When an old enemy comes calling, it’s time to dust off the sonic lipstick, phone UNIT, and hope your mum doesn’t find out you’ve hidden an alien in the attic again.
Short Synopsis
The Slitheen return—because apparently blowing up isn’t enough to keep them away—and this time they’ve teamed up with the Bane. Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde, and Rani must stop their dastardly plan before they take over the world... again. Expect a few surprise guests, a trip down memory lane, and one extremely sarcastic Brigadier.
Extended Storyline
It’s just another peaceful day on Bannerman Road, which of course means it’s time for intergalactic chaos. Sarah Jane receives an unexpected visitor—Mrs Wormwood, the slimy Bane mastermind from Invasion of the Bane, who claims she’s gone rogue and needs Sarah Jane’s help. Because nothing says “trust me” quite like a megalomaniacal alien baby-milk tycoon who once tried to enslave humanity.
Luke, ever the trusting soul (and possibly craving closure with his weird quasi-mother), persuades Sarah Jane to hear Wormwood out. Naturally, this turns out to be a terrible idea, because Wormwood isn’t looking for redemption—she’s looking for an ancient, all-powerful artifact called the Archetype. It’s a bit awkward, really, because Luke is the Archetype.
Meanwhile, the Bane have formed an unholy alliance with the Slitheen, the gaseous green nuisances who still think “disguise yourself as a human and fart a lot” counts as a cunning strategy. They want Luke, Wormwood wants Luke, and poor Luke just wants a normal adolescence, which, in this show, is clearly never happening.
In the midst of this chaos, Sarah Jane calls in some big guns: none other than Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart himself. The Brigadier appears, gruff, legendary, and probably wondering how he keeps getting dragged back into alien nonsense after retirement. Together with UNIT, he helps Sarah Jane unravel Wormwood’s true plan—to use Luke to unleash the Power of the Key, a mystical MacGuffin that could give her control over the universe.
Naturally, the plan falls apart in true Sarah Jane fashion—lots of shouting, running, and clever moral speeches. Wormwood’s hubris leads to her own undoing as she’s sucked into a vortex of her own making (again, hubris: 0, gravity wells: 1). The Slitheen, left without a plan or proper deodorant, flee the scene, while Sarah Jane and Luke share one of those “you’re my real mum” moments that make you feel slightly misty-eyed… until Clyde cracks a joke to balance things out.
As the dust settles, the Brigadier salutes Sarah Jane, acknowledging her as one of UNIT’s finest, and probably resolving to take a very long nap with a very large brandy.