Eye of the Gorgon
Encyclopedia
Eye of the Gorgon is the third story of the British
science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures
. It forms the third and fourth episodes of the show's first series. The first episode was broadcast on the CBBC channel on October 1, 2007, with the second being broadcast on 8 October.
and her companions investigate claims of sightings of a ghostly nun at Lavender Lawns, the local nursing home. Meanwhile, Chrissie Jackson moves into her ex-husband's house, but succeeds only in causing further problems with the family. Back at Lavender Lawns, an old lady gives Luke an ancient talisman, which is really the key to a portal in space and time. They find that a group of nuns are hiding an age-old creature, the Gorgon
. When Sarah Jane refuses to give the talisman to the nuns, they kidnap Luke and Clyde and take the Gorgon and Maria to Sarah Jane's house where the Gorgon turns Maria's father to stone.
tells Maria and Sarah Jane that Alan is retrievable until 16:00. Luke and Clyde see the Gorgon stumble, but are unable to prevent the talisman beginning the process of joining the Gorgon Homeworld with Earth
. The Gorgon - a parasite inside the Abbess
- chooses Sarah Jane as its next host. Chatting with Bea reveals to Maria that the talisman can revert those turned to stone. Clyde distracts the nuns long enough that Luke grabs the talisman, disconnecting the portal. However, Sarah Jane and both boys are recaptured and locked in another room, though Sarah Jane is soon taken and tied next to the portal. Luke and Clyde escape again and join Sarah Jane just as the Gorgon begins to transfer itself, but Maria arrives and uses a mirror to revert the transfer and turn the Gorgon - and Abbess - to stone, freeing the nuns of mind-control. Maria disconnects the talisman and the portal shuts down forever. The talisman brings Alan back to flesh-and-blood and Chrissie leaves, reuniting with Ivan.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. It forms the third and fourth episodes of the show's first series. The first episode was broadcast on the CBBC channel on October 1, 2007, with the second being broadcast on 8 October.
Part 1
Sarah JaneSarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
and her companions investigate claims of sightings of a ghostly nun at Lavender Lawns, the local nursing home. Meanwhile, Chrissie Jackson moves into her ex-husband's house, but succeeds only in causing further problems with the family. Back at Lavender Lawns, an old lady gives Luke an ancient talisman, which is really the key to a portal in space and time. They find that a group of nuns are hiding an age-old creature, the Gorgon
Gorgon
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...
. When Sarah Jane refuses to give the talisman to the nuns, they kidnap Luke and Clyde and take the Gorgon and Maria to Sarah Jane's house where the Gorgon turns Maria's father to stone.
Part 2
Having got what they came for, the nuns and Gorgon leave. Luke and Clyde escape from their entrapment via a secret passage. Mr SmithMr Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Mr Smith is a fictional extraterrestrial computer voiced by Alexander Armstrong which appears in the British children's science fiction television series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with further minor appearances in the final two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who...
tells Maria and Sarah Jane that Alan is retrievable until 16:00. Luke and Clyde see the Gorgon stumble, but are unable to prevent the talisman beginning the process of joining the Gorgon Homeworld with Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The Gorgon - a parasite inside the Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
- chooses Sarah Jane as its next host. Chatting with Bea reveals to Maria that the talisman can revert those turned to stone. Clyde distracts the nuns long enough that Luke grabs the talisman, disconnecting the portal. However, Sarah Jane and both boys are recaptured and locked in another room, though Sarah Jane is soon taken and tied next to the portal. Luke and Clyde escape again and join Sarah Jane just as the Gorgon begins to transfer itself, but Maria arrives and uses a mirror to revert the transfer and turn the Gorgon - and Abbess - to stone, freeing the nuns of mind-control. Maria disconnects the talisman and the portal shuts down forever. The talisman brings Alan back to flesh-and-blood and Chrissie leaves, reuniting with Ivan.
Continuity
- When Sarah Jane Smith and Bea Nelson-Stanley discuss aliens, SontaranSontaranThe Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...
s are mentioned. The two women agree that they resemble potatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, and that they were "the silliest race in the galaxy". Sarah Jane met the Sontarans in The Time WarriorThe Time WarriorThe Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
and The Sontaran ExperimentThe Sontaran ExperimentThe Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...
. Another character compares a Sontaran to a potato in "The Sontaran StratagemThe Sontaran Stratagem"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
". A lone Sontaran appeared later inThe Sarah Jane Adventures second series stories The Last SontaranThe Last SontaranThe Last Sontaran is the first story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and is a continuation of events from Doctor Who two-part story "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky"...
and Enemy of the BaneEnemy of the BaneEnemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series...
. Sarah Jane and the Sontarans were both introduced in The Time WarriorThe Time WarriorThe Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
. - When Sarah Jane and Mr Smith discuss hauntings, the explanation they give Clyde matches the explanation given in the TorchwoodTorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
episode "Ghost MachineGhost Machine (Torchwood)"Ghost Machine" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the third episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 29 October 2006.-Synopsis:...
". The idea of "residual hauntingResidual hauntingIn the terminology of ghost hunting, residual hauntings, also known as restligeists , are repeated playbacks of auditory, visual, olfactory, and other sensory phenomena that are attributed to a traumatic event, life-altering event, or a routine event of a person or place, like an echo or a replay...
" is also known as the "Stone Tape theory", named after the 1972 BBC television play The Stone TapeThe Stone TapeThe Stone Tape is a television play directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Michael Bates and Iain Cuthbertson. It was broadcast on BBC Two as a Christmas ghost story in 1972...
by Nigel KnealeNigel KnealeNigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
, which popularised the theory. The theory also appears in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
Past Doctor AdventuresPast Doctor AdventuresThe Past Doctor Adventures were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures...
novel The Eleventh TigerThe Eleventh TigerThe Eleventh Tiger is a BBC Books original novel written by David A. McIntee and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki.-Synopsis:...
. - Bea mentions the YetiYeti (Doctor Who)The Yeti of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, although resembling the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti, are in actuality alien robots. Their external appearance, that of a huge hairy biped, disguises a small spherical mechanism that provides its motive power...
. - Sarah Jane mentions Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, whom the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
and Donna NobleDonna NobleDonna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
meet in "The Unicorn and the WaspThe Unicorn and the Wasp"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the 7th episode in the revised fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 19:00. Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the...
". - The Gorgons were first mentioned in the Torchwood episode "Random ShoesRandom Shoes"Random Shoes" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 10 December 2006. It is the ninth episode of the first series.-Synopsis:...
". The fictional Gorgon MedusaMedusaIn Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...
appeared in the 1968 Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial The Mind RobberThe Mind RobberThe Mind Robber is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from September 14 to October 12, 1968...
. - In the Torchwood novel Trace MemoryTrace Memory (Torchwood)Trace Memory is a BBC Books original novel written by David Llewellyn and based on the British science fiction television, Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood. It features all the regular cast of the show...
, an explorer by the name of Nelson-Stanley (who may be Edgar Nelson-Stanley) is alluded to. - Clyde predicts that in the future, he will be able to have his brain transplanted into a metal body so that he can live forever, unwittingly referring to the Cybermen.
- In "Random ShoesRandom Shoes"Random Shoes" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 10 December 2006. It is the ninth episode of the first series.-Synopsis:...
", Eugene Jones has a piece of what he believes to be pre-Gorgon currency in his collection of alleged alien artifacts.
Outside references
- Sister's Helena's line, "I'd shut up if I were you, or the Abbess will show you her idea of solving a problem like Maria", references both the song "MariaMaria (1959 song)"Maria", sometimes known as "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music....
" from the musical The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
and the BBC talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a British television talent series, that was broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One between 29 July and 16 September 2006. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew...
, which John BarrowmanJohn BarrowmanJohn Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
, the actor who portrayed Jack HarknessJack HarknessCaptain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
, Head of Torchwood 3 and ex-companion of the Doctor's, was a judge on.
- When Maria goes to see Bea to find out how to save her father, Bea begins playing the song 'Goodnight Sweetheart', which shares its name with another BBC time travel programme.