I raved about Annette Badland’s performance only a few weeks ago, but once again she brings a gravitas to the role which helps to anchor the show as something more than ‘just’ a children’s series. And if last week belonged to the boys, this week it’s all about the women. The truth is, there never feels like much of a need to bring someone else in, because Wizards Vs Aliens has such a talented cast of regulars that Benny’s departure is an opportunity to give them all something more to do. As much of a shame as it is that Tom and Katie will never be a team in the same way as Tom and Benny, given that they work so well together in this story, it’s exciting that the show isn’t taking the ‘safe’ path in filling any void left behind by Percelle Ascott.

So it’s a brilliant act of subversion by writer Phil Ford when, just as the day is saved and the new status quo established, Katie requests that everything go back to how it was before she found out. The leading lady role in this episode feels like a gift to Bambra, and she does a marvelous job of proving that she can easily handle second billing on the series.īut Wizards Vs Aliens has never been the kind of show to take the obvious route in its storytelling. She’s brave, she’s witty and she takes everything in her stride – after the initial shock at learning that Tom’s a wizard, Katie’s taken by the beauty and wonder of the magical world rather than fearing the unusual. Manpreet Bambra hasn’t always had a lot to work with on the show, but over three years she’s established Tom’s love interest as a strong, likeable character.

It’s even less surprising when, exactly ten minutes in, she witnesses Tom performing magic for the first time and the veil drops from her eyes.Īs a character to replace Benny, Katie makes complete sense.

So it’s perhaps not that surprising when Tom’s sometime-girlfriend Katie asks him to come and help out with an apparent haunting at the theatre looked after by her grandad. It’s never easy to follow the departure of a major character, and with Benny having left in the previous episode Daughters Of Stone knows it has some big shoes to fill from the outset.

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