Line #41 Headscratchers/TheSarahJaneAdventures


1	* In "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS2E11E12EnemyOfTheBane Enemy of the Bane]]", The Brigadier tells Sarah Jane she will get in trouble if she's found inside the Black Archive. So why doesn't the Brigadier go in to look for the scroll (or whatever it was) since he says he is less likely that he will end up in trouble?
2	** Because he's not allowed to take it either and he's an old man who hasn't kept in shape as well as Sarah Jane, so would have a harder time running away.
3	* Another question about "Enemy of the Bane." Why did they bother stealing the scroll from UNIT in the first place? By stealing the scroll, Sarah Jane only gave Wormwood the chance to steal it from her. Wouldn't it have been safer if they'd left the scroll in UNIT's care? True, the Bane had a spy in UNIT but Sarah Jane had no way of knowing that.
4	** Because these days she doesn't trust UNIT as far as she can throw them.
5	** She may no specifically know that UNIT has been infiltrated but the Bane were doing that the last time she saw them so she can't rule it out. She ''can'' trust her own gang.
6	* Where did she get the Sonic Lipstick?
7	** [[AllThereInTheManual From K9 Mark IV. The Doctor left it with him, along with the scanner watch.]]
8	* Why do all the aliens speak English when the TARDIS isn't in the vicinity?
9	** Well, a lot of them are aliens who are or were pretending to be human, so it would make sense that they would speak the language.
10	** Does the TARDIS actually ''need'' to be in the area? When the Doctor lost the TARDIS in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit The Satan Pit]]", everything stayed translated.
11	*** That's because in that episode the language was older than what the TARDIS could translate.
12	** The Bane had image translators, so they might have language translators. It would be kind of hard to take over the earth if no one can understand you.
13	** Sarah Jane's residual Arton Energy creates a telepathic translation that originated from the TARDIS. It will last for a very long time and only stops if The Doctor is incapacitated. Just my guess.
14	*** That explains Sarah Jane, but what about the teens? Luke, Rani, and Clyde didn't step foot in the TARDIS until Series Three, didn't travel in it until Series Four, and Maria's never even seen it.
15	** If they're talking they are looking to communicate with humans so they speak the language. Simple enough.
16	* Where exactly was Sarah Jane during the whole [[Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth 456 thing]]? The Doctor is understandable, he's off world enough, but you'd think she'd get involved with something that affects every child on the planet.
17	** She was probably actively involved, or pre-occupied with a larger threat.
18	*** If she was involved, then they couldn't have shown it; ''SJA'' is a bit young for ''Torchwood'', and ''Torchwood'' is a bit too dark to be on ''SJA''.
19	** The key moments of all that were taking place at high levels of government. Sarah Jane simply doesn't have the access (her government contacts are mostly UNIT).
20	* What does Sarah Jane do for money? She has a nice house, a car, and a son to take care of. Her "freelance journalist" job is purely a sham; she's never seen writing a story and it's mostly used as a cover for her investigations. She's not affiliated with any organization like UNIT anymore, how does she pay the bills?
21	** Presumably The Doctor takes steps to ensure the comfort of his former Companions, like he did with Donna.
22	** Just because she isn't ''affiliated'' doesn't mean she's guaranteed to not get a check in the mail every so often for all the alien-fighting she does. Especially from Torchwood now that Jack Harkness is in charge there.
23	** Maybe she uses Mr. Smith to steal from banks digitally?
24	** This question is answered, albeit briefly, in "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E5E6TheWeddingOfSarahJaneSmith The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]]" - she owes her independent wealth to her Aunt Lavina's will.
25	** It's not frequent, but it's certainly not an outright ''sham''. She's seen working on stories infrequently. I think it was in ''Revenge of the Slitheen'' where the power going out made her lose her work.
26	** OK, my mistake then, but that brings up a second question: What does she write about? She tries to keep her alien adventures under wraps, and she doesn't seem to have the time to research other story ideas.
27	** Maybe the writers have been on here because this is specifically addressed in series 5, with Sarah Jane getting annoyed that the kids don't seem to realise she really is a journalist, and a very successful one: "what do you think pays for all of this?"
28	** She was invited to the launch of new cutting edge computer so maybe she does technology news? She does have experience with various types of advanced tech.
29	* Why does Sarah (and later Jo Grant) keep mentioning Metebelis 3 as a place the Doctor is likely to be? It's inhabited by a race of [[BodySnatcher body snatching]] spiders, and the last time he was there, [[TheNthDoctor he died!]]
30	** From what I've seen of the UNIT years, Metebelis 3 seems to have been a bit of a RunningGag back then. They mention it quite a few times.
31	*** That was the joke: Whenever The Doctor tried to get the TARDIS to work, he mentioned a desire to visit Meteblis 3. It wouldn't work, and kicked-off the plot. And once he did get the chance to visit Metebelis 3 everything went to hell.
32	* What possible use would Luke have for [[spoiler:a car in Oxford? Everywhere he needs to be can be reached on foot or by bicycle. Quite apart from the question of where, in a city very much not designed with cars in mind, he'd keep the thing.]]
33	** Well, Luke and Sarah Jane are incredibly close, maybe he just wanted to have a car handy in case he got homesick and wanted to come home for a weekend or so? (And in case Sarah Jane called and asked for help with one alien thing or another.)
34	** Additionally, for a teenager, your first car is sort of a symbol of independence. Giving Luke her car is Sarah Jane's way of showing Luke that she's okay with him growing up and leaving.
35	* Why on Raxacoricofallapatorius DO THE SLITHEEN KEEP COMING TO EARTH?!?!? Do they not keep track of the body count?
36	** The Slitheen are too proud for that. They ''really'' want revenge on those who kill their family members, which never ends well for them.
37	** There is significant evidence that most of the Slitheen aren't all that bright.
38	* What was with the line in "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Death of the Doctor]]" that [[spoiler: Ian and Barbara haven't aged since traveling with the Doctor.]]
39	** It only said "rumored" to have [[spoiler: never aged.]]
40	** Apparently, that was pulled from ''The Face of the Enemy'', an ExpandedUniverse novel from 2003. A better question would be why Ben and Polly are running an orphanage, why Ace is running a charity, or why UNIT has left the Brigadier in Peru for ''three fracking years''.
41	*** Peru is probably a cover; it's the Brigadier doing sneaky alien stuff that they can't take official credit for, but sending a retired Brigadier to help? Now, that they ''can'' do. Also, the Doctor doesn't seem ''surprised'' that the Brigadier is in Peru in ''The Sontaran Stratagem'', implying he ha something to do with it and is just ''annoyed'' that the Brig isn't around.
42	*** It might not be Ace, it could be Dodo. They ARE both called Dorothy, after all...
43	*** Look at the acronym made by A Charitable Earth. (The novelisation confirms that Ace runs ACE - along with Mel.)
44	** It's quite likely that "running an orphanage" or "raising money for charity" are no more accurate descriptions of what the others are doing than "freelance journalism" is of SJA.
45	*** As stated further up, she IS seen doing journalism and story writing from time to time. Just because she uses it as a cover for fighting aliens doesn't mean she doesn't work at all.
46	*** The point is: Sarah is a lot more than just a journalist. By the same token, Dorothy's "charity work" may be only a small part of what she ''really'' does.
47	*** We later learn in the novel "At Childhood's End" by Sophie Aldred that A Charitable Earth does things like helping homeless people get back on their feet and get jobs and houses, as well as fighting for the environment. Ace also does a little experimenting with alien tech on the side.
48	** Why shouldn't Ben and Polly be running a charity?
49	** Some of it is also a deliberate attempt to avert TheCharacterDiedWithHim - much as the SeriesFinale is as well.
50	** This would also later be {{Jossed}}, at least for [[spoiler:Ian]], in "The Power of the Doctor" when [[spoiler: an aged Ian appears in the support group]].
51	* So, in "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS1E9E10TheLostBoy The Lost Boy]]", how did Sarah Jane forget that her alien scanner registered Luke as a few hours old after she and Maria rescued him? Sure it wouldn't hold up in court or anything, but she seems convinced that Luke is actually that couple's son.
52	** Pure WMG, but here goes:
53	*** She did simply forget, I've seen very calm, rational people (as much or more so than Sarah Jane) go completely hysterical where their children were involved.
54	*** The Bane had to get a human "template" from somewhere. There's the FridgeHorror possibility that Luke is based off the Bane's first victim (similar to a Flesh avatar,) and that the original "Luke" has disappeared. Maybe she really did think that he was that couple's son (or a very close second.)
55	*** I would assume that the "template" would be to the thousands of humans that went through the Bubble Shock scanner. He was created to be a perfect being.
56	** A cut scene had Sarah Jane mention this to Mr. Smith, who replied that the scanner registered Luke's time from his point of activation.
57	*** What about his lack of a belly button?
58	*** This is explained in line where Mr. Smith claims that the Bane surgically removed it as they are an egg laying species who find navels offensive.
59	*** They know he's been experimented on, so that may be it. Plus, it's implied that [[HeroicSelfDeprecation part of her wants Luke to go find a normal family, since she thinks she isn't good enough for him.]] She's probably not querying it too much.
60	* Is it standard procedure for UNIT to send armed grunts in armored vehicles to deliver a DeathNotification? Seems like overkill.
61	** This was a very important notification, so yes, it probably is. It's a mark of respect to the Doctor, rather than just having one person swing around in a jeep.
62	* In Series 2, has everyone already forgotten about the Earth being moved by Davros? I know they wouldn't know who did it, but they'd at least still be aware of it!
63	** In "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS2E7E8TheMarkOfTheBerserker The Mark of the Berserker]]", [[spoiler: Clyde's dad mentions the Daleks when Clyde tells him about aliens]] which implies that certain people still remember the events of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth The Stolen Earth]][=/=][[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journeys End]]" before Series 5 so I wouldn't say that they were forgotten in Series 2
64	** This is a whole big problem ''Series/DoctorWho'' has always had. Cracks in time, maybe?
65	*** Cracks in time are the canonical answer. Series 5 of ''Doctor Who'' confirms that past invasions such as the Cyberking and the Dalek invasion in 2009 were erased from history. Presumably either the invasions were not restored when the Doctor rebooted the universe or Series 2 of Sarah Jane takes place in the pre-rebooted universe, which would make sense since the Doctor and Sarah Jane's timeline seems to (generally) be in sync.
66	* If the Judoon are so anal about following the local laws (anal enough to go exactly the speed limit apparently), why would there be any danger in "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E1E2PrisonerOfTheJudoon Prisoner of the Judoon]]" that Tybo would kill the hostage in the attempt to arrest Androvax? That's pretty illegal too.
67	** The Juddon's personal duty takes priority over local, not interstellar recognised laws. He obeys locals laws where they don't conflict but when they do...
68	* Aside from TheoryOfNarrativeCausality, why does the situation in "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E5E6TheWeddingOfSarahJaneSmith The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]]" have to be either/or? Why can't [[spoiler: Peter just get married to Sarah Jane and then join the gang fighting aliens?]]
69	** It was already established that Sarah Jane would be [[spoiler:under the control and influence of The Trickster if she were to marry Peter which would ultimately prevent them from fighting aliens together even in marriage.]] Everything that happened in the [[spoiler: time loop would be forgotten by everyone.]] We could even assume that [[spoiler: after the deal is sealed, removing the ring wouldn't be enough to remove the Trickster's influence or make a difference]] if it reached that point.
70	** Remember that [[spoiler: Peter is ''dead'' without the Trickster's intervention. The deal is Peter lives and marries Sarah Jane if Sarah Jane drops the alien fighting. Trying to do both would be breaking the deal and Peter goes back to being dead.]]
71	* In "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresNYSInvasionOfTheBane Invasion of the Bane]]", the backstory for Luke's creation is that he was meant to help the Bane modify Bubble Shock so that the 2% of humans who hated it would drink it. But wouldn't the people coming to the factory tours, whom the Bane used to create Luke, be comprised exclusively of people who love Bubble Shock? Maria is kind of the exception because she needed the free bus and went with Kelsey, but otherwise, why would people who hate Bubble Shock go on a factory tour for it?
72	** Maybe they figured once they had a human of their own, they could do experiments on him and figure out exactly how to fix it. Also, between visits from journalists, school groups, local politicians and celebrities with their retinues, and people like Kelsey dragging along their family and friends, the Bane would've had exposure to a fair amount of folks who aren't necessarily in the 98%.
73	* In "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E11E12TheGift The Gift]]", [[spoiler:why did the Blathereen give Sarah Jane the Rakweed? Why not just plant it on the sly on the other side of the world]]?
74	** They wanted Sarah Jane to have a hand in the planet's downfall. For irony, or something. What could be more ironic than one of the Earth's greatest defenders helping spread the cause of its [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom ultimate destruction?]]
75	* In "The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith", the implication was that a StableTimeLoop caused Eddie and Barbara to leave Sarah Jane by the side of the road, meaning adult Sarah Jane and the Trickster were always meant to be there. So why does [[https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Barbara_Smith Tardis Wiki]] indicate there was an original timeline where they just left for no apparent reason?
76	** Time travel is weird in this universe, and the rules sometimes boil down to "whatever the author wants it to be/works best for the story." It's not 100% clear how stable time loops work in this universe in general; whether originally, they ''did'' leave her behind for some reason, then SJ came back in time and from then on it was a stable time loop, or whether it was always a stable time loop. The other possibility is that the wiki editor was just flat-out mistaken.

Context Headscratchers / TheSarahJaneAdventures