The BBC Press Office has today confirmed that The Sarah Jane Adventures will be returning to CBBC for a fourth series later this year! And that’s not all - a fifth series, to air next year, has been given the green light too!

This is of course great news for fans of the Doctor Who spin off, because it means that we’ll be able to enjoy the adventures of Sarah Jane & co until at least the end of 2011!

As previously reported, filming for the next series, confirmed to be starring all of the regular cast, will commence in Cardiff this month, and the press release promises the usual mixture of ‘thrills, scares and fun with enemies old and new’ for the 12-part/6 story series, which will hit our screens this Autumn.

In Series 4, we’ll meet the terrors of the Nightmare Man, the sinister Shansheeth, the gang will visit an alien world, and there’ll even be a dangerous journey back into history. Phil Ford, Joseph Lidster, Rupert Laight, Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman will be writing for the series, and Nikki Wilson will be joining the team as executive alongside Russell T Davies. Brian Minchin will serve as its producer.

Meanwhile, production for Series 5, which will continue the established 12-part/6 story format, will begin next year and it will transmit on BBC One in Autum 2011.

“We are thrilled to be making many more episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures,” said Damian Kavanagh, CBBC Controller. “It is been a huge ratings and critical success on CBBC and we hope our viewers are going to be hooked on Sarah Jane’s action-packed adventures for some time to come.” And we’re sure we will be! Affirmative!

» Are you missing Bannerman Road? Keep up-to-date with Sarah Jane & co here!

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Today we ask you to join us in raising our glasses and wishing a very happy birthday to Tommy Knight, the actor who portrays Luke Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures!

Knight has appeared in every series of the CBBC spin off to date, and has also made two cameos in Doctor Who. He’s celebrating his 17th birthday, and all at WhovianNet hope he has a great day!

Earlier this week it was revealed that a fourth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures has been given the greenlight.

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Various sources are today covering the news that the BBC are currently recruiting a new producer to helm The Sarah Jane Adventures, confirming at long last that the Doctor Who spin off will be returning to our screens for a fourth series!

Rumours regarding Series 4 were seemingly settled last month by its creator, Russell T Davies, who revealed during Who on Who? that pre-production for another 12-part series was already underway. But the announcement today suggests that it has finally been given the official thumbs up, and, according to ATVNetwork, filming is set to commence in Cardiff in March!

Series 3 aired on BBC One last Autumn, and reached record-breaking heights for CBBC programming, achieving viewing figures of over 1million. Stay tuned!

» Are you missing Bannerman Road? Keep up-to-date with Sarah Jane & co here!

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BARB have today published the final viewing figures for episodes 7 and 8 of the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which made up the fourth story, The Eternity Trap.

Part one was watched by an official audience of 1.14million, while 0.93million tuned in for its second instalment.

The third series has now finished, but you can still find all the latest ratings, guides and discussions over at our mini-site!

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If you’re wondering what you’re going to do on your Thursday and Friday afternoons now that the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures has reached its climax, you’ll be pleased to hear that from this week its time slot will be occupied by repeats of its first series instead!

Like the format for Series 3, the first part of each Series 1 story will air on BBC One at 4:35PM on Thursdays, with part two following on Fridays at the same time, same place!

The re-run kicks off this coming Thursday, 26th November, with part one of Revenge of the Slitheen. You can check out episode guides for Series 1 over at our Sarah Jane mini-site!

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Overnight ratings have now been released for the Series 3 finale of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Gift, which aired on Thursday and Friday night.

The opening instalment was watched by an unofficial audience of 0.8million viewers, a 6.2% share of the total television audience, while 0.8million also tuned in for part two, which achieved a 6.4% share.

Official ratings will be released by BARB in 10 days. Stay tuned!

» What did you think of the Sarah Jane finale? Let us know!

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Well, that’s it, folks! As they say, all good things must come to an end, and this afternoon, Sarah Jane and the gang bowed out in an adventure of epicly-sized proportions, as our leading lady was forced to face the battle of her life in order to save her son, Luke, and the whole of London from the evil clasp of the Blathereen…

So, what did you make of the finale? Did Series 3 end on a high, or were you left feeling let down by its climax? For the last time, feel free to share your thoughts regarding the episode - and also the series as a whole – as a comment on this post!

Thanks to everybody who has taken part in our Sarah Jane discussions this year. We’ve loved hearing your views, and we hope you’ve also enjoyed sharing them with your fellow fans! Stop by at our mini-site for all the latest guides, ratings and other related tidbits, and don’t forget… life on Earth can be an adventure, too – you just have to know where to look!

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The first part of the Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3 climax, The Gift, has just finished airing on BBC One and BBC HD, and as the credits roll, we bring you our penultimate discussion for the series, and invite you to share your thoughts regarding the opening instalment of the gang’s final adventure!

Today’s episode saw the Slitheen’s rivals, the Blathereen, arrive, declaring peace between the planets. They offered Sarah Jane a gift – one that might just change the future of the human race forever…

Feel free to post your reactions as a comment on this post, but watch out for spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet! And if this afternoon’s episode and cliffhanger are anything to go by, episode 12 is set to be an epic conclusion – the biggest and best yet, and we’ve been told that not everybody will make it out alive… Join us for our final Sarah Jane discussion of 2009 from 5:00PM tomorrow (Friday)!

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BARB have today released the final figures for episodes 5 and 6 of the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, which aired on BBC One and BBC HD last month.

Part I of the story was watched by an official audience of 1.59million, a 13% share of the total TV audience, while a 12% share tuned in for part II, which was seen by 1.47million.

The figures are much higher than usual for the CBBC series, and that’s no doubt down to David Tennant’s appearance in the story, which marked the Tenth Doctor’s return to small screens following the Easter Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead, back in April.

Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures reaches its climax later this week, with the final story, The Gift, airing on Thursday and Friday night at 4:35PM on BBC1 and BBC HD. Don’t miss it!

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Overnight ratings have now been released for this week’s Sarah Jane adventure, Mona Lisa’s Revenge, which aired on Thursday and Friday.

Part one of the story was watched by 1.0million, a 7.4% of the total television audience, and the concluding instalment achieved a 6.3% share with 0.8million tuning in to see Mona Lisa vow to release her terrifying brother from his age-old prison…

Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures reaches its dramatic climax next week, in The Gift by Rupert Laight.

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