'Sky' (Part 2) by Phil Ford

Confused at suddenly finding herself grown up, Sky unleashes a bolt of energy that blasts the Metalkind to the floor. Miss Myers urges her daughter to destroy the creature, only to see Sky instead turn to her new friend, Sarah, for guidance. When Miss Myers explains that she grew Sky in a laboratory as a weapon to destroy her enemies, Sarah is appalled; vowing to protect the child from bother the Metalkind and her mother, Sarah hurries the young girl outside, with Rani and Clyde hot on their heels. Left with the injured Metalkind, Miss Myers orders Caleb to “wire up” her captive… Returning to No.13 Bannerman Road, Sarah, Clyde and Rani watch as Sky excitedly recalls the time she spent there as a baby, including when she heard Clyde’s jokes. When asked what her earliest memory is Sky replies that it was when she first met Sarah. With no clues as to who left the girl on her doorstep, Sarah takes Sky up to her attic to meet Mr Smith; after some coaxing the Xylok reluctantly emerges from his hiding place in the wall, and with further persuasion he conducts a scan of Sky’s DNA: although she appears to be a healthy twelve year-old, Sky has been genetically programmed as a bomb… Rani takes Sky to Luke’s room to find some decent clothes, and then finds herself having to explain all about being a girl. Meanwhile, Mr Smith informs Sarah and Clyde that Miss Myers and the Metalkind originate from the Tornado Nebula, where two warring planets are situated: one world is home to carbon-based life forms, while the other is populated by beings of living metal – and these opposing races have been locked in combat for centuries. Overhearing how she has been created as a doomsday weapon to bring an end to the war, Sky immediately sees herself as evil, even though Sarah tries to make her understand that this isn’t true. Learning that Sky will involuntarily explode when she comes into contact with the energies of massed Metalkind, Clyde proposes disarming her; Sky innocently suggests asking Miss Myers to turn off her genetic trigger, and Sarah reluctantly agrees to attempt to reason with the woman. Bundling into Sarah’s car, the gang speed back to the Nuclear Power Station. With the aid of her powers, Sky sets off all the car alarms in the car park, allowing Sarah to drive past the distracted security guards. Leaving Sky with Clyde and Rani, Sarah enters the building and is quickly found by Caleb, who takes her to Miss Myers in the control room; Sarah tries to talk Miss Myers into finding another way to win the war, but although the alien scientist is unhappy about the actions the war has forced her to take, she still refuses to deactivate Sky and prevent the slaughter of her enemies. Outside, Sky grows worried about Sarah and runs into the power station, closely pursued by Clyde and Rani. Activating a CCTV monitor, Miss Myers shows Sarah how the Metalkind has been connected to the nuclear reactor: she plans to use the creature to summon all the Metalkind to Earth, so that they can be wiped out by Sky. Turning to address the camera, the Metalkind tells how the Fleshkind stole all his people’s children when they mined their planed – he now believes that he is summoning his comrades to engage in a glorious battle with his enemies; Sarah is appalled, knowing that when the Metalkind hoards arrive, Sky will have no choice but to carry out her genetic programming, destroying the Earth in the process. Miss Myers offers Sarah a choice: if she hands over Sky, then she will leave the Earth alone; but Sarah resolutely refuses, believing that killing is always wrong, and instead she turns and runs from the control room. Meeting up with her friends, Sarah instructs Clyde and Rani to find a way to shut down the reactor. But Sky runs off to stop Miss Myers on her own, and soon comes across the Metalkind wired up to the station’s systems, just as her ‘mother’ and Caleb appear. As Sky’s proximity to the Metalkind causes her to start glowing with deadly energy, Sarah arrives on the scene; but she is too late: Miss Myers opens another portal, which will allow the Metalkind hoards to reach Earth… Reaching the control room, Clyde and Rani spot the systems controlling the power plant’s fuel rods; working out that the colour-coded rods must be removed in the sequence of the spectrum, they set to work… As the portal grows in size, Sarah is overwhelmed by the deafening sound of countless approaching Metalkind – and Sky’s deadly power continues to build… Back in the control room, Rani and Clyde finally extract the last two rods; the effect is instantaneous: all power in and around the station cuts out, the space-portal explodes in a huge blaze of energy, and Sky collapses… Moments later, Clyde and Rani find Sarah cradling Sky in her arms; but all is not lost: Sky absorbed all the energy from the exploding portal, and the backlash destroyed her programming – she is normal! As Miss Myers considers the loss of her daughter, the Metalkind breaks its bonds and grabs the woman’s control-pendant: using the last of its energy to create another portal, the Metalkind drags Miss Myers through with him. With Caleb and the rest of the personnel released from Miss Myers’ thrall, Sarah decides it is time for her and the gang to make a swift exit… Returning to Bannerman Road, Sarah and her friends are met by the ever-enthusiastic Gita, who has dragged Haresh over to meet Sky. With her ‘new foster child’ having suddenly aged twelve years, Sarah is forced to quickly improvise, and she explains that social services mixed up and gave her the wrong girl. After the Chandra’s have departed, and Sarah has taken Sky inside the house, Rani and Clyde notice the headlights on Sarah’s car suddenly flicker – maybe “Sparky” hasn’t lost all her powers after all..? Up in the attic, Sarah and Sky discover they have unexpected guests: the mysterious shopkeeper Mr Smalley, and his boss, the parrot known as ‘The Captain’, have been waiting for them. After Smalley admits that he and the Captain were the ones who left the baby on the doorstep, acting in their roles as “Servants of the Universe”, Sky asks if she can stay with Sarah – and Sarah happily agrees. Satisfied that Sky is in good hands, the enigmatic duo promptly disappear into thin air – leaving Sarah to introduce Sky to the culinary delights of pizza…

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Mina Anwar (Gita Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr Smith [Voice]), Christine Stephen-Daly (Miss Myers), Gavin Brocker (Caleb),Paul Kasey (The Metalkind), Chloe Savage (Baby Sky), Ella Savage (Baby Sky), Amber Donaldson (Baby Sky), Scarlet Donaldson (Baby Sky), Sinead Michael (Sky), Floella Benjamin (Professor Celeste Rivers), Hugo Daly (Hector), Will McLeod (Voice of the Metalkind), Cyril Nri (Mr Smalley [Shopkeeper]),

Directed by Ashley Way
Produced by Brian Minchin
Executive Producers Russell T Davies and Nikki Wilson
A BBC Wales production

TX (CBBC):
4th October 2011 @ 5.15 pm

Notes:
*Featuring Sarah Jane Smith, Clyde, Rani, Sky and Mr Smith