2.2 Day of the Clown

[SiHart]

Discuss the second story of the new series here!

Did anyone watch Part 1 on CBBC on Monday? If so, what did you think?

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

Ep 1 comments in spoiler tags naturally until after 5pm Monday.

[NorthernStar]

Under tags -

Quite enjoyed this (something I still find surprising, but I shouldn't really.) Rani appears to be annoying, but my daughter liked her and her family and it's her 9 year old opinion that counts here.

I found it creepier and more atmospheric than Torchwood's From Out of the Rain and unlike that story, this one appears to make some sort of sense.

[Pip Madeley]

Ep 1 comments in spoiler tags naturally until after 5pm Monday.

That doesn't make sense, surely? If you're not watching it till next week then you're not going to read the thread are you...

[Dirk Gently]

I love the way that the Rani has returned, albeit only in name.

Quite a good story this one, much more exciting than the first. Everyone has a Clown fear, even if you won't admit it.
I liked this a lot more than the Sontaran one.

[Wayne]

Definitely a couple of notches up on the last story. 6.5/10

[SiHart]

That was brilliant!
Bradley Walsh was excellent- really creepy and played it just right. Creepy, disturbing and the glimpses of the clown in unexpected places even made us jump! Michael Kerrigan has improved a great deal since Battlefield...

We laughed a great deal at the cameo from Joey the clown in The Celestial Toymaker shown on Sarah Jane's laptop while she was doing her research and clapped when Floella Benjamin turned up! Superb!
The hall of mirrors scene might have been sen in allsorts of shows/ films, but it worked very well here, even if the mirror shattering was a bit, ermmm, cheap

I think Rani and her family are going to be fine. We'll miss Maria and Alan but the Chandra family look being fine replacements.

This is just a great series!

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

We laughed a great deal at the cameo from Joey the clown in The Celestial Toymaker shown on Sarah Jane's laptop

That was Clara, you numpty!

And hurrah for Aunt Lavinia getting namechecked.

[SiHart]

Well, I'm no Celestial Toymaker expert!

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I'm a Carmen Silvera expert.

[Si Hunt]

Wonderfully creepy, and Walsh was inspired casting - he was excellent. Clyde (Clyyyyyde!) really came into his own in this story. And Rani is interesting and shows promise, although her Mum oddly seems like a total clone of Maria's character-wise - it was like someone doing an impression.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Is it just me or were Clyde's jokes about as funny as a Jim Davidson live DVD?

[Rob McCow]

They were kid-level jokes, kind of school playground humour, so anyone over 18 really should know most of Clyde's jokes anyway.

Superb story, there were a few cheesy bits but overall it was brilliant. Although the bit that came closest to being genuinely scary was the flashback to the moving clown in the bedroom. Poor Sarah Jane!

I was impressed with the way the relationships between the SJS gang and Rani's family became complicated very quickly, without slowing down the story too much. Although it was quite easy to guess who Rani's father was. It was nice to get back to a school setting too.

Awesome stuff, this is a wonderful series. But I keep expecting Mr.Smith to offer everyone a glass of Pimms.

[SiHart]

Was this the first time we've ever had any reference to Sarah Jane's parents being dead on screen? I know it's been referenced in books down the years, but I don't remember it ever being mentioned on telly before. I liked the references to Aunt Lavinia too, they made me

Si xx

[Perry Vale]

I enjoyed that, definitely a notch up from the previous story, but still not up to last year's heights. I felt it had all the ingredients for a classic, but fell slightly short in it's delivery.

In regards to the finale, and resolving the story......
I felt it would have worked better if Clyde had been given an audience for his jokes. As they'd already had the whole school hypnotized, I thought the ending would have worked better if they'd still all been around. Imagine hundreds of kids laughing, it would have been more believable than a couple of canned clown laughs from offscreen, putting paid to an evil entity that's been around for hundreds of years!

I liked Rani and her family, and the young actress is much, much better than Maria, imo.

Brave casting of Bradley Walsh, and although I don't think he was bad in the role, it didn't quite work for me.

As for the next story....Russ Abbott looks fun!

[Jeff]

I agree this was a good story for Clyde, and I like the potential for growth between him and Mr. Chandra. Didn't really care for the resolution though, as it seemed cheap and a bit unlikely. But overall it was really good.

I think the next one is much better so far though...

[Andrew Curnow]

Playing catch up a bit, I saw part 2 of this one on Saturday, and thought it was excellent, probably one of the best stories yet. And as an 80s fan, I was particularly impressed at the way it joined up bits of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (scary robot clowns) and The Happiness Patrol (paralysing your enemy by laughing)!!!

More seriously, it was a very good intro for the Chandras, and Bradley Walsh was really very good indeed - his German (?) accent was a bit odd, but his American clown with the gacky teeth was just very disturbing indeed.

[Si Hunt]

Rewatching this today and it's maturing into a bit of a classic. Bradley Walsh is absolutely brilliant as Oddbob, and Sladen acts her socks off - she genuinely appears terrified throughout the whole episode. The Clown appearing and leering and genuinely scaring the pants off the viewer is just marvellously done. It's a great couple of episodes.

Si.

[matthewsch]

I will never look at clowns again the same (then again, I can say the same for statues and water...)