Four days before Luke leaves for Oxford University a year early, he starts having nightmares about leaving for university, something that was thought to be impossible since the Bane did not include dreaming in his genetic makeup. In his nightmares, he sees the Nightmare Man, who tells Luke that he cannot tell anyone about him.
On Luke's last night home, the Nightmare Man forces Luke, Clyde, and Rani to have nightmares relating to Luke leaving for university, and begins entering the real world and reaching into the dreams of other humans. Luke's dream is full of red doors similar to his school. He deduces that he, Clyde and Rani are in the same reality and calls to them, telling them to imagine a red door and to walk through it. The three of them are now in the same dream, stopping the Nightmare Man's powers. The Nightmare Man returns to the dream reality. Luke, Clyde and Rani join hands, and the Nightmare Man is forced into Clyde's nightmare, where he is trapped into listening to Sarah Jane talk about Luke. The next morning, Luke drives off with K9 to university.
The BBC had originally approached Russell T. Davies and asked him to make a character gay in the show. Davies planned for this character to be Luke, and intended to begin foreshadowing it from The Nightmare Man. However, Davies chose to cut one line which hinted more explicitly at this more development. The line which is cut is from the scene in which Luke saying goodbye to Sarah Jane as he departs for university.[1][2][3]
Sarah Jane: Have a lovely time at university. You’ll grow up, you’ll find a girlfriend. Luke: (off-handedly) Oh, could be a boyfriend! Sarah Jane: Well, as long as it’s not a Slitheen, I don’t care!
— Cut lines from "The Nightmare Man," as remembered by writer Russell T Davies.[1]
This was the tenth of eleven Sarah Jane Adventures serials to be adapted as a novel. Written by Joseph Lidster, the book has only been published as an E-book on 25 November 2010.[4]
References
^ abDavies, Russell T (Doctor Who executive producer, 2005-10); Manning, Katy (actress) (August 2013). Audio commentary for The Green Death: Special Edition (DVD). BBC.
^"PURE GOLDER What Was So "Normal" About Sarah Jane Smith's Son?". SFX and Future Publishing Limited. 4 July 2013. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
