The Sarah Jane Adventures Episodes 51 &
52:
The Curse Of Clyde
Langer
When fish rain from the sky above Ealing, a clue from Mr Smith leads
Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani and Sky to a recently-unearthed totem pole on
display at a local museum. While messing about with the exhibit, Clyde
gets a livid splinter. He thinks nothing of it until the next day, when
suddenly everyone turns against him: Sarah Jane orders him out of her
house, Rani says she hates him, and even his mum wants nothing to do
with him. Only Sky seems immune, but while she attempts to get to the
bottom of the strange sequence of events, Clyde tries to eke out a new
life for himself on the streets of London.
While attending the Gallifrey One: 20 To Life convention in Los Angeles in
February 2009, Phil Ford, the lead writer for The Sarah Jane
Adventures, took the opportunity to meet with executive producer
Russell T Davies, who had recently relocated to California. During lunch,
the two conceived a story idea which would place the spotlight firmly on
Clyde Langer, as both men agreed that actor Daniel Anthony deserved the
opportunity to tackle a more mature, complex narrative. Davies suggested
the mystical means by which Clyde would find himself living on the streets
of London, and Ford then developed these concepts into The Curse Of
Clyde Langer. This would become Ford's second contribution to the
fifth season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, following immediately
on the heels of the year's initial serial, Sky.
Director Ashley Way was assigned to both Sky and The Curse Of Clyde Langer as
the fourth recording block for the 2010-11 episodes. The Clyde-focussed
tale provided the opportunity to bring back two actors who had not been
seen since the second season in 2008: Jocelyn Jee Esien as Clyde's mother,
Carla, and Elijah Baker as his schoolmate, Steve Wallace. (During the
production of The Curse Of Clyde Langer, Esien would film a scene
to be inserted into the fourth-season adventure The Empty Planet, which was found to be
running short.) To play the new character of Dr Maddigan, Way cast Sara
Houghton, who had previously appeared in programmes such as Trust
and Holby City. Houghton's father, Don Houghton, had written the
Doctor Who stories Inferno
(1970) and The Mind Of Evil
(1971), while her mother, Pik Sen Lim, had appeared in the latter as
Captain Chin Lee.
Sara Houghton (Dr Maddigan) was the daughter of Doctor Who writer Don Houghton and The Mind Of Evil actress Pik Sen Lim
The first three days of recording on The Curse Of Clyde Langer,
from June 22nd to 24th, 2010, were spent on the attic set at Upper Boat
Studios. On the 25th, Ebeneser Chapel in Cardiff served as Steven's
Point, the soup kitchen seen in the serial; some filming also took place
nearby on Charles Street. June 28th dealt with the scenes of Clyde being
chased by his schoolmates, beginning at Grange Gardens in Cardiff, and
continuing to an alley off Llanmaes Street, Hope Street, School Street
and finally the premises of PI Underwood and Son, which also provided
the area under the railway arches. The 29th was another busy day in
Cardiff, starting with material outside the Museum of Culture, actually
the Old Library. Cast and crew then moved to St John's Church, outside
of which Clyde tried to use the automated teller, and later he and Ellie
panhandled. Finally, Ellie finding Clyde was taped on Crockherbtown
Lane.
The interior of the Museum of Culture was actually the Coal Exchange in
Cardiff, where recording took place on June 30th. On July 1st, a house on
St Asaph Close in Cardiff posed as the Langer residence; this was a
different venue than the one which had been used in The Mark Of The Berserker. Work there
concluded on the 2nd, after which Way's team moved to Cardiff High
School for scenes at Park Vale Comprehensive. A sequence in Sarah Jane's
living room was filmed at Clinton Road in Penarth on July 7th, and a
variety of inserts were taped at Upper Boat on the 11th. July 12th was
another day spent at multiple Cardiff locations. The area where the
homeless were living rough was Taffs Mead Embankment. Then various
scenes were recorded on Charles Street, most notably Clyde learning of
Ellie's departure. More Bannerman Road material was taped at Clinton
Road on July 20th, leaving just some pick-up shots to be completed the
next day on Hadfield Road in Cardiff.
Post-production altered Clyde's opening narration, incorporating a new
line making reference to Sky. A significant edit involved the sequence
of Clyde and Ellie panhandling in episode two. In the excised material,
Rani emerged from the nearby supermarket and tossed Ellie some coins
without noticing her companion. She and Haresh then drove off while
Clyde told Ellie that Rani was no longer somebody he knew. In fact,
The Curse Of Clyde Langer wound up being the final serial to
feature Ace Bhatti as Haresh, due to the unexpected death of Elisabeth
Sladen in April 2011. As it turned out, his involvement in further
episodes may have been in doubt regardless, as a result of his being
cast in a regular role on the soap opera EastEnders. Bhatti's
other subsequent appearances have included episodes of Jekyll &
Hyde, Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands and DCI
Banks.
- Doctor Who
News.
- Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #32, Autumn 2012,
“Episodes 5.3/5.4: The Curse Of Clyde Langer” by Andrew
Pixley, Panini UK Ltd.
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Original Transmission
|
|
Episode 1 |
Date |
10th Oct 2011 |
Time |
5.18pm |
Duration |
25'19" |
· CBBC |
793k |
· BBC1/HD |
340k |
Episode 2 |
Date |
11th Oct 2011 |
Time |
5.17pm |
Duration |
26'10" |
· CBBC |
733k |
· BBC1 |
440k |
Cast
Sarah Jane Smith |
Elisabeth Sladen |
Mr Smith |
Alexander Armstrong |
Clyde Langer |
Daniel Anthony |
Rani Chandra |
Anjli Mohindra |
Haresh Chandra |
Ace Bhatti |
Sky |
Sinead Michael |
Ellie |
Lily Loveless |
Carla Langer |
Jocelyn Jee Esien |
Doctor Madigan |
Sara Houghton |
Steve Wallace |
Elijah Baker |
Security Guard |
Anwar Lynch |
Mystic Mags |
Angela Pleasence |
Max |
Ewart James Jones |
Crew
Written by |
Phil Ford |
Directed by |
Ashley Way |
Produced by |
Brian Minchin |
|
Created by |
Russell T Davies |
Co-Producer |
Phil Ford |
1st Assistant Director |
Richard Harris |
2nd Assistant Director |
Sarah Davies |
3rd Assistant Director |
Delmi Thomas |
Production Co-Ordinator |
Hannah Simpson |
Script Supervisor |
Nicki Coles |
Script Editor |
Gary Russell |
Location Manager |
Gareth Skelding |
Camera Operator |
Martin Stephens |
Focus Pullers |
Martin Scanlan |
Keith Bainton |
Grip |
John Robinson |
Boom Operator |
Jeff Welch |
Gaffer |
Dave Fowler |
Standby Art Director |
Jackson Pope |
Standby Props |
Phill Shellard |
Graphics |
BBC Wales Graphics |
Costume Supervisor |
Barbara Harrington |
Assistant Editor |
Carmen Sanchez Roberts |
Post Production Supervisor |
Nerys Davies |
Post Production Co-ordinator |
Marie Brown |
Colourist |
Matt Mullins |
Sound Editors |
Matthew Cox |
Howard Eaves |
Dubbing Mixer |
Mark Ferda |
Title Music |
Murray Gold |
Music |
Sam Watts |
Casting Director |
Andy Brierley |
Production Executive |
Julie Scott |
Production Accountant |
Mark Strainge |
Sound Recordist |
Simon Koelmeyer |
Costume Designer |
Stewart Meachem |
Make Up Designer |
Emma Bailey |
Visual Effects |
BBC Wales VFX |
Special Effects |
Real SFX |
Prosthetics |
Millennium FX |
Editor |
Ceres Doyle |
Production Designer |
Keith Dunne |
Director of Photography |
Mark Waters |
Production Manager |
Debbi Slater |
Executive Producers for BBC Wales |
Russell T Davies |
Nikki Wilson |
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