SJA: The Man Who Never Was

[johne]

Just watched the first part of this, and I'm not sure whether to be excited at the adventure, or wince at every unfortunate reference to how well Sarah's looking. Let alone the CEO who appears to be modelled on the late Steve Jobs, ]right down to the reality-distortion field.[.

[jjpor]

Watching this was a pretty mixed emotional experience for me too, johne. As you say, it was a cracking story, full of humour and about as much genuine grit as you're likely to see on CBBC (my main man Gareth Roberts knocking it out of the cricket ground), but...yes...

Still, the series ended on a high note, I felt. And Lis was as reliable as ever, and maybe even better than usual (although that could be my emotional side talking). A fitting tribute.

Thoughts:

*By Jove, it's Peter Bowles?! And I thought they hadn't had one of those sorts of blast-from-the-past guest stars in a while...

And the bloke out of the Thin Blue Line, coming off like some cheaper, latter-day Alan Rickman in Die Hard! He even got a "so you're nothing but a common thief?" moment.

And Clyde has never been gladder to see a full stop...! ;D

Good to see Luke back, and Clyde and Rani (or shall we call them "Clani" from now on?) were brilliant. And extremely shippy. And brilliant.

Yes, the hologram bloke was pretty clearly modelled on the late Mr Jobs, wasn't he? Unfortunate timing.

To address Clocket's point regarding the opener, you could see how they were retooling the show, with a replacement young character now that the regular kids are in Sixth Form, but also maybe acknowledging an ageing audience with a bit of social commentary too. A crying shame it had to end when it did, even if ending it was of course the respectful and indeed the only sane thing to do. Somebody needs to get Clyde and Rani into Who proper, though. Seriously.

As I said before, the best ending they probably could have come up with in the sad circumstances. So having mourned Lis a few months ago, let's take a moment to pay our respects to the wonderful programme she starred in. I know I always say this, but it really was often closer in spirit and form to the pre-1989 series than NuWho can be. It will be missed.*

[Starflower]

I just finished finally watching the three story arcs of season 5 and now am incredably frusterated that it won't be continuing. When I first saw Sky I was worried that they were trying to recycle the Luke plot from season 1 but it was not so. Having Luke come back and introducing the brother-sister dynamic made me really happy. I know that the show will not continue with Lis Sladen but I would love to see another spin-off show that possibly had aftershocks of Sarah Jane's death followed by having the same sort of show focusing on Luke, Clani (I rather like that term!), Sky, and (of course) Mr. Smith. If not that, it would be wonderful to see them in Doctor Who.

I found myself about falling out of my chair laughing throughout this episode. That man is a BRILLIANT actor. Overall I thought that this plot was probobly one of the better ones so far as it didn't have the same old cliche world-domination by aliens bad guys, it didn't result in the whole world seeing some over-the-top-dramatic event like the moon falling out of the sky, and the conclusion was suprisingly satisfying. Definately a good episode to have as an ending note.

[jjpor]

Yes, if it had to end (and it did, really ), then I'm glad it ended the way it did. A solid conclusion where all of the regular cast (and guests) had a chance to shine.

And it may never happen, but I wouldn't say no to any of them popping up unexpectedly in NuWho, even if it was just the actors rather than the characters. Moffat should get on it, I think.

[kirkg]

You do realize that there was a semi-serious documentary drama movie produced in the late 1950s or early 1960s by the same name.... "The Man Who Never Was".

It documents the real life case of British Naval Intellegence who came up with a scheme to mislead the Germans, Spanish and Italians just where the invasion was going to take place... by chaining a briefcase to the wrist of a dead man who they had dressed and given actual ID to. They went as far as creating a laundry account for him, listed a girlfriend, and worn uniform for him. They selected a Scottish corpse who had died from pneumonia so that it would look like he drowned, and they slipped him over the side of the ship off the coast of Spain so that he would wash up on shore.
A good deal of the film deals with British Intelegance tracking German agents as they attempt to verify if this could possibly be a stroke of good luck or not. The film features the first appearance of actor Steven Boyd in the role of a German spy. Not a bad flick!