone. At which point I had a big "Duh!" moment when I remembered who lost a hand, and then regrew it, exactly a year ago in "The Xmas Invasion"! Don't know how this will pan out - whether he'll be in the forthcoming Who series or if this will be a side story - but there's no way this could be a clever misdirect. The sound effects were full-on genuine Tardis. Happy New Year.

“LoneGunMan” offers this on the “Sarah Jane” pilot:

Hi Herc and Harry, The BBC have just screened their 60min special for the new Doctor Who spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures", and I have to say I'm kinda surprised... here's a review! What's it called? "Invasion of the Bane" What's the basic run-down? Sure, it's a pilot for a series so it has to punch a few buttons. We take the outsider's POV, following Maria Jackson, a 13-year old who has moved into a house with her recently divorced father, conveniently opposite Sarah Jane Smith on Bannerman Road. It doesn't take long before Maria has glimpsed Sarah Jane talking with aliens in her garden and getting dragged into an alien plot to take over the world. We're given a brief recount of Sarah Jane's adventures with The Doctor, how there are government agencies who know about aliens on Earth (referring to UNIT from her earlier days, or possibly a nod to Torchwood). So, with a 13-year old lead, this is for kids? Yes, Russell T Davies, the man behind the new rebirth of Doctor Who, has the "adult" audience tied up with Torchwood at the moment, so the only other way to go for his complete domination of British TV is to get the kids. Admittedly, the idea of a series for kids worried me, especially knowing what "made for kids" drama can be like on British TV, but this was a revelation. The acting was great, especially from Yasmin Paige playing Maria. Her friend Kelsey may have been the token "I'm going to talk like a kid", but her dialogue wasn't over the top. In fact, Samantha Bond, playing the evil Mrs Wormwood, makes a great comment about not understanding what Kelsey's saying. There are the obligatory evil aliens then? Evil aliens, and friendly ones too. The race of aliens last seen in Torchwood's "Greeks bearing Gifts" are represented again, with some nice CGI, and the evil nasties in the shape of the Bane (and the huge Bane Mother) are straight out of H.P. Lovecraft, again, some nice CGI here as one breaks into Sarah Jane's house! It's nice to see that not all aliens are bad for a change, something that seems to be portrayed in Torchwood all too much at the moment. Any other Whovian references in there? Sure The Doctor is name checked, and K-9 makes a cameo appearance (possibly the worst part of the show). He won't be appearing in the full blown series as he's got his "non-BBC" spin off that looks a little worrying. K-9 was always cool, it's a shame they just couldn't keep him in Sarah Jane's series as he was, rather than make an excuse for his exit to let him go his own way. Sarah Jane's attic seems to be filled with alien artifacts, a nice pic of the Brigadier and some Daleks, and (as the website explains) Sarah Jane has some cool tech given to her by The Doctor in his latest visit (School Reunion), including her equivalent to the sonic screwdriver. What's good? The acting, the CGI, the dialog, all pretty cool. The story's based on one of Gareth Roberts' old Who books, which is suitably good, and all in all it was a well produced pilot to what could be a good series. Surprising to see it wasn't based in Wales! What's Bad? Not much really. Sure there are drink wielding zombified people walking the UK, which is quickly dismissed as a chemical reaction, but we're getting used to national crises being brushed off by the media after the events of the last few episodes of Who. The series is due sometime in 2007, but nothing's been set. I get the feeling they're waiting to see how well this goes down before progressing. I'm hardly the correct demographic for this, but I think this could be just what the Doctor ordered! Rating: 4/5

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