Can the Nekross plan to use clones of Helen be stopped?

Wizards vs Aliens goes out with a story that has epic scale but keeps the emotion at its heart – very much a Russell T Davies show. There’s never really any doubt that the cloning plan is going to be defeated, nor that Helen is going to have a short shelf life: too much of the balance of the show would be altered if she were back permanently, not to mention the whole issue of explanations.

Like the best of this series (and The Sarah Jane Adventures), this taps into youngsters’ fears and adults’ memories: most kids have lost someone, either permanently through death or through parents splitting up and panic about losing the remaining rocks in their life. Adults have gone through the reality of those losses and most would admit that they would give a great deal for just one more day with their loved ones. Michael Higgs finally gets given some scenes as an adult in his own right, rather than as Tom’s father: let’s have more of that next year please. What about if he moves on? How would Tom cope with that?

The appearance, though, of Helen as an Obi-Wan like figure at the end was more surprising, and does hint at some change-ups for the second year, as does Tom’s relationship with Katie. It’d be good, too, to have some more flashbacks, particularly given how good the young Tom looked.

Verdict: A tear-jerking finale that restates the core of the series while looking ahead to a second season.  8/10

Paul Simpson