The Day of the Clown
Encyclopedia
The Day of the Clown is the second story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures
The two-part serial was broadcast on 6 October and 13 October 2008; "Part One" on the CBBC Channel
at 5.15 p.m. on 6 October; "Part Two" on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on 13 October. The Day of the Clown introduces main character Rani Chandra
(Anjli Mohindra
) and her parents, Haresh (Ace Bhatti
) and Gita Chandra (Mina Anwar
).
) is struggling to adjust to life without Maria Jackson
(Yasmin Paige
), she having moved to Washington, D.C.
with her father. Meanwhile, the Chandras move into the Jacksons' old house on Bannerman Road and Sarah Jane Smith
(Elisabeth Sladen
) starts an investigation into disappearing children in the area. Sarah Jane makes Luke and Clyde promise her that they will not reveal her alien investigating secrets to the newcomers to Bannerman Road.
Clyde Langer
(Daniel Anthony
) and Luke meet new girl Rani Chandra at school. After Clyde sees a clown in school prior to the sudden disappearance of one of his friends, Rani reveals she is being stalked by a clown that no one else can see. With Clyde having got into trouble with the new Headteacher, Rani's father, Luke arranges to keep an eye on Rani in his place and goes round to her house to help her unpack. Sarah Jane and Clyde link the disappearances of the children to the Museum of the Circus, Clyde and two of the missing children having received tickets for it. Rani, who wants to become a journalist, begins her own investigation and makes the same connection to the Museum having found a ticket in a school book belonging to one of the missing children and having a ticket herself.
Sarah Jane and Clyde explore the Museum of the Circus and encounter Elijah Spellman (Bradley Walsh). Soon they are joined by Rani and Luke and Spellman sets his robotic clown
s on the group. Sarah Jane halts the clowns, as shown in the picture, with her sonic lipstick and Luke theorises that Spellman is an alien. As Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani attempt to escape the building, Spellman reveals himself to have been the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin
and now Odd Bob the Clown seeking to feed off their fear.
is also coulrophobic
having read it in Heat
. Spellman outlines the history of clowns citing Pharaoh
s' fools, harlequin
s, Native American clowns and Mediaeval court jester
s, and numerous references are made to the legend
of The Pied Piper of Hamelin
.
on BBC One
at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008. It was made available for 14 days after first broadcast on the BBC iPlayer
. "Part Two" was first broadcast on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008 and was repeated on BBC One at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 20 October 2008.
, Matt McAllister asserts that there may not be "quite enough here to sustain a double-episode worth" but observes that there are "memorable scenes, including an ingenious final showdown." He states that Walsh is "appropriately sinister...as Odd Bob the Clown" and describes Rani as "likeable", noting that having her father as the new Headteacher is "a nice little twist". McAllister thinks that the story "owes a big debt to Stephen King
’s It
" (1986
) and that it has shades of Torchwood
episode "From Out of the Rain
" and Doctor Who
serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
. In conclusion, McAllister notes that "[t]his may not be earth-shattering kids’ TV, but it’s good creepy fun nonetheless."
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...
The two-part serial was broadcast on 6 October and 13 October 2008; "Part One" on the CBBC Channel
CBBC Channel
CBBC is a BBC television channel aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. Launched on 11 February 2002, it broadcasts from 7am to 7pm on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite, occupying the same bandwidth as, but a different...
at 5.15 p.m. on 6 October; "Part Two" on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on 13 October. The Day of the Clown introduces main character Rani Chandra
Rani Chandra (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Rani Chandra is a fictional character played by Anjli Mohindra in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who...
(Anjli Mohindra
Anjli Mohindra
Anjli Mohindra is an English actress from West Bridgford, Nottingham, best known for her role in The Sarah Jane Adventures as Rani Chandra.-Biography:...
) and her parents, Haresh (Ace Bhatti
Ace Bhatti
Ahsen Rafiq "Ace" Bhatti is a British actor who trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has starred in numerous television series, including New Street Law, Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, The Sarah Jane Adventures as Haresh Chandra and in EastEnders playing Yusef...
) and Gita Chandra (Mina Anwar
Mina Anwar
Mina Anwar is a British actress.-Early life:Anwar was educated at Accrington Moorhead Sports College, and gained an A level in Theatre in Performance at the Accrington and Rossendale College in 1988 before training at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.-Acting career:She played Police...
).
Part One
Luke Smith (Tommy KnightTommy Knight
Thomas 'Tommy' Lawrence Knight is an English actor best known for playing Luke Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Personal life:...
) is struggling to adjust to life without Maria Jackson
Maria Jackson
Maria Jackson is a fictional character played by Yasmin Paige in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. She is a 14-year-old girl who discovers that her new neighbour, Sarah Jane Smith, is aware of...
(Yasmin Paige
Yasmin Paige
Yasmin Paige is an English actress who is best known for her role as Maria in The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off from the BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Having acted and modelled since the age of four, she made her screen debut in the 2003 film Wondrous Oblivion...
), she having moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
with her father. Meanwhile, the Chandras move into the Jacksons' old house on Bannerman Road and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah 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....
(Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
) starts an investigation into disappearing children in the area. Sarah Jane makes Luke and Clyde promise her that they will not reveal her alien investigating secrets to the newcomers to Bannerman Road.
Clyde Langer
Clyde Langer
Clyde Langer is a fictional character played by Daniel Anthony in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures...
(Daniel Anthony
Daniel Anthony (actor)
Daniel Jevoughn Anthony is a British television, musical theatre and voice actor. He has appeared in several television shows as minor recurring or regular roles and is known for his role as Clyde Langer in the Doctor Who spin-off programme The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:Daniel Anthony was...
) and Luke meet new girl Rani Chandra at school. After Clyde sees a clown in school prior to the sudden disappearance of one of his friends, Rani reveals she is being stalked by a clown that no one else can see. With Clyde having got into trouble with the new Headteacher, Rani's father, Luke arranges to keep an eye on Rani in his place and goes round to her house to help her unpack. Sarah Jane and Clyde link the disappearances of the children to the Museum of the Circus, Clyde and two of the missing children having received tickets for it. Rani, who wants to become a journalist, begins her own investigation and makes the same connection to the Museum having found a ticket in a school book belonging to one of the missing children and having a ticket herself.
Sarah Jane and Clyde explore the Museum of the Circus and encounter Elijah Spellman (Bradley Walsh). Soon they are joined by Rani and Luke and Spellman sets his robotic clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
s on the group. Sarah Jane halts the clowns, as shown in the picture, with her sonic lipstick and Luke theorises that Spellman is an alien. As Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani attempt to escape the building, Spellman reveals himself to have been the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
and now Odd Bob the Clown seeking to feed off their fear.
Part Two
Sarah Jane and the rest escape through the back door. Then Sarah Jane tells Luke about why she's scared of clowns saying that the clown mannequin in her room came to life when she was young. The next morning, Rani looks out of her bedroom window and sees Odd Bob's balloon in her garden. When she gets to the school she tells Luke and Clyde, then a load of balloons fall down from the sky, all the school children pick them up (apart from Luke, Clyde and Rani) and fall under the spell from Odd Bob, behaving much like the Pied Piper story. But Mr. Smith uses the cellular phone system to interfere with Odd Bob's control and the children are released. Then Odd Bob suddenly kidnaps Luke, and Sarah Jane must face her fears to save Luke. Then Clyde uses his funny jokes to dissipate their fear. Odd Bob requires fear to exist, and without it, he is forced to return to the meteorite he used to come to Earth. Sarah Jane puts the meteorite into a box from which nothing can escape, not even thoughts. In the end, Clyde says how the universe is always full of surprises.Continuity
- The First DoctorFirst DoctorThe First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
, John and Gillian first meet the Pied Piper in the comic Challenge of the Piper. This is also the first story to ever feature the Pied Piper in any Doctor Who media. - Chrissie Jackson is revealed to be getting married and her daughter, Maria, is expected to return for the wedding..
- Haresh Chandra replaces Mr Blakeman as Headteacher of Park Vale High School, Blakeman having seemingly disappeared during Revenge of the SlitheenRevenge of the SlitheenRevenge of the Slitheen is the second story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It comprises the first and second episodes of the show's first series, aired on BBC1, broadcast in two parts on September 24 and October 1, 2007, with the second being broadcast a...
. - Clyde reminds Luke of the disappearing children and the alien Kudlak seen in Warriors of KudlakWarriors of KudlakWarriors of Kudlak is the fourth story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the fifth and sixth episodes of the show's first series...
. - Sarah Jane refers to her Aunt Lavinia, who appeared in K-9 and CompanyK-9 and CompanyK-9 and Company was a proposed television spin-off of the original programme run of Doctor Who . It was to feature former series regulars Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist played by Elisabeth Sladen, and K-9, a robotic dog. Both characters had been companions of the Fourth Doctor, but...
and was first mentioned 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...
. We learn more about Sarah Jane's upbringing with her Aunt Lavinia. - One of the clowns shown on Sarah Jane's laptop is a promotional photo of Carmen SilveraCarmen SilveraCarmen Blanche Silvera was a Canadian-born British comic actress of Spanish-Jewish descent who moved to Coventry with her family when she was a child...
as Clara the Clown from the 1966 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 Celestial ToymakerThe Celestial ToymakerThe Celestial Toymaker is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 April to 23 April 1966.-Plot:...
. - Professor Rivers of the Pharos Institute previously appeared in The Lost BoyThe Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)The Lost Boy is the sixth story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the ninth and tenth episodes of the show's first series...
.
Outside references
After Sarah Jane reveals her fear of clowns, Luke reveals that he knows Johnny DeppJohnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
is also coulrophobic
Coulrophobia
Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. The term is of recent origin, probably dating from the 1980s, and according to one analyst, "has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary," however...
having read it in Heat
Heat (magazine)
Heat is a British entertainment magazine published by German company Bauer Media Group. it is one of the biggest selling magazines in the UK, with a regular circulation over half a million. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion is primarily aimed at women, although not as directly as in...
. Spellman outlines the history of clowns citing Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
s' fools, harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
s, Native American clowns and Mediaeval court jester
Court jester
A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon was a person employed to tell jokes and provide general entertainment, typically for a European monarch. Jesters are stereotypically thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern...
s, and numerous references are made to the legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
of The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
.
Broadcast
"Part One" was first broadcast on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 6 October 2008 and was repeated as part of CBBCCBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008. It was made available for 14 days after first broadcast on the BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
. "Part Two" was first broadcast on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008 and was repeated on BBC One at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 20 October 2008.
Critical reception
Writing for DreamwatchDreamwatch
Dreamwatch was a British magazine covering science fiction and fantasy films, books and television programmes.Published monthly by Gary Leigh and then Titan Magazines , it was a leading genre entertainment magazine, competing with SFX and Cinescape in the genre magazine market.-Overview:The...
, Matt McAllister asserts that there may not be "quite enough here to sustain a double-episode worth" but observes that there are "memorable scenes, including an ingenious final showdown." He states that Walsh is "appropriately sinister...as Odd Bob the Clown" and describes Rani as "likeable", noting that having her father as the new Headteacher is "a nice little twist". McAllister thinks that the story "owes a big debt to Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
’s It
It (novel)
It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by the eponymous inter-dimensional predatory life-form that exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It"...
" (1986
1986 in literature
The year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.-New books:*Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils...
) and that it has shades of Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood 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 "From Out of the Rain
From Out of the Rain
"From Out of the Rain" is the tenth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 12 March 2008, and repeated on BBC Two one week later.- Synopsis :...
" and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor 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 Greatest Show in the Galaxy
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 1989.-Plot:...
. In conclusion, McAllister notes that "[t]his may not be earth-shattering kids’ TV, but it’s good creepy fun nonetheless."