Sarah Jane Smith: Ghost Town

Sarah Jane Smith #1.4

by Rupert Laight, Elisabeth Sladen (Narrator), Robert Jezek (Narrator)

Sarah and Josh set off for a well-deserved break in a remote Romanian village, hidden deep in the Carpathian Mountains. They're staying with Sarah's old friend, Yolande Benstead, a retired journalist and ex-pat who lives in an eerie mansion with no one but her mysterious manservant for company. By chance Sarah has arrived at an appropriate time - the village has become the setting for a top-secret International Peace Conference.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

Audio Cd

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this one Josh keeps making allusions to Scooby-Doo, much to the irrigation of Sarah Jane, and as I’m not a fan of that particular franchise, it kept pulling me out of the narrative. This series was made after the events of the Doctor Who TV movie from 1996 and before the new rebooted Doctor Who series began. So it falls somewhere after the ludicrous and preposterous K-9 & Company and Sarah Jane’s return to the Whoniverse and her series Sarah Jane Investigates. So the tone of this audio series nothing like anything we’ve really ever had from Sarah Jane before. But the distracting Scooby-Doo references were just that, distracting.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

These do seem rather light on plot! A visit to an entirely remote region where an international peace conference just happens to be taking place? Which is mostly a red herring, and once again the motives of the bad guys seem rather mysterious. Instead it was all sort of other things that were focused on for most of the story. At least it was a story set in Carpathia that wasn't about vampires for once! So that was a nice break with tradition. I will admit I'm becoming very bored with Josh, he's a terribly dull companion. Though I did giggle when Sarah said she didn't drink much. Glad I only spent 99p on these. Not a bad way to spend an hour, but definitely not up to the quality of current big finish audios.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sarah Jane Smith audios have so far been a lot of fun, I do find the stories can be a little light on plot, but it's all made up by the characters who are absolutely fantastic, and the surrounding arc is very intriguing. I'm terribly excited to see how it all concludes.

Sarah and Josh have been invited on a little holiday to a small town in Romania, where a peace conference is happening. However, the two soon begin to learn the town is haunted and those who are being visited by ghosts are being murdered. What on earth's going on and how does it all connect to a butler who can't remember who he is?

Rupert Laight has written a very creepy ghost story with a wonderful scientific twist. This was a lot of fun and the atmosphere is superb, the sound design is fantastic and the banter is really amusing. I do kind of feel like it could have been a bit more intense in places, but I really got a kick out of this one nonetheless.

Overall: A really fun ghost story that whilst I do think needed a bit of a punch to truly be terrifying, it was still a satisfying listen. 8/10

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah takes a trip out of England to visit an old journalist friend who just happens to have a man who lost his memory as her butler and a little ghost problem. This story is almost totally tangential to the arc of the series, with just Sarah and Josh on their own facing down the spooks in Romania and encountering a mysterious English ex-patriot who we know must be the baddie from the start. While the explanation for the phenomenon is novel, not much else in the story is.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of Scooby-Doo references. Ultimately, I would've preferred for this story to have been much more supernatural.

[Felecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done. Anothet exciting adventure for Sarah in the Carpathian Mountains.

[Jadetyger Sevea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was a bit thin on the ground for this one, and the ending was a bit predictable. Still, an enjoyable listen for an afternoon. Better than The Tao Connection, but not up to the standards of Test of Nerve or Comeback.

Relisten: 4.15.16-- My opinion and rating still hold. Sarah Jane and Josh go on holiday to Romania(Nat is absent, still on the outs with SJ after the events of Test of Nerve). It really doesn't have anything to do with the overall arc, and can stand alone. That being said, it's the second weakest of the four.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/881502.html[return][return]fun, basically Sarah Jane as Scooby Doo investigating a remote Romanian castle where ghostly happenings are upsetting an international peace conference.

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Jane visits a friend in Romania and ends up investigating a series of strange ghost sitings. No a great adventure but not bad.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable story. I'm enjoying the banter between Sarah and Josh.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Jane and ghosts!? Count me in!!!