Television series

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Name: The Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 2007
Cast: Elisabeth Sladen, Daniel Anthony, Jacob Dudman, Tommy Knight, Anjli Mohindra

A brilliantly crafted children's sci-fi series that treats its young protagonists with genuine respect and its storylines with real weight. Sarah Jane and her rotating team of teenage companions investigate alien threats and the supernatural with humour, heart, and the kind of ingenuity that comes from having minimal budget but maximum imagination. It's Doctor Who's smarter, more grounded cousin.

TVMaze rating

3.8

If you liked this

Torchwood2006

The spiritual sibling to Sarah Jane—same universe, same creative DNA, but deliberately pitched at adults. Darker, more violent, and willing to kill characters you care about. Essential if you want the same world explored from a different angle.

But Torchwood's first season is genuinely patchy; it doesn't find its footing until Season 2. Some episodes lean too hard on shock value instead of substance.

Class2016

Another BBC youth sci-fi series with the same DNA: teenagers in school dealing with alien incursions, tonal balance between humour and genuine stakes, and a confident understanding that young audiences deserve better than condescension. Different enough to feel fresh.

But Class only lasted one season and was cancelled mid-arc. It's a story left hanging, which is frustrating rather than tragic, and some eps lean harder on teenage melodrama than others.

The Librarians2014

American variant on the Sarah Jane formula: a team of misfits protecting the world from magical and supernatural threats, with practical problem-solving and genuine affection between characters. Lighter than Sarah Jane but similarly clever and warm.

But It's very American—broader comedy, bigger set pieces, less restraint. If you loved Sarah Jane's quieter moments and British understatement, this might feel loud and obvious.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Sarah Jane Adventures

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

My Son John1952

Both use genre (sci-fi alien threat, Cold War espionage) as a frame for exploring the fundamental human question: how well do you really know the people you love?

A small-town American family torn apart when their son becomes a communist spy. It's *utterly* structured like Sarah Jane episodes—ordinary people in extraordinary danger, moral clarity, investigation, and a deep anxiety about infiltration and the unknown. Watching it shows you the DNA of what Sarah Jane inherited.

But My Son John is a propaganda piece made during McCarthyism, which makes it historically interesting but emotionally toxic. It's also glacially slow and weighed down by sanctimony. Hard to love, valuable to see.

Eureka2006

A town full of geniuses producing beautiful disaster after beautiful disaster. Like Sarah Jane but with adults and American-scale budgets, it balances wonder, mystery, and character depth across five seasons. Proper ending, too.

But Eureka's later seasons rely on increasingly convoluted mythology that strains credibility. And it's fundamentally American comfort TV—warmer, less sharp-edged than the Sarah Jane approach.

Penny Dreadful2014

A team assembling to fight the supernatural. It shares Sarah Jane's intelligence, its commitment to character relationships, and its willingness to make you care about people in danger. Gorgeous, mature, with real bite.

But Penny Dreadful is profoundly dark—gore, sexual violence, grief. It's not a few tonal shades darker than Sarah Jane; it's a different genre pretending to be the same one.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1997

Teenage heroes saving the world with wit, warmth, and real consequences. Sarah Jane *learned* from Buffy—the found-family dynamics, the metaphor-as-plot structure, the balance of humour and heartbreak. A masterpiece, genuinely.

But Buffy's Season 1 is a slog; the show doesn't become itself until Season 2. And later seasons experiment in ways that don't always land. It's also much longer—seven seasons versus two for Sarah Jane.

Possum2018

Both treat the mysterious object or creature as an occasion to explore fear, curiosity, and the limits of understanding. Where Sarah Jane asks 'what is this?', Possum asks 'what if knowing the answer breaks you?'

A traumatized puppet craftsman and a marionette shaped like something unnatural. A 85-minute film that feels like a Sarah Jane episode accidentally made into pure nightmare fuel—the same investigation-and-discovery structure, but what you discover is *wrongness*. Extraordinary tension.

But Possum is genuinely disturbing and offers no catharsis. It's slow, it's bleak, and it ends quietly in darkness. If you watch Sarah Jane for comfort, this is the opposite experience.