Sarah Jane and the gang discover a fissure in time, leading to the day of August 18, 1951, the day that Eddie and Barbara, Sarah Jane's parents, died in a car accident, while Sarah Jane herself as a baby was left in her pram on the side of the road. Luke thinks that it is a trap, but ends up following Sarah Jane through it anyway. She uses her Sonic lipstick to deactivate their car, and suddenly a storm begins to brew.
It turns out that it is a trap, set by none other than the Trickster, because the death of her parents was a fixed point in time, and the altering of it smashed open the Web of Time, allowing the Trickster to manifest himself on Earth.
Tropes
- The '50s: Sarah Jane, Luke and Rani travel back to 1951 and meet Sara-Jane’s parents. Sarah-Jane herself was only a baby at that time.
- BBC Quarry: The dystopian present is depicted as one of these.
- Changed My Jumper:
- Rani time-travels back to 1951. Everyone is shocked to see her in such ridiculous clothes and wonders if it can really be the fashion in "the Punjab". She, hilariously, assumes at first all the strange looks she's getting are due to her race, when she's really getting the looks due to her clothes, and probably only getting away with it because she looks foreign.
- Knowing that she's going back in time, Sarah Jane dresses appropriately for the time period. Apparently "the '50s came back in the '70s". Luke is suitably embarrassed.
- Continuity Nod:
- Sarah Jane describes her Aunt Lavinia as "never in one place long enough to lick a stamp". In Lavinia's only TV appearance, she said the same thing about her niece.
- Sarah Jane refers to how many innocent people have accidentally been abducted by random time fissures and rifts. This situation was previously explored in the Torchwood episodes "Out of Time" and "Adrift".
- When recounting all the people she has saved, she mentions miners on Peladon and drinkers of Bubble Shock.
- Clyde also recounts various adventures he has had, including "Revenge of the Slitheen", "The Lost Boy", "The Last Sontaran" and "Warriors of Kudlak".
- Crapsack World: The alternate future created by the Trickster.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Sarah Jane's parents abandoned her to kill themselves by car crash, fixing the Timey-Wimey Ball and saving the world from being devastated by aliens.
- Go Mad from the Apocalypse: In the post-apocalyptic Alternate Timeline where the Trickster killed the entire Earth except for a couple dozen humans in 1951 and the survivors are being kept alive as slave labor; Clyde and Rani, having escaped being erased with their original present, come across the enslaved alternate counterpart of Rani's mom, and she's a jittery shell of a woman who often speaks in stilted speech patterns and physically panics at any unexpected physical contact.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sarah Jane's parents go their deaths in order to restore the timeline and defeat the Trickster.
- Hope Spot: Sarah Jane says that only one person in the universe would know if her parents could be saved, and where is he whenever you need him? She then looks up and sees a police box, which the camera zooms in on while "The Doctor's Theme" from Doctor Who starts playing. She rushes to the door, hammers on it... and finds it's a perfectly ordinary police box of the kind common to the time period.
- Idiot Ball: Sarah Jane of all people carries it when she falls for the obvious trap in the beginning. Not necessarily when she travels back in time to just have a look at her parents, but definitely the moment she disables their car to prevent the accident that kills them. She traveled with the Doctor and had her timeline tampered with before, so she should know that this is a very bad idea. Discussed in that she DOES know it's a bad idea, saying so multiple times, but the emotional pull is too strong, which the Trickster banked on.
- I'm Mr. [Future Pop Culture Reference]: Sarah Jane and Luke identify as Victoria and David Beckham to the former’s parents.
- Kid from the Future: The plot incorporates both Kid and Grandkidnote from the Future.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Subverted. Clyde suggests doing this, but Rani points out how stupid the strategy is when you only have one magic box to protect you from the enemy.Clyde: Let's not split up!
- Like Father, Like Son:
- Or, rather Like Aunt Like Niece - Sarah Jane and Lavinia describe each other identically as "never in one place long enough to lick a stamp". For years that was literal on Sarah's part. Both are journalists and are/were constantly sticking their nose into other people's business...
- Barbara, Sarah Jane's mother, also uses the phrase, "Mr. Smith, I need you", and like Sarah Jane is intelligent enough to work out the truth when something strange is going on.
- Newspaper Dating: Sarah Jane is informed by the Graske in disguise that it’s July 1951, a month before her parents died. But when Luke picks up a newspaper as a souvenir, Sarah Jane learns that it’s August 18th, the exact day they died.
- No Equal-Opportunity Time Travel: Played With when Rani goes back to the 1950s looking for Sarah Jane — Rani assumes she's getting looks because of racism, but later realizes people are staring at her because of her outfit, and the only reason she's getting away with it is because she isn't white.Yes, I get it, ethnic person in the fifties!
- Schmuck Bait: The Trickster's trap.
- Ship Tease: Rani kisses Clyde on the cheek in thanks, prompting him to remark "I must save the day more often."
- Stable Time Loop: The day is saved by Rani mentioning that Sarah Jane's parents are supposed to leave her and drive off in their car, causing them to entrust the baby to "Victoria" and drive off.
- Take That!: Luke is concerned when Sarah Jane shows no reaction to Steve White on the radio. Clyde is equally concerned because the Hoozies failed to provoke a reaction as well.
