Daniel Mansfield reviews the second volume of Rani Takes on the World

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After their return in April’s Beyond Bannerman Road (review here), Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra) and Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) are back for more adventures in the second Rani Takes on the World boxset: The Return of Wormwood. As you might expect from the title, these three stories see the return of old enemy Mrs Wormwood (Samantha Bond), but she’s not the only character from The Sarah Jane Adventures making a reappearance here.

Lizbeth Myles‘ opener, Time Schisms!, sees the return of Tommy Knight‘s Luke Smith, as Rani bumps into him while investigating reports of a time traveller working in a village post office. It’s great to hear Knight back in the role, especially because Myles gives him something new to do, pitting him against Rani as her investigations conflict with UNIT’s. In the last boxset, we saw how Rani and Clyde’s relationship had grown and evolved since we last saw them, so it’s pleasing that Rani and Luke’s is given similar development here, even if we get the sense that the status quo will be restored by the end of the story.

Speaking of the story itself, it’s certainly an interesting one. While the first half feels like quite a standard investigation yarn, there’s a fantastic twist halfway through that really makes this feel unique. Central to this twist is Alex Jordan‘s Louis, who is absolutely not what (or who) he seems, the slight absurdity of his character arc being tempered by a nicely measured performance. Overall, this is a strong opener which brings a much-loved character back into the fold while giving us a story with a twist I guarantee you won’t see coming!

The Star-Crossed Diversion by Alison Winter is a refreshing change of pace as Rani and Clyde accidentally travel to a parallel world, which has been taken over by their old enemies the Bane. This one feels more like a Doctor Who story than what we’re used to with this series so far, with some more high-concept ideas and mysteries at its heart.

Milo Twomey puts in a strong performance here as Bane Uncle Crispin, while Madison Bulleyment is compelling as Jude, a resident of this strange new world who Rani and Clyde befriend. A parallel version of Raghad Chaar‘s Samira also features in this story, and the character is given her strongest showing yet, leading the fight against the Bane. Ultimately, though, (and aptly, given its title) this episode feels like a bit of a diversion from the main plot of the boxset.

Rani and Clyde return to their own world in The Ghost of Bannerman Road by Jonathan Morris, which sees them reunite with Luke as the dastardly Mrs Wormwood puts a terrible plan into motion. This story has some great themes, dealing with the characters’ regrets about the past, and gives Mrs Wormwood some great material, portraying her as a kind of sinister Ghost of Christmas Past, infiltrating the Rani and Clyde’s dreams in an effort to get them to change their past.

While there’s some good material for Clyde and Rani here, Luke is unfortunately quite sidelined, only appearing in a few scenes and not even interacting with Mrs Wormwood, with whom he arguably has the greatest connection of the three leads. Similarly, though what’s here is fantastic, Mrs Wormwood feels a little underused, her role here being more to set up future stories.

Overall, this boxset isn’t quite the triumph that was Beyond Bannerman Road, but it’s still a highly entertaining way to spend three hours, and a lovely dose of nostalgia for those who grew up on The Sarah Jane Adventures. As Rani hints in her closing narration, let’s hope these first two boxsets in the series are only just the beginning of a great many new adventures to come.

The Revenge of Wormwood is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com