Dreamland's opening picks up right from the dramatic end of Fatal Consequences, resolving the major outstanding questions of the previous episode's cliffhanger. From there, it's on to some exposition, filling in a lot of backstory that explains what's been going on this season. (Even all the coincidences I've complained about make more sense now.) Dreamland itself doesn't have a plot, or rather, its plot isn't the standard action/adventure stuff, but entirely Sarah Jane's emotional state. After the events of the past few plays, Sarah is in a state of shock, wondering how all this could have happened to her-- and how she can go on like this. Things have never quite been as good since the Doctor dropped her off all those years ago, and these most recent happenings have confirmed it.

The relationships between the characters are the best part of this story. Josh's revelations shock Sarah to the core, but he's always meant the best-- and somewhere deep down, she knows it. (At least I know why he's never popped up in The Sarah Jane Adventures now.) Nat's a bit more world-weary than she was before, but less prickly at the same time. (But where's she been?) Jeremy James and Sadie Miller turn in their best performances of the series as well, in a set of quiet, often prickly conversations.

David Bishop has stated that though "School Reunion" had been recorded before season two of Sarah Jane Smith, he didn't know a thing about it. Despite that, Dreamland segues into "School Reunion" and "Invasion of the Bane" very well, featuring a Sarah Jane still doing her best, but in need of a pep talk and a mission from the Doctor. Even if I'll never know how she gets out of this particular scrape, at least I know that everything turns out all right for her in the end.

You can read a longer version of this review at Unreality SF.

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1003998.html

The pacing of Dreamland is slightly odd, as the first ten minutes are essentially resolving the loose ends from Fatal Consequences, and then we get the revelation about the true background of Sarah's sidekick Josh. Then it is off to Nevada, for a story which is actually a bit short on plot but makes up for it in characterisation (apart, I'm afraid, from Jon Weinberg whose performance as the spaceship pilot is the weakest of the whole series). And we end on a very ambiguous not: what is happening to Sarah? Killed off or transported to another dimension? As regular fans were soon to discover, the latter was the case as she is now firmly in the New Who canon. There is of course fanfic which bridges the gap. ( )