'The Nightmare Man' (Part 2) by Joseph Lidster

Having swapped places with Luke, the Nightmare Man decides to go after the sleeping Clyde and Rani, subjecting them to their own bad dreams: Rani ‘awakes’ to find herself at home in her living room, just as ruthless television newsreader Louise Marlowe reaches out through the screen and drags her into the newsroom. Meanwhile, Clyde appears behind the counter of a deserted burger bar; he is soon joined by an elderly, electric-wheelchair-bound version of Sarah Jane, who puts him down for ending up in such a dead-end job, whilst continually singing the praises of her genius son Luke. Back in the real world, Sarah finds the recording of Luke’s warning; she immediately rushes over to wake her slumbering son, and when this proves useless, she calls on K-9 and Mr Smith – but their efforts are also in vain… In the television news studio, Louise transforms Rani into a smart-suited journalist and then forces her to read out an exposé of Sarah Jane; Rani tries to resist, but cannot stop herself from speaking aloud the damning words on the autocue… Exploring the black void, Luke comes across a red door, which leads him to a sinister version of a school corridor. Assaulted by the Nightmare Man’s triumphant laughter, Luke tries calling out to the evil man; but the malicious, otherworldly being is too busy exploring the joys of the real world, and he runs out of Sarah’s house and into Bannerman Road. Back in the attic, Mr Smith informs Sarah that the Nightmare Man is an alien creature that feeds on bad dreams; fearing for Clyde and Rani’s safety, Sarah rushes to check on them, only to find that they too have been sent into a nightmare-filled sleep. Finding a chunk of sentient, telepathic concrete in her collection of alien artefacts, Sarah sees a way to reach Luke: she gets Mr Smith to boost K-9’s energy levels, enabling the nifty robot dog to communicate with her son – and materialise inside Luke’s dream! In the street outside, the Nightmare Man sends streams of coruscating energy out into the night, inflicting terrible dreams on the sleeping neighbourhood; and then he begins to feast… Learning from K-9 that the Nightmare Man has attacked Clyde and Rani, Luke deduces that he might be able to reach them both now that they are in the dream world too; on hearing Luke’s shouts, Rani determinedly walks away from Louise and the cameras, while Clyde turns his back on the insensitive old ‘Sarah’. Having made contact with his friends, Luke encourages them to each think of a red door; Clyde and Rani follow his instructions, creating doors that allow them to step through and join Luke – they are now all in the same dream... Their actions have an immediate effect on the Nightmare Man: his power fades, stopping the bad dreams he was inflicting on the inhabitants of Bannerman Road; furious, the Nightmare Man dematerialises in the attic and incapacitates K-9 and Mr Smith with blasts of deadly energy. Turning to Sarah, the Nightmare Man gloats that he knows all about her from every bad dream she has ever had; Sarah is undaunted, and challenges her foe into sending her to sleep too; the Nightmare Man almost complies, until he realises it is merely a trick to allow Sarah to reach her son. With his powers weakening further, the Nightmare Man returns to the dream dimension, where he tries to use his dwindling energy to force Clyde and Rani back through their doors and into their worst fears. However, Luke intervenes: he has realised that his friendship with Clyde and Rani is strong enough to survive their being apart, and his nightmares no longer have a hold on him. Now freed from the Nightmare Man’s power, Clyde and Rani rejoin Luke and link hands; together the three friends are a match for the evil man – they turn the tables on him, sending him through one of the doors and into the burger bar. As the Nightmare Man screams in anger and frustration, the red door slams shut – leaving him powerless, and at the mercy of the fake Sarah’s continual praise for Luke… Back in the real world, Sarah finishes her repairs on K-9 just in time to see Luke wake up, and together mother and son enjoy a relieved hug. As Luke rushes off to check on Clyde and Rani, the relieved Sarah tells K-9 that she has to give him to Luke: he needs to keep an eye on him, just as the Doctor gave Sarah a K-9 to look after her… The following morning, Rani and Clyde each say their goodbyes Luke, vowing to stay in contact with him no matter what. Then Sarah joins them, and together they wave farewell as Luke and K-9 drive off on their next, new adventure…

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Thomas Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr Smith [Voice]), John Leeson (Voice of K-9), Julian Bleach (The Nightmare Man), Doon Mackichan (Louise Marlowe)

Directed by Joss Agnew
Produced by Brian Minchin
Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Piers Wenger
A BBC Wales production

TX:
12th October 2010 CBBC @ 5.15 pm
14th October 2010 BBC 2 @ 4.30 pm

Notes:
*Featuring Sarah Jane Smith, Luke, Clyde, Rani, K-9 Mk IV and Mr Smith

*The terrestrial repeat of 'The Nightmare Man' was shown on BBC 2 due to BBC 1's coverage of the Commonwealth Games