Day 356: The Time Warrior Part 1

As we start series 11 of this series, it is clear that there is an awful lot to talk about with regards to the opening serial: The Time Warrior. First and foremost is the updated title sequence, which indicates a change in direction for the programme. This change is direction, however, is nothing to do with the production staff changing over, instead it is due to the introduction of a new assistant: Sarah Jane Smith. It makes sense, of course. The audience identification figure has changed, and thus the way in which the programme works changes as well. This continues into the new series as well, think of how much of a change occurred between the Doctor travelling with Amy and Rory to the Doctor travelling with Clara for instance.

But let's take a look at Sarah Jane for a moment. It's a little early to talk too much about her character as of this moment, however one thing is incredibly clear, being that her relationship with the Doctor is instantly different what has come before. It's spikier, with a bit more antagonism between the two. She's not willing to fall into the traditional assistant role, and he's not willing to have her around. It's a relationship that contrasts itself well with Jo Grant, where he got to be more of a father figure to her, looking after her as they travelled the cosmos. Now, the relationship is different and has the potential to go in different directions that we can't predict as of yet. We'll discover what will happen as the series continues though, and comment more on how Sarah Jane develops.