Sarah Jane Adventures: Complete Second Season [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Yes, it's intended to be a lot more kid-friendly than Dr. Who or, especially, Torchwood. Putting aside the children-friendliness of the show, it's got some good science fiction action and the idea content is higher than television average. With a good price, I'd recommend this to anyone, though some familiarity with the Dr. Who shows might help with context.

The Last Sontaran: This is a direct continuation of the 10th Doctor's episodes Poison Sky & Sontaran Stratagem. It's loaded with science fiction movie references (Star Wars, Predator, etc.) and the 1st episode action is pretty good. There are some logical gaps that grate, but it's pretty well done.

The Day of the Clown: Good creepy show introducing some new characters. The Pied Piper features... Some filler, but mostly good.

Secrets of the Stars: Astrology, possession, Ancient Ones, and a Chosen One. But nowhere near as bad as that makes it sound! Still, my least favorite of the season.

The Mark of the Berserker: Sarah Jane doesn't feature prominently in this episode, rather it's like the Dr. Who & Torchwood episodes that focus instead on others having a singular experience with the unknown and alien. Rather well done tale of an alien pendant and family relationships.

The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith: Time Travel, the Trickster, and a Trap. A well-worn science fiction cliche of changing the past to horrible effect in the present, but nicely executed. More would be telling too much...

Enemy of the Bane: UNIT, the Brigadier, immortal aliens, Mrs. Wormwood ("Luke, I am your mother."), and the Bane attempt to take over the world again. Might be a bit too much packed in here, but, once again, pretty well done.

This isn't the greatest science fiction television of all times, but it's fun, smart, and very human.

We were first introduced to Sarah Jane in the current four year run of Dr. Who. It encouraged us to buy old Dr. Who shows when Sarah was a young associate for two Doctors. Now this series is out and we waited eagerly after the first one. If anything, this season of The Sarah Jane Adventures is better than the first and is great. It has us on Amazon getting the BBC radio shows and books. We love her.

I was just so impressed with the 2nd season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The producers were very clever in subtly developing definite character and story arcs throughout the series, ultimately concealing some extremely powerful explorations of the inner lives of children and the ways the parent-child bond can become frayed, behind a briskly-paced and often amusing adventure series. The willingness to paint the title heroine as a flawed human being, subject to pettiness, phobias, and monstrously bad judgment, was a brave step. The episode with Clyde and his father ranks with Doctor Who's timeless first series episode "Father's Day" as a powerful exploration of paternal abandonment issues. Rani and her family are great new characters, though it's sad to part with Maria and her dad (and mum!) as regulars. But the writing and acting on all levels has reached a level of smooth confidence in collaboration that's a wonder to behold in a half-hour kids' show. It's great to see the show developing its own internal mythology, a scrappy subset of the larger Doctor Who universe. Lis Sladen must thank her lucky stars and Russell Davies every day for the opportunity of this great later-career resurgence. It has given her a chance to demonstrate that she's a stronger, more deeply-felt actress than she was in the '70s; she takes what these talented writers and co-stars toss her and consistently hits it out of the park (if I can be allowed a baseball, rather than cricket, metaphor). Exactly the opposite of disappointing! That said, if you've already seen these episodes elsewhere, don't expect much in the way of special features from this package, they're a near-total wash.