Guest Author - Dani M. Sanders

When searching for viewing options that are safe for the entire family, we can't forget to look at contributions from other countries. One such option that my children have been enjoying is The Sarah Jane Adventures from the BBC. The show premiered in the US on the SciFi Channel on April 11, 2008 in the 7p time slot.

The Sarah Jane Adventures is a spin-off of the popular Doctor Who series. For those not familiar with Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Smith (played then and now by Elisabeth Sladen) was a traveling companion to the Doctor in four seasons of that show. An investigative reporter by vocation, Sarah Jane couldn't go back to a normal life after traveling through time and space. When we meet her again in the new series, we find that she has been using the knowledge she gained during her time with the Doctor to investigate incidents involving aliens on Earth.

Unlike the Doctor who usually has only one companion at a time, Sarah Jane has three. Maria Jackson is a 13-year-old girl who moves in with her divorced dad over the road. She discovers Sarah Jane's secret life almost immediately. Luke Smith is Sarah Jane's son, a boy that Sarah Jane adopts after one of her adventures. He has the mind of a computer but the naivete of someone new to the world. Rounding out the trio is Clyde Langer, a rough-and-tumble kid who attaches himself to Maria and Luke because all three of them are new kids at the local school.

Although Doctor Who is already considered a family show, the trio of younger characters gives The Sarah Jane Adventures extra kid appeal. The stories in both shows are similar, yet there is something about the protagonists being younger that grabs my kids attention a bit more. The parents aren't left out, though, because the writing team did not dumb down the new show for a younger audience. This is good news for parents who want to watch TV with their kids but get turned off by most child-oriented fare. My husband even watched a few episodes on his own because he wasn't home to watch them with the rest of the family. That showed me that he was interested in the show and not just suffering through it.

I would say that this show is safe for any kid who can understand the plot, which would probably be ages 10 and up. There is no foul language, no sexual situations, and the violence is usually of the cartoon variety directed against the aliens. Sarah Jane, as she learned from the Doctor, usually tries to go for the non-violent option first and give the aliens the chance to leave Earth peacefully. Even when she has to destroy them, it isn't done in a way that would give the kids nightmares. The Sarah Jane Adventures is one show that you can definitely add to your list of family-friendly shows.