- Rani Chandra, a would-be journalist, moves into the Jackson's old house with her mother and father, who is the new school head. Children have been disappearing and Rani suspects the appearance of a clown at the school is significant. In fact the last two to go missing had tickets to the Museum of the Circus, which Sarah Jane, Rani and the boys investigate. It is run by Elijah Spellman, a smilingly sinister figure, who sets clown robots on the group, though Sarah Jane uses her sonic lipstick to immobilise them. The group escape after Spellman has turned first into the Pied Piper and then into Odd Bob the clown.—don @ minifie-1
- In a field, a group of boys are playing football when one of the boys, Tony, accidentally kicks it into the woods. Tony goes to find it, but when he is alone, he is suddenly confronted by a terrifying clown, who lunges at him.
Luke reads an email from Maria describing her new exciting life in America, while Sarah Jane reads a newspaper article about a number of local children who have gone missing recently. Luke has been taking Maria's departure hard, and Sarah Jane tells him the best part about life is looking forward to new surprises. Clyde comes in and tells them that a new family is currently moving in across the street. Sarah Jane reminds the boys not to breath a word about their activities to the new family, something Luke has no intention of doing as he and Clyde leave for school. Clyde implies that to that end, they should make sure nothing alien remains in the house. At school, Clyde tells Luke they have to move on from Maria, though Luke admits he doesn't know how, as he's never lost someone close to him before. While they're talking, they are run into by a new girl, Rani. After introducing themselves, Rani tells them she has just moved in to Bannerman Road, a coincidence that Clyde finds humorous. Rani's sarcasm matches wits with Clyde's jokes, and they take her to class. On the way she sees the brightly colored clown roaming the halls before it disappears.
The new headmaster, Mr. Haresh Chandra, interrupts the rowdy class and asserts that he intends to run a stricter school since the last headmaster (who was secretly a Slitheen in disguise) disappeared. He takes a particular disliking to Clyde and his constant joking, before reminding the children to be careful in light of the disappearances and report any suspicious activity. Sarah Jane visits the new neighbors in Bannerman Road and meets Gita, Rani's mother. Gita is extremely friendly, if slightly scatter brained, and welcomes Sarah Jane inside for tea. While they discuss their families, Sarah Jane scans the house for any remaining alien tech, but finds nothing. Gita tells Sarah Jane that Rani is very clever and curious, and wants to be a journalist one day, suggesting that Sarah Jane could give her some advice, though Sarah Jane is reluctant to involve another teenager in what she really does. During break time, Rani and Luke talk about Maria. Rani suggests that they can be friends as well, though Luke says it wouldn't be quite the same. He amends that the situation with Maria was more complicated. Rani points out Luke's strange behavior, which she doesn't mind, as she prefers strange things and working out mysteries. They see Clyde accidentally hit Mr. Chandra in the head with a basket ball and get called to the office.
Outside the head office, Clyde sees his friend Finny go into a stationary cupboard, and hears laughter coming from inside. When he investigates, he finds no sign of Finny, and spots the same clown Rani has seen in the hallway. Clyde chases it to the bathroom, but it appears only in the mirror and tries to give Clyde a red balloon. Before Clyde can do anything, Mr. Chandra finds him, and the clown vanishes. Clyde tries to tell the headmaster about this, though of course he does not believe him. After school, he tells Luke. Luke cannot work out why an alien would dress as a clown, but just then Clyde sees it again. Luke cannot see it, but he and Clyde chase it to an alley, where it again disappears, leaving only a red balloon. Clyde is drawn to it, but Rani shows up and warns him not to touch it, and the balloon pops. She walks home with them, admitting that she has also been seeing the clown. She wants to investigate it, but the boys unsuccessfully try to convince her to drop it. Just then, Mr. Chandra pulls up and Rani reveals that the new headmaster is her dad, much to Clyde's dismay. Rani introduces the boys to her parents, as well as Sarah Jane. Mr. Chandra is thrilled to meet the school genius Luke, and Rani is excited to find out her new neighbor is a journalist.
In the attic, Clyde tells Sarah Jane about the clown. Luke posits that the clown may be an alien who thinks that children are supposed to like them, and is using it to lure them in. Sarah Jane decides to talk to one of Finny's friends to figure out where he's been, and Luke volunteers to keep and eye one Rani, since the clown may be after her next. At the Chandra house, Haresh has collected Finny's schoolbooks for the police. When her parents go upstairs, Rani takes a look at them and finds them full of doodles of clowns, and sees the scary clown itself right in front of her. It vanishes again when Luke comes over to help her unpack.
Sarah Jane and Clyde talk to Steve, Finny's friend, about the missing kids. When they mention a clown, Steve remembers a clown giving kids tickets at the train station. He himself declined, but both Finny and Tony took one. Clyde remembers he himself has a ticket that his mum got for him, and they see it is a ticket for Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus. At Rani's house, she tells Luke the clown is getting closer to her, and shows him the drawings. They find a ticket for the Circus Museum in the books, and Rani realizes she has one too. She hypothesizes that only kids with a ticket can see the clown, explaining why Luke can't see it. He tries to get her to tell Sarah Jane, but Rani thinks nobody else could understand. She leaves for the museum on her own, and Luke has no choice but to go with her. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane and Clyde arrive at the museum, and Sarah Jane tells him she has a phobia of clowns. They enter, finding it filled with wax figures, mannequins, and paintings. They meet the mysterious curator/ringmaster, Elijah Spellman, who tells them the history of the circus. Sarah Jane asks him about clowns specifically and he speaks of them with some reverence. Clyde finds a centuries old painting of the Pied Piper, who Spellman says was a traveling entertainer and the first ever "clown". Sarah Jane tells Clyde the tale of the Piper, who rid the German town of Hamelin of rats, and spirited away the town's children when they refused to pay him, similar to what this current clown seems to be doing. Just then, Spellman vanishes. Outside, Rani and Luke arrive, and Luke tries again to make Rani leave. She takes his behavior for cowardice, and goes in anyway, Luke exasperatedly following behind. They run into Sarah Jane and Clyde, and the clown mannequins come to life and grab Rani. Sarah Jane uses the sonic lipstick to free her, and they run through the museum toward the exit. Rani is full of questions, even more so when Luke mentions that Spellman is likely an alien. They make it through the clowns, but are trapped in the exit as Spellman appears, holding the doors closed with telekinesis. He reveals that his is in fact the real Pied Piper, who took the children from Hamelin centuries ago to instill fear in the population, and now has transformed into Odd Bob the Clown, who continues to snatch children and feed on the fear it creates. He threatens to feed on Sarah Jane, since, of all the things she has ever faced, she fears him the most.
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