2.3 Secrets of the Stars

[Dirk Gently]

An Astrologer attracts Sarah Jane's interest with his uncanny predictions - is Earth under threat from the stars?

Part 1 on now.

[Wayne]

Russ Abbott was awful!
Not a bad story though, but not quite as good as last week. 6/10
I'm watching these both parts at once, every fortnight. When's the Brigadier on?

[Dirk Gently]

Agreed, Russ Abbot was cheese personified! Over acting like never before.
I watch each episode as it's shown, even repeated... just in case I miss anything.

This wasn't as good Day of the Clown & probably on a par with Last Sontaran... may be a little bit worse.

[Simon R]

It was a bit by numbers wasn't it? Every week it seems to be a male villain and lots of extras walking down the street posessed. I'm still not convinved they're making Sarah a likeable enough character. Kids must think she's a frosty mare!

[SiHart]

Am I the only one thinking Mandragora? Possibly. I usually am.

Anyway, we watched part 1 last night before the constant problems with the power at home, and again I thoroughly enjoyed it. Russ Abbott was doing the kind of acting not often these days on TV and was all the better for it. I thought he was quite good. The pre-credits teaser was ever so good too- even with the cheeky Dimensions in Time lines, which had us giggling!

Part 2 tonight.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

The pre-credits teaser was ever so good too- even with the cheeky Dimensions in Time lines, which had us giggling!

I shouted out "How long?"

[Jon Masters]

I thought it was pretty good again, although as mentioned, the mass taking over of part of the population is getting a bit overdone.
I thought RA was meant to be deliberately cheesy, showing that he was still the same bit of a no-hoper, just with super-powers.

BUT ....SJA in NON-SCIENTIFIC BLUNDER !!

I'm not sure how you can get all of the stars in the Universe to line up, given that they're all moving apart following the Big Bang . Perhaps a conjunction of the planets would have been sufficient.

I had to check that Helen Raynor hadn't written it

And, yes, I was thinking Mandragora too.

[Andrew Curnow]

I watched it over breakfast, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to agree that Russ Abbot doesn't seem to have been as inspired a bit of casting as Bradley Walsh last week, but he wasn't too bad. I thought he was very convincing in the pre-credit sequence (where he refuses to take that daft woman's mortgage money) so maybe he's deliberately 'the showman' in every scene after that, whether he's on stage or not.

I wasn't thinking Mandragora, though, I was thinking more Planet of the Spiders, when the regulars all start off with a night at the theatre!!

The only bit that didn't quite work for me was the speed and certainty with which they leapt to the 'it must be an earlier universe' theory, but that aside it was another really strong script. And I liked the bit where Mrs Chandra calls Sarah, Sarah ("My name is Sarah Jane")... although I don't remember her ever getting tetchy about it in the past?

[Si Hunt]

Odd I didn't comment on this first time round. Not many did!

Not bad but clearly the season cheapie. Suffers from someone forcing crowds of people to take to the streets under hypnosis for the second story running - also the ending lingers on for ages with people chatting because the plot has run out, as in this weeks Doctor Who.

In hindsight, Russ Abbott camps it up gloriously, saving this otherwise quite pedestrian adventure.

Si.