Sarah tries to turn the tables on the Crimson Chapter, but she discovers that they have a weapon that could claim millions of lives.
Sarah tries to turn the tables on the Crimson Chapter, but she discovers that they have a weapon that could claim millions of lives.
SARAH JANE SMITH: FATAL CONSEQUENCES
Wow! I was waiting for the second season of Sarah Jane Smith audios to kick into high gear, and it absolutely happens in “Fatal Consequences,” a nailbiter of a story from David Bishop that ratchets the intensity higher and higher and charges past any minor inconsistencies with amazing confidence. The series has been flirting with the concept of bioterrorism from the first episode, but it’s here, with the development of a weaponized Marburg virus, that the foretold apocalypse has never seemed closer. Bishop’s script portrays the horrifying onset and spread of the virus, with a feckless group of protesters reduced to effectively tragic figures — related performances from Patricia Leventon and Katarina Olsson stand out. I suppose the twist revelation about Josh was something we should have seen coming from the start of this season — and ordinarily it’s the sort of thing I criticize as over-egging the pudding, but in this case it’s portrayed effectively. Credit, too, to Elisabeth Sladen, who gets better with each successive play, and Jeremy James, who has been a revelation in this season. Tom Chadbon is also quite impressive, as his Will Sullivan has developed rapidly from Harry’s brother to something altogether more interesting. We’ll see what happens in “Dreamland,” the concluding episode, but from here it appears that the Sarah Jane Smith series is charging towards going out on a high. Thumbs way up.
9/10