Review: The Glittering Storm

The Glittering Storm is the second in the series of audio-only Sarah Jane Adventures stories, penned this time by Stephen Cole.

The plot sees a strange woman attempts to break in to Sarah Jane Smith's house one night, coinciding with jewellery thefts at Maria's school, and newspaper stories about a grandmother who has stolen gold items from a jewellers. Sarah Jane's investigation of these events takes her to a private health clinic where patients exchange their own jewellery for treatment, but that's not the only strange thing happening there...

This is more of the same, really: a fun, action-packed runaround which maintains a solid momentum and is engrossing enough for its seventy-minute duration. There are one or two repeated plot elements from the first of these audio stories, but they're vague enough that the repetition is soon forgotten. Author Cole doesn't patronise his audience at all, making the younger characters believable without relying on cliches. This story is definitely aimed at children, but nothing about it feels consciously diluted or dumbed-down, and there's actually quite a lot for older listeners to enjoy too, despite the plot's simplicity.

As with the first of these releases, Elisabeth Sladen reads the story in the first person. Once again, she's brilliant, with charming delivery and decent renditions of her fellow cast members. She also treats listeners to a slightly wider range of character voices than she did in The Thirteenth Stone, but after the success of Big Finish's Companion Chronicles, I wonder whether a second voice might give these stories an extra sparkle.

What sets this story apart most notably from its predecessor is probably its wit - from some gently amusing character moments, to genuinely brilliant one-liners, there's a lot of comedy here. Consequently, this adventure feels a little more lively, and is more than faithful to its parent television show.

All in all, this is more light-hearted and cheerful fun for followers of Sarah Jane. Whilst it's nothing too serious or original (and nor does it pretend to be), Glittering Storm is a nice way to spend an hour or so, and is perhaps the better of the first two CDs.