Review: Invasion of the Bane and Revenge of the Slitheen novelisations

Popular Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures makes the transition to print, in book-form adaptations of the television episodes. The range begins with Invasion of the Bane, novelised by Terrance Dicks from the original story by Gareth Roberts and Russell T Davies, in which the eponymous aliens attempt to conquer Earth through the medium of fizzy drinks.

The book adds little new to the TV episode, with the story basically retold verbatim, which means that the fun and vibrancy of the show transfers directly into Dicks's prose. He also works in a nice bit of sarcastic humour - Sarah's horror that Blue Peter, of all places, has been corrupted; and wry amusement at television news practices - which is lovely to see.

Invasion of the Bane is followed by a novelisation of the two-part story that kicked off the series proper, Revenge of the Slitheen by Rupert Laight. Adapted from Gareth Roberts's episodes, it sees the green baby-faced monsters from Doctor Who return.

The book it reflects the fact that Sarah Jane Adventures was a more confident and polished show by the time the series began, with characterisations stronger and tone more defined than in the first book. Not only that, but the prose form makes the story feel more coherent and somewhat more enjoyable than it did on-screen.

Both authors slip in more explicit references to the Classic Series of Doctor Who than the TV episodes did, with Dicks explaining Sarah's suggestions of Harry and Alastair as potential names for Luke, and Laight providing history on some of the photos and drawings in Sarah's attic, which is nice for older readers.

The prose in both books is simple, with the tone and language confidently treading the middle ground half-way between the short stories in Doctor Who Files, and the Quick Reads series. The stores are short - older, more confident children could probably demolish them in two or three sittings - and fast-paced, breezing along cheerfully.

Each novel is complemented with eight pages of full-colour photos from the respective TV episodes, which is cute - even if the captions are a bit bizarre (a photo of Maria and Luke looking vaguely disinterested is unconvincingly labelled as a depiction of their awe at Sarah Jane's attic).

All things considered, these novelisations are jolly good fun, equally as colourful and lively as the series on which they're based. Younger readers who are fans of the series will adore these books.