The Sarah Jane Adventures was a phenomenal show featuring the Doctor's old companion, Sarah Jane Smith, sublimely portrayed by the late Elisabeth Sladen. The series was almost always of high quality and although the show was predominantly aimed at children, it often handled mature themes.
The series got off to a fantastic start with "Invasion of the Bane" and it never let go of that high quality. The storytelling was always fascinating but, as with all television shows, some episodes were slightly worse than others. None of the episodes below were terrible; they just weren't as well-executed as they could have been.
Revenge Of The Slitheen (Part 1 & 2)
The idea to use an old Doctor Who monster in the first two episodes of Season 1 was a good one, as it tied in The Sarah Jane Adventures to its parent show, while still allowing it to stand on its own two feet. However, the Slitheen proved to be slightly controversial during their first appearance.
In Doctor Who, the Slitheen had a fun design and were clearly created mainly for comedic effect but sometimes they went a bit over the top. The farting was funny for a bit but then became dull and repetitive. These were more monsters for children, and so The Sarah Jane Adventures used them instead.
Death Of The Doctor (Part 1 & 2)
Any episode where the Doctor guest stars is bound to increase the audience's expectations. Unfortunately, this pair of episodes just didn't quite live up to all the hype. In fairness, the two parter's premise was definitely intriguing, as although we knew the Doctor wasn't actually dead, we didn't know what had happened.
The return of UNIT was a blessing but greatly overshadowed by the reappearance of a very old friend: Jo Grant. She and Sarah Jane shared amazing chemistry and their friendship was to die for but unfortunately, the visual effects just didn't hold out, especially where the Shansheeth were concerned.
The Eternity Trap (Part 1 & 2)
"The Eternity Trap" was a decent episode in its own right, with the only true problem being that it was surrounded by episodes that were amazing. Essentially, Sarah Jane, Rani Chandra, and Clyde Langer go to investigate an old house that is supposedly haunted, with Sarah Jane remaining especially skeptical.
They meet up with another couple of paranormal investigators from the Pharos Institute, one of whom is particularly convinced by the existence of ghosts. However, rather than try and understand his point of view, Sarah Jane is rather dismissive of his opinions, despite the fact that she has met aliens.
The Empty Planet (Part 1 & 2)
These couple of episodes formed the Sarah-lite story of Season 4, so there was a heavier focus on her companions, Clyde and Rani. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as the two were extremely popular and many fans thought they shared a great deal of chemistry.
However, this was still very much Sarah Jane's show, so it felt strange not having her included in the story. Her absence was more keenly felt than in previous Sarah-lite episodes. The threat as well, while cleverly misunderstood, lacked menace and so Clyde and Rani spent an hour running around some streets.
The Vault Of Secrets (Part 1 & 2)
This was the second story in the fourth season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It featured the return of a previous foe, Androvax, Destroyer of Worlds. While this made for a welcome appearance, it felt as though he was sidelined in favor of the far less interesting Mister Dread and his Men in Black.
While Androvax got his semi-happy ending, a lot of screen time was devoted to BURPSS, led by Ocean Waters. This group was basically played for laughs, which would have been fine, except they weren't actually that funny. Instead, they simply grew more annoying and took away from the main plot.
Warriors Of Kudlak (Part 1 & 2)
"Warriors of Kudlak" was a perfectly serviceable story, and to be fair, the show was still finding its footing at this point. It also had an interesting and relevant premise: alien laser tag. The plot followed Sarah Jane and her gang as they investigated the disappearances of children who were last seen playing laser tag.
However, the game was much darker than one might have expected as an alien soldier (Kudlak) was using them to test young recruits. If they were successful, they were teleported on board his space ship and then sent off to battle. It was a good story, but the stakes never felt that high.
Prisoner Of The Judoon (Part 1 & 2)
The Judoon are quite oafish monsters and so in theory, they should be able to fit in quite nicely with the aesthetics of The Sarah Jane Adventures. In these two episodes, a Judoon Captain beamed down to Earth to capture his escaped prisoner, the aforementioned Androvax.
In his first appearance, Androvax was a great villain. The prosthetics looked great and when he possessed Sarah Jane's body, it was quite thrilling seeing Elisabeth Sladen play a villain. However, the Judoon's inclusion in the episodes felt unnecessary and didn't add any further drama.
Sky (Part 1 & 2)
"Sky" might have been a better serial if we had had more time getting to know Sky. Indeed, she spent the majority of her first episode as a baby. However, it was nice seeing Sarah Jane interact with a baby, and quite funny too. Sarah also handled the more vulnerable scenes well, such as when she was left alone after Rani and Clyde left.
However, the villains of the story, the Metalkind and the Fleshkind, were not very good at all. The Metalkind's design was not particularly convincing as it was essentially a man painted silver with bits stuck on him, and the Fleshkind leader just felt so two dimensional.
Lost In Time (Part 1 & 2)
This was quite a unique story in that it was almost purely historical. There was no alien menace to defeat, instead, Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Rani were sent back in time by the Shopkeeper and his Parrot to collect some mystical timey wimey objects that would cause fractures to history if left alone.
While the focus on history was a change for the series, the episodes lacked pace, and each character's storyline felt uneven. Rani's storyline was over almost immediately, while Clyde and Sarah Jane's arcs took up more time. We didn't even get to find out who the mysterious Shopkeeper was.
The Man Who Never Was (Part 1 & 2)
We'll be honest here, one of the reasons why this pair of episodes is on this list is because they were the last ever episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures, due to Elisabeth Sladen's tragic passing. Sarah Jane was an amazing companion, in both the old series and the new. Knowing that we'll never see her again is truly devastating.
Her last ever episodes in the Doctor Who universe were not actually that bad. Sarah Jane, Luke, and Sky teamed up as a family to defeat a nasty, spiteful businessman who was using alien refugees as slaves. Unfortunately, these aliens did not look brilliant and they were also unintentionally irritating too.