The Day of the Clown

Luke is struggling to adjust to life without Maria, she having moved to Washington, D.C. with her father. Meanwhile, the Chandras move into the Jacksons' old house on Bannerman Road and Sarah Jane starts an investigation into disappearing children in the area. Sarah Jane makes Luke and Clyde promise her that they will not reveal her alien investigating secrets to the newcomers to Bannerman Road.

Clyde and Luke meet new girl Rani Chandra at school. After Clyde sees a clown in school prior to the sudden disappearance of a child, Rani reveals she is being stalked by a clown that no one else can see. With Clyde having got into trouble with the new headteacher, Rani's father Haresh, Luke arranges to keep an eye on Rani in his place and goes round to her house to help her unpack. Sarah Jane and Clyde link the disappearances of the children to the Museum of the Circus, Clyde and two of the missing children having received tickets for it. Rani, who wants to become a journalist, begins her own investigation and makes the same connection to the Museum having found a ticket in a school book belonging to one of the missing children and having a ticket herself.

Sarah Jane and Clyde explore the Museum of the Circus and encounter Elijah Spellman. Soon they are joined by Rani and Luke and Spellman sets his robotic clowns on the group. Sarah Jane halts the clowns with her sonic lipstick, and Luke theorises that Spellman is an alien. As Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani attempt to escape the building, Spellman reveals himself to have been the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin and now Odd Bob the Clown seeking to feed off their fear.[4]

Sarah Jane and her companions escape through the back door. Sarah Jane then tells Luke that she is scared of clowns after a toy clown in her room apparently came to life when she was young. The next morning, Rani looks out of her bedroom window and sees Odd Bob's balloon in her garden. When she gets to the school she tells Luke and Clyde, then a load of balloons fall down from the sky, all the school children pick them up (apart from Luke, Clyde and Rani) and fall under the spell from Odd Bob, behaving much like the Pied Piper story. However, Mr Smith uses the cellular phone system to interfere with Odd Bob's control and the children are released. Then, Odd Bob suddenly kidnaps Luke, and Sarah Jane must face her fears to save Luke. Clyde uses his funny jokes to dissipate their fear. Odd Bob requires fear to exist, and without it, he is forced to return to the meteorite he used to come to Earth. Sarah Jane puts the meteorite into a box from which nothing can escape, not even thoughts. In the end, Clyde says how the universe is always full of surprises after everyone gets invited to the Chandra's for dinner.

• The First Doctor, John and Gillian first meet the Pied Piper in the comic Challenge of the Piper. This is also the first story to ever feature the Pied Piper in any Doctor Who media.
• Chrissie Jackson is revealed to be getting married and her daughter, Maria, is expected to return for the wedding.[4]
• Haresh Chandra replaces Mr Blakeman as Headteacher of Park Vale High School, Blakeman having seemingly disappeared during Revenge of the Slitheen.[5]
• Clyde reminds Luke of the disappearing children and the alien Kudlak seen in Warriors of Kudlak.[6]
• Sarah Jane refers to her Aunt Lavinia, who appeared in K-9 and Company and was first mentioned in The Time Warrior. We learn more about Sarah Jane's upbringing with her Aunt Lavinia.
• One of the clowns shown on Sarah Jane's laptop is a promotional photo of Carmen Silvera as Clara the Clown from the 1966 Doctor Who serial The Celestial Toymaker.
• Professor Rivers of the Pharos Institute previously appeared in The Lost Boy.

After Sarah Jane reveals her fear of clowns, Luke reveals that he knows Johnny Depp is also coulrophobic having read it in Heat. Spellman outlines the history of clowns citing Pharaohs' fools, harlequins, Native American clowns and Mediaeval court jesters, and numerous references are made to the legend of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.[4]

"Part One" was first broadcast on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 6 October 2008 and was repeated as part of CBBC on BBC One at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008.[3] It was made available for 14 days after first broadcast on the BBC iPlayer.[7] "Part Two" was first broadcast on the CBBC Channel at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 13 October 2008 and was repeated on BBC One at 4.35 p.m. on Monday 20 October 2008.[3]

Writing for Dreamwatch, Matt McAllister asserts that there may not be "quite enough here to sustain a double-episode worth" but observes that there are "memorable scenes, including an ingenious final showdown." He states that Walsh is "appropriately sinister...as Odd Bob the Clown" and describes Rani as "likeable", noting that having her father as the new Headteacher is "a nice little twist". McAllister thinks that the story "owes a big debt to Stephen King’s It" (1986) and that it has shades of Torchwood episode "From Out of the Rain" and Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. In conclusion, McAllister notes that "[t]his may not be earth-shattering kids’ TV, but it’s good creepy fun nonetheless."[8]