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Story: The Empty Planet
Year: 2010
Written by: Gareth Roberts
Directed by: Ashley Way

Synopsis:

One evening, Mr Smith picks up an alien energy trace, but it disappears before he can work out what it is. Since it's a school night, Sarah Jane sends Rani and Clyde home, while she investigates.

When Rani wakes up the next morning, her parents have disappeared. Searching outside, Rani discovers that everyone is missing. She is alone.

Back home, wondering what to do, Rani hears a noise outside. Going to investigate, she discovers Clyde. They are very relieved to see one another, and set about trying to work out what has happened.

While they are wandering Ealing, trying to puzzle it out, they see someone. Chasing, they find a boy called Gavin, who ran away from them because he was frightened. He insists he has no idea what's happening, is frightened when they talk about aliens, and when their backs are turned, he runs away again.

Outside again, and searching for Gavin, Clyde and Rani hear a strange noise. In the window of an electronics shop, they see a strange message appear on all the television screens, but have no idea what it could mean.

Rani and Clyde get separated, and each of them is chased by a large, imposing robot. One of them corners Rani, but Gavin distracts it just in time and they run away, finding Clyde again, who has had a similar experience.

In the cafe they've adopted as their headquarters, Clyde and Rani try to figure out why they would have been left behind, and realise that they were grounded by the Judoon and by intergalactic law they cannot leave the planet. Whoever took everyone else must have respected this ruling, but that doesn't explain Gavin.

The robots find them, and, convinced that the robots are after them and they are putting Gavin in danger, they tell him to run away, while the robots chase them. The robots catch up with them, but they don't harm them, only scanning them.

Rani and Clyde try to communicate with the robots, and finally get them to understand. The robots are searching for the heir to the throne of their planet – Gavin. And if they don't find him soon, the rest of the human race will be gone forever.

Racing against the clock, Rani and Clyde find Gavin and tell him what has happened. He is disbelieving, having no idea of who he truly is, but the robots plant knowledge in his mind that helps him to understand. No longer afraid, he orders the return of the stolen people before dubbing Clyde and Rani a lord and lady, and returning to his planet to take his rightful place.

Sarah Moments:

* She sends Clyde and Rani home to bed while she investigates an alien energy trace
* She reassures Luke on the phone that Clyde and Rani are safe
* She arranges for Gavin to officially disappear

Capture, Rescue and Mortal Peril:

* The entire human race will disappear forever if the robots don't find the heir! Clyde and Rani sort it all out

Quotes:

* 'There's no mobile signal.' 'Yeah, I tried calling Luke but there was nothing. And I called you – of course I called you – I called you first!' - Rani, and Clyde, who we think doth protest too much...
* 'It's so good to see you, I thought I was going mad!' 'If you are, we're both going mad together!' - Rani and Clyde
* 'I'm so glad you're here.' 'Sarah Jane would be more use to you.' 'Better use to you than me, she'd be working things out, calculating stuff!' - Clyde and Rani, aw
* 'What if it's just the two of us left in the whole wide world?' 'Like Adam and Eve...' 'Yeah... no!' - Rani and Clyde
* 'You two were brilliant, worked it out all by yourselves.' 'Only because you showed us how to! You, like, trained us.' 'Yeah, you're the commander, we're just the space cadets.' - Sarah, Rani and Clyde
* 'Not a bad morning's work, my lord.' 'Indeed, my ladyship. Score, one-up for the hangers-on.' - Rani and Clyde. Daww.

Wardrobe Appreciation

Sarah gets two looks in this story - red shirt and white shirt - which is pretty good going considering she appears for all of five minutes: