Audio Review: The Sarah Jane Adventures: Deadly Download/Wraith World

More adventures for the alien-busting Sarah Jane and her friends

Written by Jason Arnopp/Cavan Scott and Mark Wright

RETURN to Bannerman Road for the latest audio adventures starring investigative journalist and former time traveller Sarah Jane Smith, ably assisted as ever by her team of young assistants Clyde, Luke and Rani, and the extraterrestrial supercomputer Mr Smith…

The first story finds the gang battling a dangerous computer virus capable of destroying everything and taking over the Earth, and in the second tale Rani meets her favourite author and receives a journal full of notes and sketches from his Wraith World series, only to find the worlds of fiction and reality starting to collide…

Both stories are read by Elizabeth Sladen, whose narrative skills are pretty faultless, immersing the listener in the events and building up a real sense of danger and excitement.

The audio format allows for budget-free adventures and a depth of characterisation and plotting sometimes lacking from the fast-paced TV show, and there’s enough here to keep even the younger fans of the series engrossed in what is happening. Two worthwhile additions to the range then, and ideal purchases to fill in the time before Sarah Jane returns to our screens next year.