B is for... Bane

A species of belligerent octopoid creatures who attempted to take over the Earth by means of a soft drink. They were able to take on the appearance of human beings through holographic technology. A Mrs Wormwood set up the "Bubble Shock" drinks company in London. This drink was extremely popular. It contained traces of addictive Bane DNA. The plan was to use this to mentally enslave those who had consumed it. Only a small percentage of the population was unaffected by it as they did not like the taste. In order to study humans, Mrs Wormwood created the Archetype, made up from the combined biological data of everyone who had visited the factory on its guided tours. This boy was rescued by Sarah Jane Smith, and would be adopted as her son, Luke. She was investigating the company, having become concerned about the unidentifiable ingredients. Sarah was helped by a new neighbour - Maria Jackson - who did not like the drink, and so was immune to the enslaving process.
Bane like to hunt. When one of them fails, it is eaten by its own kind. This was the fate of a Bane who had taken on the form of Davey, a "Bubble Shock" employee, when he failed to kill Sarah and her friends.
The creatures are susceptible to certain sonic frequencies, and mobile phones were banned from their factory site. Within the factory was the Bane Mother, a huge version of the creatures and the leader of the invasion force.

Luke used an alien communications device to boost a mobile phone signal, and this destroyed the Bane Mother, wrecking the factory.
Mrs Wormwood escaped, and found herself on the run from her fellow Bane. She allied herself with Kaagh, a disgraced Sontaran warrior. She came to Sarah to ask for help, but really wanted to bring Luke over to her side - trying to convince him that she was his real mother as she had created him. She planned to activate an ancient power source which created a portal to other dimensions, but it needed a human to access it - hence her attempts to win over Luke. Sarah called upon Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart for help. They were opposed by a UNIT officer - Major Kilburne - but he was really a disguised Bane. No longer needing Kaagh, Mrs Wormwood turned against him. However, he seized hold of her and dragged her into the portal. This closed behind them, trapping them in the other dimension.

Played by: Samantha Bond (Mrs Wormwood), Jamie Davis (Davey), Simon Chadwick (Major Kilburne). Appearances: SJA Pilot - Invasion of the Bane (2007), SJA 2.6 - Enemy of the Bane (2008).

• The Bane Mother might look familiar to readers of the Target novelisation of Terror of the Autons. The huge octopoid monster - a Nestene - on the original cover never featured on screen. CGI company The Mill took this image and created a CGI version of it as part of their pitch to secure work on Doctor Who when it returned in 2005. This was put to use in the pilot episode for The Sarah Jane Adventures, broadcast on New Year's Day, 2007.