Doctor Who Magazine reports that The Sarah Jane Adventures will return to BBC Television on Monday 11th October 2010.

The series will be shown twice each week, with episodes first being shown on CBBC on Mondays and Tuesdays before being repeated on BBC One on Thursdays and Fridays.

Dates are subject to change and will be finalised the week before transmission.


The Sarah Jane Adventures - Series Four.

• 1: The Nightmare Man
by Joseph Lidster
• 2: The Vault of Secrets
by Phil Ford
• 3: Death of the Doctor
by Russell T Davies
• 4: The Empty Planet
by Gareth Roberts
• 5: Lost in Time
by Rupert Laight
• 6: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman

The British Film Institute is giving fans in London a chance to see a special preview of The Sarah Jane Adventures story, Death of the Doctor. The two part story by Russell T Davies not only features a special appearance from Matt Smith as The Doctor but also sees the return of Katy Manning to the role of Jo Grant, a part she last played on television in 1973.

The showing will be followed by a special panel discussion with Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Brian Minchin (Producer), Gary Russell (Script Editor) and Edward Russell (Brand Manager). The event will be hosted by the BFI's Justin Johnson.

The special showing is on Tuesday 12th October at 8pm and takes place at the NFT1 on London's South Bank.

Tickets cost £9, concs £6.65 and are available from the BFI Website or by ringing the box office on 020 7928 3232.

The BBC has announced that a Sarah Jane Adventures Quiz will be available on the BBC Red Button service this October.

The quiz will allow viewers to test their memory and observational skills by watching clips from the show and then answering questions put to them by the Bannerman Road Gang. Participants who make the grade then can go to the website and download a special certificate saying they have passed the "Red Button" level of the Sarah Jane Academy.

The show is due to return to BBC One and CBBC this October. No start date has officially been confirmed but the series is expected to start around Monday 11th October.

BBC Blast has launched a competition looking for young designers, aged between 13 and 19, with fresh ideas to work with their teams and help create a new The Sarah Jane Adventures game for CBBC.

The competition runs until 5pm on Monday, 11th October 2010. The task is to make some sound effects and/or design a spaceship for the Krulius, an alien on The Sarah Jane Adventures website.

Up to 8 winners will get the chance to attend a two day master class on 23rd and 24th October 2010 with leading industry professionals involved in games design. They will work alongside sound designers, visual designers and games executives to produce an online game for The Sarah Jane Adventures website.

To enter in the sound category you need to record 3 different sound effects for the Krulius. He should have a sound for each of the following:-

• When he moves
• When he breathes out his toxic breath
• When he uses the digital bio-converter and modem on his wrist

Each sound should be up to 10 seconds long so that the whole entry is no longer than 30 seconds.

To enter in the visual category you need to design a spaceship for the Krulius including a special feature which will be useful to him. You could draw it, paint it, create a collage for your design and digitally manipulate it.

To accompany either entry, you need to write a description of no more than 200 words on the creative thought behind your entry and how the sounds were made or why the special feature on the spaceship will be useful to the Krulius.

Full details and resources for you to use are available on the BBC Blast website.

Doctor Who Magazine has revealed the episode titles for the fourth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, due to be shown in the UK this Autumn.

The series will again consist of six, two-part stories. A number of guest stars are also announced including Julian Bleach, who is playing the Nightmare Man, Cheryl Campbell, Cyril Nri, Julie Graham and of course Matt Smith and Katy Manning.

• 1: The Nightmare Man
by Joseph Lidster
• 2: The Vault of Secrets
by Phil Ford
• 3: Death of the Doctor
by Russell T Davies
• 4: The Empty Planet
by Gareth Roberts
• 5: Lost in Time
by Rupert Laight
• 6: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman

Katy Manning has been talking to SFX about her feelings on returning to the role of Jo Grant 37 years after she made her television farewell to the character in The Green Death.

In the interview she talks about her delight in being asked to work on the show.
The magazine also contains a report on the read through which took place last Monday. They describe the script as very moving, with echoes of School Reunion and absolutely stuffed to the gills with in-jokes and little nods for the fans.

The BBC Press Office has announced that The Sarah Jane Adventures will have two special guests when it returns for a fourth series this autumn. In a special two-part story written by Russell T Davies, Matt Smith will appear as the Doctor, and Katy Manning will guest as the Doctor's former companion Jo Grant. Manning starred in Doctor Who opposite the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, from 1971 to 1973. Manning has recorded audio adventures for Big Finish Productions, but this will be the first time she has played Jo Grant on television in thirty-seven years.

The press release includes reactions from Elisabeth Sladen, who plays Sarah Jane Smith, Manning, and Sarah Jane Adventures executive producer Nikki Wilson:

Filming commenced on the fourth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures last week, and today saw the production back at the Sarah Jane Smith residence on Bannerman Road, aka Clinton Road in Penarth.

 

The BBC Press Office have announced that the Doctor Who Children's Television spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures has been recommissioned for a further two series. Both series will consist of twelve, twenty-five minute episodes.

Says CBBC Controller Damian Kavanagh:BBC Wales Head of English Language Programmes, Clare Hudson, added:The fourth series starts production at the end of March (believed to be the 29th), for transmission in Autumn. The new producer has been named as Brian Minchin (former script-editor for Doctor Who/Torchwood), who will work alongside co-producer Phil Ford, with Russell T Davies and Doctor Who producer Nikki Wilson as executive producers; writers include Ford, Joseph Lidster, Rupert Laight, Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, and the series will be script-edited by Gary Russell.

The show will feature all three main stars Tommy Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde) and Anjli Mohindra (Rani), as well as the title-star Elisabeth Sladen as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith; however, no mention has currently been made of K9.
The fifth series is expected to go into production next year.

As the award season continues apace, the latest nomination comes from the Royal Television Society with The Sarah Jane Adventures up for their Children's Drama award. The show faces two other CBBC-produced shows MI High and Roy. The award ceremony takes place at the Grosvenor Park Hotel on Tuesday 16th March - the venue also sees the annual TRIC awards a week beforehand where Doctor Who is up for best TV Programme Drama (see our award report last month for more details).

The Royal Television Society is Britain's leading forum for television and related media, and has existed for over 80 years. It produces the monthly industry magazine Television.