Sarah Jane Smith: The Tao Connection

Sarah Jane Smith #1.2

by Barry Letts, Elisabeth Sladen (Narrator), Sadie Miller (Narrator)

The body of an old man is found floating in the Thames, although the DNA of the corpse corresponds to an 18-year old friend of Josh and Ellie. Sarah Jane heads towards West Yorkshire in a bid to discover what killed the man, why someone is kidnapping homeless teenage boys and whether there is a link between that and the retreat of philanthropist Will Butley which hosts The Huang Ti Clinic. Sarah discovers that there is more to ancient Dark Sorcery than she may have otherwise believed.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, British Literature

1 pages, Audio CD

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Barry Letts was a British actor, television director, writer and producer. He was most associated with the television series Doctor Who for many years, with active involvement in the television series from 1967 to 1981, and later contributions to its spin-offs in other media.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually love this story much more than the last one. The friendship between Sarah Jane and Josh is pure gold.

[Marcel Driel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only slightly better than the first one, but still not very well written or plotted. It’s pretty racist and homophobic too. And god, the music is awful.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yellow face *on audio* in 2002!!!! While not the *worst* interpretation of Chinese religion I've come across in fiction it was really dire and absurd to the point where I laughed out loud on several occasions. Then there was also the stereotype of the predatory evil gay man! If it was a regular Doctor who audio I think I would have given up but it was nice to hear Lis's voice again, and today is her birthday.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

So having really enjoyed the first story of this range with Comeback, I decided to carry on and listen to The Tao Connection. Barry Lett's I have very mixed thoughts on his writing, because whilst The Daemons and The Green Death are both fantastic stories, stuff like Planet of The Spiders and Paradise of Death really wasn't my cup of tea. His stories tend to be really weird in nature, so wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this, but decided to give it a chance.

The body of an old man is found in the Thames, although the DNA of said body belongs to a young man of 18 years old... Sarah Jane Smith and Josh have another mystery on their hands and it all connects to Huang Ti Clinic, where the head of research hopes to restore youthfulness to fellow billionaires. But something dark and horrific is going on behind the scenes and it's up to Sarah Jane to put a stop to it.

I'll say it, whilst I wasn't looking forward to this story very much I will admit Barry Letts has actually written a really good story with an interesting storyline and a creepy villain. I really enjoyed this one and found the subject matter unsettling. I will say however I am disappointed in the casting for this story slightly, since this audio literally has f*cking yellowface in 2002, which really grossed me out.

Overall: Despite the very insensitive casting, I had a lot of fun with this story and was actually impressed with Barry Lett's script. It was a little weird in nature as to be expected but when compared to his other audio work, this was very laid back and not over the top or silly. 8.5/10

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the 5 "first season" Sarah Jane adventures, this is, surprisingly, the weakest. I say surprisingly because one usually expects better writing from Barry Letts, especially involving his own Dr. Who contributions. The premise is that someone is kidnapping homeless teenagers for use in a rejuvenation process at an exclusive old age home. Letts' longtime fascination with Eastern mysticism in this script actually gets in the way of the story instead of enhancing it. Besides that, most of the mystery is fairly easy to figure out in the first few minutes. On the plus side, the interaction between the regulars of the series advances fairly well, and Elisabeth/Sarah manages a really good Yorkshire accent (fooled me, anyway; but what do I know about it, I'm from America).

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the acting is good, there is very problematic stuff in this one.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feeling about this one. A bit dated in some aspects and some of the portrayals are bit too camp and stereotyped for me.

[Mole Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alright story. The main villain is extremely ridiculous to me (I find Treadwell's voice to be way too cartoonish to take him seriously). Without him, this is a really unmemorable story.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Jane Smith The Tao Connection picks up from where the previous volume, Comeback left off. Two police officers fish a dead body from a river, but as Natalie tells Sarah, there's a problem when the old man has the same fingerprints as 18-year-old Toby. Since Toby is both missing and a friend of Josh and Ellie, Sarah decides to investigate. But there is something much more sinister than an issue with fingerprint analysis going on.
Sarah decides to investigate the Huang Ti Clinic, and Holtooth Hall, now owned by the recluse, billionaire, Will Butley. The Clinic reports to be just another expensive health spa, but its customers seem oddly younger when they leave. Meanwhile, what is behind the disappearances of dozens of homeless teenaged boys?
Sarah and Josh try to get into Holtooth Hall to speak to Butley but are turned away by his security officer. They get the name of the other person in the house though, Mr. Ronald Sharp.
Sarah does interview a master of Taoism, who explains something of the philosophy to her. Sarah sees it as a search for eternal life, though the master explains it is the life of the spirit, not the flesh.
She, with help from Josh, also investigates the clinic. There is a lab in the clinic, where bodies are having their life forces drained away. And when one of the clinic's new clients arrives, they are told to drink a mysterious draft of "concentrated Chi". Yes, that doesn't make sense.
When Sarah finally is able to contact Butley, she finds out Mr. Sharp has cut off his supply of this mysterious draft until he learns the secret to the Dark Sorcery incantations. But there is no secret.
Unfortunately, Butley kills Sharp, but then succumbs to extremely advanced old age because Sarah declines to give him more of the draft. This mysterious essence is made by draining the lifeblood of young teenaged boys, who do not survive the procedure.
I first purchased the first few CDs in the Sarah Jane Smith from Big Finish a few years ago and I listened to The Tao Connection and Comeback; however, though I collected the entire series, I didn't listen to them right away for several reasons. Now I'm re-listening to the few I listened to before and I intend to listen to the rest of the series. A long commute helps. Anyway, the hit-or-miss nature of The Tao Connection is probably one major reason I stopped when I did. The performances in this story are very strong, but it also has things like a fist-fight, which doesn't work on audio (even after the fight it's hard to figure out what happened), but the major negative is the way the audio treats oriental religion/spirituality. I'm pretty sure the essence of Taoism is not a search for immortality. I understand it to be more about balance and "going with the flow" instead of fighting nature. But I'm no expert. Still, as this is part of an on-going series, it's worth at least a single listen. Not one of the best Big Finish audio plays though.
Oh, and yes, this is a full-cast audio play - all the actors perform their roles (often to the hilt, with relish), and the audio includes music and sound effects.

[Jadetyger Sevea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another re-listen. My opinion hasn't changed much since I first heard this audio. The acting is superb by all involved, but the story suffered from being predictable(another 'eternal youth' resort sucking the life out of young men? Really?), and some uncomfortable correlations between homosexuality and villainy(I cringed every time Will Butley was in scene--the stereotypes were rife throughout the character).

I'm not sure how I feel about Sarah Jane's 'the ends justify the means' actions at the end of the story. Pouring the last of the elixer down the drain and damning Will Butley to a torturous death seems extreme, but is in keeping with the streak of coldness we've seen in the audios. There have been points, especially in the new series, where the Doctor has done something just as questionable.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/881502.html[return][return]takes SJS to Yorkshire for dubious biological goings on at a health farm, with the highest political circles involved.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, although I thought the ending let it down. Interesting take on a SF 'trope', but I would have liked to have seen more exploration of the 'bad guy' and liked the way the story blurred the lines between bad guy and victim.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sarah Jane goes undercover at an expensive tratment facility where they may have discovered the secret to prolonging life. Decent story but the audio quality was not the best.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another low key Sarah Jane Smith charmer with little incident and action.

[Paweł Dembowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one.

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story involving a clinic draining blood from the young to give to the rich. Can Sarah Jane shut them down?

[Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta savor these Sarah Jane adventures as there's so few of them. I miss Lis. Nicely done, Big Finish.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! Sarah Jane is back where she belongs (besides the Tardis,) uncover solving mysteries and kicking ass.