The Sarah Jane Adventures/Recap/S3/E03 E4 The Mad Woman in the Attic

Part 1

In the year 2059, a boy named Adam sneaks into the attic of 13 Bannerman Road to meet the mad woman he'd heard so much about. He finds the old woman, who introduces herself as Rani Chandra and reminisces on her time with Sarah Jane Smith.

Back in the present day, Rani finds a suspicious occurrence on the news and excitedly goes to tell Sarah Jane about it. However, Sarah Jane brushes her off as Mr. Smith had already verified that the phenomenon was not alien in nature. Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Luke then excitedly talk about how Maria had been helping aliens hide from the US government. Jealous, Rani returns home where she gets an email from her old friend Sam, asking to meet her at an abandoned amusement park where a "demon" had been sighted. Four homeless people had disappeared. Still angry at the others, Rani goes alone. Sam takes her to the amusement park but refuses to go in with her. Rani is caught by Harry the caretaker and pretends to have a twisted ankle so that she can go into his office and ask him questions. She hears a voice saying "Playtime has begun" and runs out to investigate. She sees the four homeless people, under mind control, walk out of the haunted mine attraction and get onto the rides. Meanwhile, Harry is contacted by a red face that appears in his mirror.

Rani goes into the haunted mine where she runs into an alien named Eve, who Harry had been caring for. Eve, using her ability to read a person's timeline, empathizes with Rani's insecurities concerning her parents and her jealousy towards Maria. Eve explains that her people were caught in the middle of a great war, implied to be the Last Great Time War, because of their time-sensitivity. Her parents sent her to Earth as a refugee. Harry does not allow her outside due to her appearance, so she possesses people who she considers to be her friends. Rani gets a sudden phone call from Luke and says "I wish they'd just leave me alone."

Eve offers to show Rani her future. Rani sees herself as the lonely mad woman in the attic and is frightened. She then offers to help Eve leave.

Part 2

Sarah Jane realizes that Rani had lied to her parents, telling them that she would be at Bannerman Road. Clyde sneaks into her room, where he finds Sam's email. They track Sam to the orphanage where he had been staying since his parents died. Clyde and Sarah Jane follow Rani to the amusement park. Meanwhile, Luke stays behind at the orphanage, hoping to get more information from Sam. Sam runs off, leaving a note saying that Rani was not the one that Eve wanted.

Rani leads Eve outside for the first time in years, where she sees that Eve has brainwashed four homeless people into being her friends. Rani is outraged but Eve possesses her as well. Sarah Jane and Clyde reach the fair, meeting Harry and finding out what Eve had been doing. However, Eve was unable to control her powers, which is why Harry kept her inside. Sarah Jane and Clyde consult the face in the mirror, which turns out to be Ship, the AI controlling the ship that brought Eve to Earth. They bring Eve to Ship, who is able to heal her.

Ship reveals that the only thing that can power her is a black hole. Sarah Jane tells them about the black hole that K-9 is working to close. Ship absorbs the black hole's power, allowing K-9 to return to Earth, much to Mr. Smith's displeasure.

Eve invites Sam and Harry to come with her into space. Both of them accept. Before leaving, Ship offers to grant Rani's wish. Taking Rani's earlier remark "I wish they'd just leave me alone" literally, Ship erases Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Luke from existence.

Back in 2059, Adam reveals that he is in fact the son of Sam and Eve, which gives him powers similar to Eve's people. He corrects Rani's timeline so that Ship never granted her "wish." In 2059, Rani now lives in Bannerman Road. She has a son named Shuresh, three grandchildren, and is still friends with Luke and Maria.

Tropes

 * Be Careful What You Wish For
 * Continuity Nod: To both Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures when Ship reads Rani and Sarah Jane's pasts.
 * The old Rani mentions Daleks and Cybermen.
 * Eve says that her people were "exterminated" in a war. The alien file on the website confirms that the Daleks and Time Lords did the exterminating.
 * Conveniently an Orphan: Sam, meaning he can go into space to be with Eve without his family worrying about him.
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Adam.
 * Interspecies Romance: Sam and Eve.
 * I Never Said It Was Poison: Clyde tricks Harry into admitting that he had met Rani.
 * Literal Genie: Ship.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Where the cruk is Clyde at the end?