4.1 The Nightmare Man

[SiHart]

The first episode of the new SJAs series airs on Mon 11th October.

There's some exclusive photos here: http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2010/...tmare-man.html

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Wooo! More slime!

[SiHart]

Great first episode! That'll have scared the kids- The Nightmare Man was really creepy. I'll be looking forward to part 2 tomorrow.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Brilliant stuff! SJA does Nightmare on Elm Street, without the blood. The kids'll be crying for months!

[Jonno]

Echoing those sentiments! It's very clever how the feeling of loneliness and alienation with the upcoming upheaval in Luke's life is cleverly tied in with The Nightmare Man himself. And how the feel of the series itself is clearly growing up as the characters do. More thoughts tomorrow.

Oh, and I loved K9's bitchy comment to Mr Smith!

[SiHart]

It brought back lts of memories of heading off to university for the first time... it was a great mix of all the conflicting emotions that brought.

Si xx

[Llordllama]

I agree Sim. Sar and I discussed the "leaving uni" plot and agreed it is an unsettling time of life. But wow, Julian Bleach as the Nightmare Man - just brilliant, totally brilliant!

[stuartdg]

And not unlike The Joker from The Dark Knight at all

[Rob McCow]

I can't believe they've managed to keep a hold of Julian Bleach - he's so fantastic, surely bigger things must be beckoning? And is he the first actor to play three different roles in each of Torchwood, SJA and Doctor Who?

But never mind that, Joe Lidster came up with the goods again. Luke's speech at the end veered into cheesiness, but aside from that it was a flawless two-parter that must have had the kids chewing the backs out of their sofas in terror. Or something like that. They even had the 'being sucked into the TV' thing from Poltergeist!

[Rob McCow]

And not unlike The Joker from The Dark Knight at all

I disagree - aside from the white face make-up, they were pretty different. The Joker was jittery and out of control of himself, where The Nightmare Man was camp and totally in control.

[Dino]

DAAAAAAMMNNNNN!!!!!
Didn't realise it was on Monday, I set my Skybox for the CBBC one...

[Jonno]

Part 2 didn't disappoint - bar perhaps as Steve said the Luke speech being a little on the cheesy side, but that's a fairly minor niggle. I certainly hope we see more of The Nightmare Man - an excellent creation.

I saw a few homages to horror films - as well as Poltergeist with the TV the whole thing of the dreamscape and the Man coming into our world was Nightmare on Elm Street and the whole thing of trying not to fall asleep is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Not that I'm complaining - the best stories in the Whoniverse tend to have their roots in other famous literature/media and this is no exception!

Sad to see Luke and K9 go though - now we have only Sarah herself left from the pilot! I wonder if we're getting a Christmas Special, given all this talk of being back at Christmas!

[Si Hunt]

It's odd that nothing's been said officially about Tommy leaving.

I tell you what would be REALLY sneaky... if he was filming bits for next years season instead, helping them double bank. Maybe that'll be mainly Luke and Sarah Jane (or something)?

Si.

[Dino]

It's good to see the series back. And niceness wins the day once again!

[shada pavlova]

Wasn't the Celestial Toymaker also referred to as the "Guardian of Dreams" at some point?

Just saying...

[SiHart]

Not the Guardian of Games?

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

You have to play by the ruuuuules of the gaaaaame!

Si.

[SiHart]

That's the thing about games, they've gotta have ruuuuules.

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

Just caught up on i-Player - excellent start to the new series (well done Joe ). Its almost like season 18, now we've got rid of the ultra-smart companion and the metal dog.

Quick query - if Luke took his A levels a year early (ie end of Lower sixth), why are Rani and Clyde still wearing school uniform at the start of the next school year ? What hellish school makes sixth formers wear uniform ? Or have they been kept back into year 11 for the last 2 years ??

[SiHart]

My school made us wear uniform in the sixth form.

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

So did mine - but that was 25 years ago !!

[Andrew Curnow]

Maybe Clyde and Rani are caught in a space-time trap!

Just caught up with this on iPlayer, watched both episodes back to back - I can only echo what's already been said, a strongly-written couple of episodes, with the first one really racking up the tension at just the right pace. The Nightmare Man was worthy of the name, and all in all a really strong start to the season. And if that's the last we've seen of K9, I think "residing at Oxford Uni" is a much better off-screen fate than "floating around in a black hole inside a safe"!!

[Andrew Curnow]

Assuming Joe L was given the brief "write out the brainy boy, so that we only have 3 regulars from now on" I wonder whether he was originally tempted to have Luke trapped on a spaceship and die killing off the dinosaurs...

Well, it is sort of traditional!

[Si Hunt]

This wasn't my favourite of Sarah Jane stories, although I'm hard pushed to say why. Julian Bleach is usually a brilliantly sinister actor, but I didn't engage with his performance at all this time, and didn't find it scary - maybe I was never going to, as this was made for kids? But I just saw a man in face paint, similar to (but not as menacing as) Bradley Walsh's turn in "Day of the Clown". I found the dream sequences to be a bit odd - Rani being a TV presenter with Doon McKichan and Cyde working in a burger bar. I guess the idea was that Rani's greatest fear was betraying her friend, and Clyde's was being a failure and not as good as Luke. But, entertaining though Sladen's weird Liverpudlian old lady was, I wasn't quite sure why she was there! I was dissapointed K9 went to Oxford, and can't for the life of me see why Sarah would send him off with Luke! Aside from obviously needing him in Ealing, I can't see that he'd exactly help Luke fit in, or be at home grooving away in the student bar. If for some reason K9's other life Down Under forbids them from using him more than once a year, it was an unusual exit for him.

I wanted to like this, but it didn't gel for me perhaps as much as I wanted it to. And I will miss Luke!

Si.

[brandynigma]

I thought that was marvellous.

The great thing is, the fears Joe plays with in this story have long been seeded by the characters. Luke has never quite fitted in, and thus the idea that he hasn't made an impact enough to be missed is poignant, and well played by Tommy Knight. The setting of the school for the central dream is a nice touch, but it would have been nice to see the underused Haresh here, especially as he's referred to as having so much faith in Luke.

Meanwhile, Clyde ends up flipping burgers. Clyde has long since ceased being the underachieving class clown, pursuing his studies creatively (through his art), rather than the academic paths of Luke and Rani. However, not only does he fear he's not smart enough (as they are arguably smarter), he's worried that the 'only' thing he is good at won't be enough for him to be successful. Sarah's presence in his dream depicts the importance of her in his life as, really, a paternal figure (taking on the traditional roles not filled by his mother, whom we should see more of because she's fabulous).

Rani's dream cleverly picks up on the near-distaster of The Mad Woman in the Attic (also by Joe Lidster), as well as integrity in journalism. It lacks the complexity of Clyde's dream, which provides a neat juxtaposition as on the surface, Rani would appear to be a more complex character.

I found the story very satisfying, although I'm sad to see Luke go as I rather identified with his awkwardness at fitting in! The Nightmare Man also serves to highlight what are becoming motifs in Joe's work: dreams vs. reality; perceptions of loyality (and misunderstandings therein); and convincing me to never listen to Brahms' Lullaby on my own and/or at night ever again.*



*And then it turned up in The Avengers episode I was watching with my nephews, being muttered by a madman and freaking Steed out!