I've always loved the night sky.
As a child, I would lie in bed gazing out of my window
and fall asleep counting the stars,
then dream about what might be out there.
But I never dreamt that one day I would find out.
How could I possibly have imagined everything that I would see,
everything that we would see?
The Bane, Slitheen, the Gorgon, the Trickster.
When I moved into Bannerman Road,
I thought creatures like that were just stories.
It's amazing, Sarah Jane.
And there's still so much more to discover.
All right, we'll be coming up on Rigel Beta-Five in...
30 seconds.
I know this is a... I know this is a radio telescope, Lucy,
but that's not really the sort of thing we tune into here.
Sorry, Dad.
-And this is our kind of show, hmm! - It's beautiful.
And your mother wants you to go into chemistry!
Do you see sights like that down the end of a microscope? No.
You tell her next time you see her, your veins run with starlight.
You're going to be an astronomer.
She says chemistry is hands-on.
-Mmm. -Astronomy's just I-Spy.
Well, chemists smell of formaldehyde.
Astronomy is science gone rock 'n' roll.
Well, something's definitely got all shook up on Rigel Beta-Five.
I've never seen anything like this before.
Cyclic wave pattern.
It's intelligent.
Amazing.
Lucy, stay here!
Dad?
Dad, where are you?
-I think it's come. -What if it's a "no"?
It's "no" and nothing has changed, has it?
Maria, this new London office...
Ajob like that could change our lives.
More than they have already?
Xyloks being turned to stone, alternate realities?
Anything else is just money.
Ah, you know what, you're right.
How much of a shocker can this be?
-You're done for, Boney! -Non, Monsieur le duc.
I've divided your forces. You're outnumbered.
You don't stand a chance.
That's the problem with you, Bonaparte.
All mouth and short trousers.
What's going on?
It's our history project for the weekend.
On Monday, Clyde and I have to demonstrate
the battle strategies of Bonaparte and Wellington at Waterloo.
I wanted to do the Battle of Hoth,
but Mrs. Pittman reckons that Star Wars
isn't historically accurate, or something like that.
Oh, I see. Well, I'm sorry, but I need to speak to Mr. Smith.
Of course, Sarah Jane. What can I do for you?
There's a news report about a village called Goblin's Copse.
Last night, people saw strange lights in the sky.
Did you detect any spacecraft activity?
No. Lights in the sky can, of course,
have many explanations other than an extraterrestrial nature.
An alien computer debunking flying saucers? Now I've heard everything.
If every aerial phenomenon reported as a UFO
was, in fact, an alien spacecraft,
Earth would be at the center of a solar gridlock
backing up to the outer rings of Saturn.
It could be my imagination, but since your reboot,
have you acquired a sense of humor?
MR. SMITH: I will run a diagnostics check immediately.
-This is incredible! -I know, but...
I said it would change our lives, but this'd be so much more.
Dad, it's fantastic.
-Are you sure? -What are you asking me for?
Because this isn't just a job offer, Maria,
this can't just be up to me.
This decision involves you. Even your mum.
And Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde.
All of it will be over.
I thought Mr. Smith said there was no alien connection
to the lights last night.
He did. But the Tycho Project radio telescope
is based at Goblin's Copse.
Mr. Smith is bright, but he doesn't have
-a journalist's nose for a story. -What's going on?
Strange lights in the sky, a creepy-sounding village
-and a radio telescope. -Fancy a ride into the country?
I'd better catch it while I can.
The Tycho Project is
a network of radio telescopes around the world
searching for friendly life in outer space.
This one was converted from a Cold War listening station.
Impressive.
So instead of listening to the Russians, it's listening out for aliens.
How come they never spotted any
when we've got aliens bent on invasion coming out of our ears?
Space is a big place, Clyde.
All the radio telescopes couldn't monitor all of it.
They're always looking the wrong way?
Most aliens don't want to be seen.
Until they're ready to jump us.
Why do I get the feeling they're about to do it again?
Come on.
Hello?
Is there anyone here?
Hello?
-It's like the Mary Celeste. -Everything's operational.
But no sign of life.
Tea break?
It's stone cold.
It's as if something happened out of the blue.
They left suddenly.
-Just dropped everything and went. -Lottery win.
Just trying to be positive.
According to the data records,
the antenna was observing
Rigel Beta-Five last night at 22:08.
But there was a burst of interference.
Around 1 0:00.
That's when villagers said they saw lights.
Rigel Beta-Five doesn't like telescopes pointed at it.
The people there come down to sort it.
Like popping a paparazzi on the nose.
Clyde, it just wouldn't be the same without you.
Well, it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere.
Something in the woods!
There's something in the woods!
Here. Drink some of this.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
Have you seen my dad?
No. The place was empty when we got here.
My name is Sarah Jane Smith. I'm a journalist.
-Who are you? -Lucy.
My dad is Professor Nicholas Skinner.
He runs the observatory.
Last night, there were lights in the sky circling the telescope.
We went after them into the woods, but I lost him and...
Something in the woods! It chased me!
I fell, hit my head.
Dad! Maybe it's got him!
Calm down. It's all right.
What did you see in the woods?
I couldn't see it. It's like it was there and it wasn't.
-Like it was invisible? -It's got my dad! It must have!
Look, don't worry. We'll go and find him.
It'll be all right. Come on.
Just a minute. No one is going into those woods
until I know what we're dealing with.
I think Clyde wants to impress Lucy.
Actually, her old man might be hurt out there.
You have a look around the observatory buildings,
-but don't go into the woods. -Received and understood.
Lucy's dad isn't here.
He's probably out there somewhere.
We shouldn't go into the woods.
She meant all the way in.
We'll just have to nose round the edges.
Lucy's sleeping.
Exhausted, I expect.
Should we ring the police about her dad?
I'd like to think the police could handle this.
My instincts tell me it isn't.
They also tell me there's something you want to tell me.
My dad's been offered a new job.
In America.
America?
He applied for this place in London. Then, out of the blue,
they offered him a job in Washington.
Well, that's excellent news.
Yeah, I suppose.
But how can I leave all this behind?
-Everything I've seen? -Nothing stays the same for ever.
If I've learned anything in my life, it's that.
People always move on.
Why are you being like this? I don't want to leave you.
-All the same, you must. -Please don't. I'm sorry.
There's no need to be sorry.
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful life in America.
America?
You've only just finished decorating.
-It's the job of a lifetime. -Are you going to take it?
It's not just about what I want to do.
Does Maria want to go?
She didn't think a job could change
our lives anymore than they've changed already.
But she wasn't expecting this. Neither was I.
Didn't think anything could surprise me now.
You never know what's round the corner, Alan.
Maria has a lot more to give up than I do.
My little girl will be on the other side of the world.
I hate woods.
The city is civilization. This is The Land That Time Forgot.
Why didn't we just stay on the edge?
What was that?
Maybe it's Professor Skinner.
I can feel the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
That's strange.
So can I.
No, Luke, that's not strange.
That's 1 00 percent creped out to the max.
Or the result of an electrostatic field.
There's something here, Clyde. Right here.
Where?
There.
-Maybe it can't see us. -No, Clyde. I think he sees us.
Why isn't it coming after us?
I think it's studying us.
Run!
Come on!
This is wrong. We didn't come this way.
We follow that. It's bound to lead to the road.
Come on.
What was that?
I can feel the hair on the back of my neck.
There's something here that's cloaked.
-What happened? Is my dad here? -No, Lucy.
Clyde and Luke are looking for him. They'll be back soon.
-I have to find him! -Lucy. Lucy!
Lucy, please, you have to listen to me.
I don't even know you.
Believe me, I know about things like this.
Tell me about the lights you saw.
They were the size of footballs,
circling the dish.
Footballs?
So we're not talking about spaceships then?
Don't be so sure, the Vorkazian hordes of Meta Vorka Six
travel in spacecraft about the size of a coffee cup.
But I believe what Lucy saw last night were some sort of drones.
Spaceships? You're talking about spaceships? Here?
The idea of aliens shouldn't be so difficult to accept.
Dad!
Dad, I was so worried.
Lucy, I've been looking for you.
Something chased me in the woods.
There's nothing there.
Perhaps something to do with the lights you saw?
My name is Sarah Jane Smith. This is Maria.
What happened to you last night?
This is a private scientific facility. Visitors are not welcome.
Miss Smith is a journalist.
I see. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there's no story here.
The lights were ball lightning.
A rare but fascinating meteorological phenomenon.
Not an invasion of little green men.
Not this time.
Goodbye.
Oh. I see.
But there was something in the woods.
Your imagination, Lucy. That's all.
If you'll excuse us, I'd like to take care of my daughter.
Yes, of course. Come on, Maria.
There's something wrong.
His body language was all wrong.
He didn't look like a father
who's been out hunting for his daughter.
He didn't act like her father at all.
It's Luke.
I made you a coffee, Dad.
Dad?
Hey, are you all right?
Dad?
I thought I told you two to stay out of the woods!
I know. Did you really think we would?
Of course not.
That's why I'm angry with myself.
It's this way.
We thought it was a force field.
But it isn't. It's a perception camouflage matrix.
I think it's what the alien was using, too.
It's got a shape.
See?
It's sort of round.
Is it the alien's ship?
Let's see, shall we?
Oh, no.
It can't be.
-What is it? -We have to get out of here now.
-Back to the car. Quickly. -What is it?
This is too big for us.
I have to contact UNIT.
You've never wanted to call in UNIT before.
You don't like the military.
That is a Sontaran space pod.
I've seen one twice before.
I prayed that I would never see another.
The Sontarans are brutal killers.
If there are Sontarans here, we are in trouble. Very big trouble.
They have one thing on their minds - conquest.
Sontar-ha!
I am so off baked spuds.
Consider yourselves prisoners of war!
Who are you? What are you doing on Earth?
I am Commander Kaagh, attached to the 1 0th Sontaran Fleet.
Kaagh the Slayer, soon to be Kaagh the Avenger!
Kaagh the Destroyer!
Sounds like Kaagh-Who-Watches-Too- Many-Conan DVDs to me.
Clyde, be quiet!
You're responsible for the lights last night?
Simple devices to draw the primitives out of the radio telescope.
You're my prisoners. Move!
Look! UNIT!
By the might of Sontar!
Resistance will be crushed.
Do you know where you're going?
As far away from Kettle Head as I can get!
We have to go back to the telescope.
Lucy is there. And her father, whatever Kaagh has done to him.
I don't get it. What does an alien want with a radio telescope?
I don't know. Whatever Kaagh is up to, we have to stop him.
Professor Skinner?
Whoa!
What is that?
Some sort of neural control implant, I imagine.
I thought the Sontarans used hypnosis
-to control their drones. -What, is he dangerous?
Probably not as long as we let him get on with what he's doing.
Where's Lucy?
Maybe I can fix what Kaagh has done and find out.
Put it down, female.
How do you know Mum'll be here?
Lucy. She would have wanted to be sure she was safe.
This is right in the middle of whatever Kaagh is up to.
She'd have come back here. It's what I would do.
Trouble is, so would Kaagh.
But where else can we find out what he's planning?
We have to find a way in there without him seeing.
Like that.
The first law of the battlefield, think like your enemy.
You didn't escape me.
You saved me the trouble of your escort.
What about my friends? They escaped.
Half-forms!
What trouble can they cause?
You should ask my teacher.
But you interest me, female. You know my kind.
Oh, very well, Commander Kaagh.
I met your people a long time ago.
And some time off yet.
I can tell you that the Sontaran Empire
is going to be around for another 1 0,000 years.
There will still be no end to your war with the Rutan Host.
But knowing Sontarans, that's probably the way you like it, isn't it?
You have encountered my kind and survived.
You are indeed an extraordinary female.
Flattery won't get you anywhere.
You could tell me what you're doing here.
Why Professor Skinner is hacking into the codes
of satellites in Earth's orbit.
I'm the sole survivor of the 1 0th Sontaran Battle Fleet's
Earth Invasion Force.
You mean we already beat you?
Loser!
The Empire had a plan.
We infiltrated your automotive technology
to introduce caesofine gas into the atmosphere.
ATMOS! The Sontarans were behind ATMOS!
The sky, it burned.
-We were tricked. -How?
A man they called the Doctor.
Of course.
I bet that must be quite annoying.
One man destroying an entire battle fleet.
The Doctor's my friend, Kaagh, so you'd better watch out.
No, it is you who are in peril.
I should take you back to Sontar to pay for his crimes.
For what he has done to me.
The Doctor did that to you?
I was being dispatched to Earth from the Battle Fleet
when he destroyed the mother ship.
I lost control of my craft.
It nearly burned up as it crashed through your atmosphere.
The G-forces nearly killed me, but I survived. Sontar-ha!
I was injured, alone,
my fellow warriors, the entire battle force destroyed.
The lone survivor of a shamed campaign
defeated by a single man without so much as a weapon in his hand.
I'm a commander in the Special Assault Squad,
trained to operate behind enemy lines.
And as long as I have breath, I am undefeated.
I moved my craft away from human eyes as I repaired it.
And I laid my plans
for the revenge of the Sontaran Empire!
Here, I have all the weaponry I need
to render your miserable planet a cinder floating in space.
By dropping satellites out of the sky?
Hold on, satellites come crashing down all the time.
We get it on the news, it's no big deal.
They drop into the sea or they burn up.
We guide them into the sea, Clyde.
I think Kaagh is planning something more dramatic.
My scans detect more than 3,000 satellites orbiting your planet.
Your primitive, but deadly, nuclear reactors on Earth
will make effective targets.
It'll trigger a nuclear chain reaction that'll wipe out all life.
And I shall return to Sontar as the avenging hero.
My name shall be purged of the shame of defeat,
it will echo through the Halls of the Fallen and the Brave.
Sontar-ha!
And when does this happen?
When they're in the primary position of alignment,
a signal from the telescope antenna
will bounce across the satellite network and trigger their fall,
in 45 minutes.
Forget it. It's not going to happen.
We've seen off all sorts of aliens.
No way is Earth going to go down to the Baked Spud from outer space!
Your defiance is good, half-form.
We have to do something.
Our battle intelligence on semi-developed organisms is incomplete.
The countdown will give me time to expand it
with the experiments I shall perform
on you.
Don't you lay a finger on him!
Defiance will be eliminated!
1 4 minutes, Clyde.
Dad, you have to help us.
Alan, what's going on?
Intruders on my ship?
My dad's got a job in America.
Are you going with him?
I will crush you with my bare hands, Bitesize!