Sarah Jane and friends

So what links The Sarah Jane Adventures to The One Show? Answer below.

As Dave Golder’s already reported on the SFX website, last night saw the press launch for series three of the excellent Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The opener, ‘Prisoner of the Judoon’, is most notable for Elisabeth Sladen’s truly brilliant, and slightly bonkers, performance as an evil Sarah Jane. It’s a two-parter packed with thrills and gags, although, as Dave points out in his piece, the Chandra parents do come across as superfluous to the action… but they are nicely played.

The Judoon are never better, portrayed as bureaucratic, blustering plods, with no regard for humanity. Watch out as one commandeers a police car, and pulls up an anti-social motorist.

Introducing the screening, producer Nikki Wilson said: “This series it’s even bigger, bolder, funnier and deliciously scary. We also filmed in HD, so it’s really vibrant and really comes to life.”

In the Q&A season following the screening – slightly delayed while Lis popped to the loo (“It’s just too exciting!”), children took centre stage with the questioning. One asked if Russell T Davies still has an involvement in the show. “I had a text from Russell today,” revealed Lis, “saying,  ‘I’m sitting in LA, watching Sarah Jane defeat the Mona Lisa. It doesn’t get better’.”

We also learned Daniel Anthony (Clyde) was genuinely scared filming in a ‘haunted’ house; shooting in the attic is incredibly hot (Lis: “The worst place is in the back, where all the books are… if you survive the scene you get a Mivvi”); writer Phil Ford’s highlight this series is the aforementioned haunted house story (“It’s one that I’ve been talking about doing for ages”); and they got their money’s worth from David Tennant in his upcoming two-parter  (Lis, again: “Once we knew we had him, we worked him so hard. I think he was a bit sorry he came!”).

And the link between Bannerman Road and Ade ‘n’ Chris? Incredibly, it’s the same press officer working (very hard, it has to be said) across both shows.