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Sarah Jane Smith #1.3
Test of Nerve
Sarah Jane Smith receives a mysterious gift with a cryptic message. The London Underground will suffer an horrific terrorist attack during rush hour unless Sarah can find and stop those responsible. As rush hour draws closer, the terrifying reality of the threat becomes all too apparent. One friend is murdered and another abducted. Sarah must be willing to sacrifice everyone and everything she holds dear to save the city. This is one deadline she cannot miss!
Audiobook
First published July 1, 2002
33 people want to read
About the author
David Bishop
141 books38 followersDavid James Bishop is a New Zealand screenwriter and author. He was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000.
He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.
In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.
In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.
He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.
In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.
In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 8, 2023
I’m thinking I need to readjust what I’m expecting for these stories. I’m used to everything related to Doctor Who from Big Finish fooling a similar narrative structure and type, but these don’t follow quite the exact same pattern.
May 7, 2021
I enjoyed this more the second time round. 5/5 gritty and rather dark.
Third listen! Brilliant.
Third listen! Brilliant.
June 16, 2018
Big Finish's Sarah Jane Smith Test of Nerve is my favorite so far of the Sarah Jane audios I've listened to. It's fast-moving, has a real sense of danger, and adds to the continuing plot of the series. I lost my first attempt for this review due to an unexpected computer shut-down so hopefully, the second go will be OK.
Test of Nerve opens with a radio broadcast of three news stories: a junior minister being "jostled" by protestors and the arrest of one of the same, "New Age Travellers" being forcefully evicted from an old tube station, and a break-in at a bioweapons/testing lab in which the lab officials insist "nothing" was taken. All three of these stories prove to be interwoven skillfully into the plot.
Josh and Natalie, Sarah's friends, are waiting for her at her house for a meeting that Sarah called. Sarah arrives, late, toting a large gift she found outside her apartment addressed to her. She opens it and finds a living rat in a cage. When she, with Josh's help, removes the note stuck to the cage, the cage seals and a pellet releases gas - which quickly kills the rat. The note is also a threat - if Sarah doesn't do something to stop it, all of London will suffer the same fate as the rat. Sarah and her friends have a subject for investigation. Natalie will remain at the flat to investigate on-line; Josh goes off to investigate the bio lab (Bioguard), and Sarah takes the very dead rat to her friend, Claudia, at C19, to find out what happened.
When Sarah calls Claudia she's busy with someone in her office - but she manages to make an appointment with Sarah for a late lunch. Josh, pretending to be a reporter for Metropolitan magazine, interviews Mr. Harris at Bioguard. It turns out that Ellie Martin was one of the "travelers" kicked out of the tube station. She discusses it with Josh, saying that she and the others weren't even allowed to take their gear, and they were well away from the platform so it was safe.
When Sarah returns to her apartment, James Carver arrives. He's a former British soldier, trying to get compensation for soldiers who were subjected to experiments with anti-nerve gas agents without their permission. He had organized the protest mentioned on the news radio program but was released without charge. When he gets to Sarah's he seems unstable and threatening. Natalie calls the police, but Sarah gets angry - Carver leaves and Sarah tells the police it was a mistake.
When Sarah goes to meet Claudia to find out about her rat, she nearly runs into a man running from the apartment. The door is open and Sarah finds Claudia on the floor, dying. The police arrive and arrest Sarah on suspicion of murder. Josh meets up with Ellie to get her stuff from the tube station and finds her stuck in a glass box. Before long, he is knocked out and they are both stuck in a glass box. Harris threatens to kill them, placing a nerve gas pellet on the top of the box and telling them if they try to escape the pellet will be released - killing them. Why am I now thinking of Schrödinger's cat? But anyway...
It takes seven hours for the police to release Sarah, and they still do not believe her warnings of an imminent nerve gas attack on London. While she's being interrogated, and Josh and Ellie are being stuffed in a glass box - Natalie is at Sarah's when Harris shows up. He threatens her, pushes her out of her wheelchair, and then takes it. He also tells her there's a bomb in the building and gives her 30 minutes to escape.
When Sarah leaves the building Harris calls and threatens all she holds dear - telling Sarah she can save her friend Natalie from a bomb - or prevent Carver from releasing nerve gas in the tube tunnels (i.e. the subway). Sarah, surprisingly, shows up at the tube station, where she finds that Carver has just released Ellie and Josh from their trap, Ellie has run off both to escape and to possibly get additional help, and Carver is threatening to throw himself under the train - which will crush and release the vest of nerve gas pellets strapped to him. One thing that Claudia was able to tell Sarah before she died was that C19 suspects that Bioguard lied when they claimed nothing was stolen during the recent break-in, and that in reality a tray of nerve gs pellets went missing and it's suspected to be an inside job.
Sarah, with help from Josh, manages to get Carver to remove the nerve gas - but he still throws himself under the train. A news report ties into the opening of the story and fills in a few details.
Later, we learn that Natalie dragged herself free of the flat and managed to escape, barely. But when Sarah meets up with her, Natalie tells her: that's it, she's had enough. She can't get over Sarah leaving her to die - even though Sarah had an impossible choice. When Sarah says that even five years ago she would have saved a friend first, but now she has to see the bigger picture and save the world - Natalie cannot accept it and leaves. Sarah accuses Josh of wanting to do the same thing and leave - but he vows to stay with her and help her.
I really enjoyed Test of Nerve from the punny title to the action and suspense. The intercutting between Natalie swearing she "won't be a victim" as she pulls herself through Sarah's flat and Sarah rushing, at first we know not where, and later trying to talk down Carver is masterfully and suspensefully done - especially for audio. There are some plotholes. Sarah calls Natalie's cell but can't reach her because it's in her car - but she apparently doesn't think to call a neighbor to check on the situation. And Josh, Ellie, and Sarah could have saved everyone a lot of trouble if they'd simply forced Carver into the convenient box that Josh and Ellie had been stuck in. Presumably, it could be sealed. But even so, this was the best Sarah Jane Smith audio so far. I hope the range continues to improve. Highly recommended.
Test of Nerve opens with a radio broadcast of three news stories: a junior minister being "jostled" by protestors and the arrest of one of the same, "New Age Travellers" being forcefully evicted from an old tube station, and a break-in at a bioweapons/testing lab in which the lab officials insist "nothing" was taken. All three of these stories prove to be interwoven skillfully into the plot.
Josh and Natalie, Sarah's friends, are waiting for her at her house for a meeting that Sarah called. Sarah arrives, late, toting a large gift she found outside her apartment addressed to her. She opens it and finds a living rat in a cage. When she, with Josh's help, removes the note stuck to the cage, the cage seals and a pellet releases gas - which quickly kills the rat. The note is also a threat - if Sarah doesn't do something to stop it, all of London will suffer the same fate as the rat. Sarah and her friends have a subject for investigation. Natalie will remain at the flat to investigate on-line; Josh goes off to investigate the bio lab (Bioguard), and Sarah takes the very dead rat to her friend, Claudia, at C19, to find out what happened.
When Sarah calls Claudia she's busy with someone in her office - but she manages to make an appointment with Sarah for a late lunch. Josh, pretending to be a reporter for Metropolitan magazine, interviews Mr. Harris at Bioguard. It turns out that Ellie Martin was one of the "travelers" kicked out of the tube station. She discusses it with Josh, saying that she and the others weren't even allowed to take their gear, and they were well away from the platform so it was safe.
When Sarah returns to her apartment, James Carver arrives. He's a former British soldier, trying to get compensation for soldiers who were subjected to experiments with anti-nerve gas agents without their permission. He had organized the protest mentioned on the news radio program but was released without charge. When he gets to Sarah's he seems unstable and threatening. Natalie calls the police, but Sarah gets angry - Carver leaves and Sarah tells the police it was a mistake.
When Sarah goes to meet Claudia to find out about her rat, she nearly runs into a man running from the apartment. The door is open and Sarah finds Claudia on the floor, dying. The police arrive and arrest Sarah on suspicion of murder. Josh meets up with Ellie to get her stuff from the tube station and finds her stuck in a glass box. Before long, he is knocked out and they are both stuck in a glass box. Harris threatens to kill them, placing a nerve gas pellet on the top of the box and telling them if they try to escape the pellet will be released - killing them. Why am I now thinking of Schrödinger's cat? But anyway...
It takes seven hours for the police to release Sarah, and they still do not believe her warnings of an imminent nerve gas attack on London. While she's being interrogated, and Josh and Ellie are being stuffed in a glass box - Natalie is at Sarah's when Harris shows up. He threatens her, pushes her out of her wheelchair, and then takes it. He also tells her there's a bomb in the building and gives her 30 minutes to escape.
When Sarah leaves the building Harris calls and threatens all she holds dear - telling Sarah she can save her friend Natalie from a bomb - or prevent Carver from releasing nerve gas in the tube tunnels (i.e. the subway). Sarah, surprisingly, shows up at the tube station, where she finds that Carver has just released Ellie and Josh from their trap, Ellie has run off both to escape and to possibly get additional help, and Carver is threatening to throw himself under the train - which will crush and release the vest of nerve gas pellets strapped to him. One thing that Claudia was able to tell Sarah before she died was that C19 suspects that Bioguard lied when they claimed nothing was stolen during the recent break-in, and that in reality a tray of nerve gs pellets went missing and it's suspected to be an inside job.
Sarah, with help from Josh, manages to get Carver to remove the nerve gas - but he still throws himself under the train. A news report ties into the opening of the story and fills in a few details.
Later, we learn that Natalie dragged herself free of the flat and managed to escape, barely. But when Sarah meets up with her, Natalie tells her: that's it, she's had enough. She can't get over Sarah leaving her to die - even though Sarah had an impossible choice. When Sarah says that even five years ago she would have saved a friend first, but now she has to see the bigger picture and save the world - Natalie cannot accept it and leaves. Sarah accuses Josh of wanting to do the same thing and leave - but he vows to stay with her and help her.
I really enjoyed Test of Nerve from the punny title to the action and suspense. The intercutting between Natalie swearing she "won't be a victim" as she pulls herself through Sarah's flat and Sarah rushing, at first we know not where, and later trying to talk down Carver is masterfully and suspensefully done - especially for audio. There are some plotholes. Sarah calls Natalie's cell but can't reach her because it's in her car - but she apparently doesn't think to call a neighbor to check on the situation. And Josh, Ellie, and Sarah could have saved everyone a lot of trouble if they'd simply forced Carver into the convenient box that Josh and Ellie had been stuck in. Presumably, it could be sealed. But even so, this was the best Sarah Jane Smith audio so far. I hope the range continues to improve. Highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2023
I've been really enjoying the Sarah Jane Smith range but out of all the audios I've heard Test of Nerve is by far the best, so obviously I was intrigued and now finally I'm giving it a listen!
Sarah Jane Smith has 24 hours to solve a complicated mystery that could shatter her life forever otherwise, London will be destroyed.
David Bishop has written an incredibly dark and action-packed script that is really intense and downright disturbing in tone. Out of all the stories so far, this one is very grounded and deals with a threat that could actually happen. A terrorist attack on such a large scale doesn't bear thinking about, and with some intense character drama on top of that, it makes for a really thrilling and jaw-dropping story.
Overall: It's hard reviewing this one without going into spoilers, but it was bloody brilliant. I loved the cliffhanger to this story as well, as we finally get some answers as to who is after our favorite journalist. 10/10
Sarah Jane Smith has 24 hours to solve a complicated mystery that could shatter her life forever otherwise, London will be destroyed.
David Bishop has written an incredibly dark and action-packed script that is really intense and downright disturbing in tone. Out of all the stories so far, this one is very grounded and deals with a threat that could actually happen. A terrorist attack on such a large scale doesn't bear thinking about, and with some intense character drama on top of that, it makes for a really thrilling and jaw-dropping story.
Overall: It's hard reviewing this one without going into spoilers, but it was bloody brilliant. I loved the cliffhanger to this story as well, as we finally get some answers as to who is after our favorite journalist. 10/10
June 14, 2023
The third installment of the Sarah series is, in its own way, the best. The action in this one revolves around experimental germ warfare and government coverups. Hmmmm, sounds just a little too close to reality. The omnipresent Mr. Harris becomes truly scary in this story, thanks to the superb voice of Robin Bowerman. And Sarah is forced to make a truly terrible choice between competing emergencies. The whole is played at just the right emotional pitch. So what keeps it from being higher than a 7? A bit more dialogue than is necessary at some points, for starters. Also, a couple of improbabilities such as Harris's complicated trap in the underground. However, the good far outweighs the bad in this production.
February 2, 2018
It was only after this finished that I realised it was a story without monster or aliens, just human villians, which I liked. It was an ok story, though it didn't really drag me in. It was definitely better than the previous one!
June 21, 2020
This episode was dark and tension filled.
February 2, 2021
Definitely better than the previous one. There's tension here and there, but pretty tame overall.
August 2, 2023
That was so much better than the first two. Well written, lots of action, intrigue and suspense and even better music!
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April 8, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/881502.html[return][return]a prophetic story of a terrorist attack on the London Underground, linking the bad guys to a much earlier stage of Sarah's career
May 14, 2016
A re-listen. Originally shelved July,05,09. I still love this one the best out of the first three. An impossible situation costs Sarah Jane friends and allies, and an old foe comes back to haunt her.
November 29, 2013
Very enjoyable. A great mix of action and drama, and I enjoyed the banter/friendship between the main characters. Realistic in that
April 9, 2020
Great adventure for Sarah Jane and her gang. Fighting to stop a madman from releasing Saron gas in the city of London. Will they succeed?
February 6, 2018
This is the best one yet. Framed for the murder of one friend while another friend's life is in the balance, Sarah Jane must race against the clock to foil a terrorist attack on the London tube.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews