Trivia / The Sarah Jane Adventures, S4 E7&E8: "The Empty Planet"

• California Doubling: The episode is set entirely in central London (as opposed to Sarah Jane's house in Ealing, which appears briefly), but it is mostly filmed in the centre of Newport; with Gavin's council estate filmed in Grangetown, Cardiff; and the Ealing Circle Nature Reserve being filmed in Penarth.
• Inspiration for the Work: The story’s premise was born from an incident wherein Russell T Davies walked out of his hotel room to find the normally busy halls empty.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In Gareth Roberts' original script, Professor Rivers alerted Sarah Jane to an organisation called Alpha Solutions which had poached most of the Pharos staff, including Toby Silverman. Going undercover, Sarah Jane discovered that Alpha was experimenting on a captive alien to synthesise an enzyme which bestowed Super-Strength.
  • Roberts had intended that the episode boast no incidental music whatsoever between Rani waking up to a deserted house and the restoration of the Earth's populace. However, the director was concerned that this would be to the episodes' detriment, and instead a very sparse score was composed by Sam Watts.

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