The Sarah Jane Adventures (TV Series) The Mark of the Berserker: Part One (2008) User Reviews

That really is a clever plot.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 6 August 2022]

At school, a lad is using an alien amulet that he found, to control people, an amulet that passes to someone with bad motives.

An plot that could easily have been adapted into an episode of Torchwood, it reminded me of an episode of Class.

Notable for being the first episode of the show that doesn't feature Sladen, that means it allows all of the main characters to share the limelight, and they all perform very well.

Clyde is once again the central character, he's great as always, you see some real character development.

There was one scene I found particularly interesting, the scene where Rani was wearing the amulet and talking to her dad, she said 'you'd die if you could see yourself,' I am surprised it got through.

Jocelyn Jee Esien and Gary Beadle were excellent as Clyde's parents.

Enjoyed that, 8/10.

Not Top Marks but Decent

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 7/10 · 21 January 2020]

Review of both parts:

This is largely somewhat of a filler with an unexceptional story but it has a thoughtful aspect of family break up and the longing of children to know their estranged parent. It is dealt with quite sensitively, particularly in the end. At the start, Clyde's father turns up wanting to get to know him but there is an alien device controlling people and their behaviour which interferes in the situation.

There is some fun and also some darkness as well as the family relationship theme so there is plenty of good stuff. It just gets held back by an unexceptional plot with too much obvious exposition.

The acting is very good and overall this is an enjoyable adventure.

My ratings: Part 1 - 7/10, Part 2 - 7.5/10. Overall 7.25/10.

8.7/10

[rohanumpleby · 9/10 · 18 April 2020]

What a story for clyde. And you get to see his dad, and we get to no more about him as a person, wonderful and I loved the fact that we got to hear a little bit more about Clyde. He cooks as well I did not know that until this episode. And Sarah Jane is not in this one much either, we get to hear a lot about Clyde as a character. And even his dad named Paul gets his age wrong but Clyde is telling us. and he shows his dad the Attic that is where he finds the Pendant after Rani put the pendant up in the attic for Sarah to work out why it was down on earth. So now in the second part it shows him being controlled by the pendant.

the sleepover part, so Luke has to sleep at Clyde's because Sarah Jane has to go to an important place. And when they joke with each other I thought that was funny about Clyde's mum Karla. It is a sad and emotional story so if you want to see this be prepared to have some tissues mostly for the second part and you will be in for a treat.

The Mark of the Rani! Oh wait, Berserker...

[wetmars · 10/10 · 13 September 2020]

An alien pendant which gives its wearer the power to control others is stolen from Sarah's attic. Luke and Rani enlist the help of Clyde's mum to track down Clyde and his father, who has the alien pendant. The chase leads to a terrifying waterside confrontation when the pendant takes control of Paul and begins transforming him.

Review for both parts -

God, this was such an awesome story. We get to learn more about Clyde and his dad. I loved the father-to-son parts, it's really important to know about your dad and get along, y 'know?

This episode had some "Turn Left" vibes if you know what I mean, like, there's no Sarah Jane Smith in the story, again, this story just made me liked Clyde more. The Ending was impactful, man. The theme fits so well.

Clyde's character development was powerful, from trying to be a cool clown kid to being a normal teenager, man. I think the message of this episode is to love and care about your parents, on the other side, we get to learn more about Sarah's parents, they died when she was young, and too bad she didn't have a lot of time with her parents because of a car crash when she was like... a baby? It's sad.

10/10, great emotional vibes. Can't wait to see the Trickster return!