Sarah, Natalie and Josh
A new Doctor Who spin-off begins, based around Sarah Jane Smith and her life. She is on the run, with a new identity, after a powerful group wipes out her journalistic credibility. Now she has a lead on those who destroyed her career, and it takes her Whiltshire. Terrance Dicks' script does the job of setting up the format of the series, and establishing the new characters of the series. Elisabeth Sladen settles comfortably back into the role of Sarah, with her daughter Sadie Miller making a good impression in the role of Sarah's researcher/technology wizz Natalie Redfern. Robin Bowerman is well cast in the role of the mysterious Harris, the 'voice' of Sarah's enemies. Comeback starts off Sarah Jane Smith well, establishing the direction of the series, and telling an interesting story.
Preliminary Rating: 7.5 - 8.5/10
Sarah, Natalie and Josh
When the body of an old man is found to have the same DNA as a young friend of Ellie and Josh, Sarah and Josh travel to an Eastern Medicine clinic to discover what is causing 18 year olds to end up dead and apparently aged 80. Barry Letts' script manages to avoid most of the pitfalls of The Ghosts of N-Space, however, the majority of characters appear to be cardboard cutout clich�s; with the villian, Will Butley, especially comes across as an unpleasant and unsettling stereotype. The other regular characters get lumbered with stereotypical aspects, with Josh relegated to the action/comic relief role and Natalie as a paranoid worrier. Sarah alone seems to have avoided all these characterisation pitfalls. Not Letts' best script; but a lot better than his last effort.
Preliminary Rating: 6.5 - 7.5/10
Sarah, Natalie and Josh
Sarah's enemies make their biggest move yet against; resulting in the death of one friend, the abduction of two others, another trapped with a bomb and a terrorist about to release poison in the London underground system. Can Sarah saves her friends and stop the attack? David Bishop's script is a tight thriller, which allows Sadie Miller to give her strongest performance yet as Natalie is trapped in Sarah's flat with a bomb. The story ends on a sombre note; with the group temporarily breaking up due to the events of the story and the choices characters were forced to make. The biggest revelation comes at the end of the story, with the person determined to destroy Sarah revealed.
Preliminary Rating: 8 - 9/10
Sarah and Josh
While on holiday visiting an old friend in Romania, Sarah is haunted by a ghost. Things turn sinister when people begin to die, and no evidence can be found of the haunting. Rupert Laight's script uses a couple of plot elements that turned up in the previous Sarah Jane Smith audio, Test of Nerve, namely that the villain's scheme not only is to try and kill Sarah, but also cause disruption that would go worldwide - this time an International Peace Conference is the target, with the two plot lines tied together not as well as it was in the previous story. Not a 'running on the spot' or a 'marking time before the big final�' type story, Ghost Town is another step towards the big showdown in Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre.
Preliminary Rating: 7.5 - 8.5/10
Sarah, Natalie and Josh
Following up a lead on a story on bio-warfare, Sarah is on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. As plans come together and Sarah ends up caught in a trap, can her friends rescue her? Peter Anghelides has written a roller-coaster ride of a story. It starts off slowly, building up to thrilling climax that in the end seems a little too rushed - perhaps Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre could have done with being a double CD release. The device of the voice mail message system works well to show the distance between Sarah and her friends, but despite this both Natalie and Josh get a fair slice of the story. The meeting between Sarah and Miss Winters is an excellent scene. I winced when K9's fate was revealed. A fine conclusion that leaves the way open for futher stories.
Preliminary Rating: 8 - 9/10