TV Retrospective - The Sarah Jane Adventures series 3 part 2 - The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith/The Eternity Trap

 We’re back to looking at the Sarah Jane Adventures and… it’s time. Let’s begin

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith part 1

It’s got Sarah Jane Smith in the title, so you may be guessing who’s going to show up in it. Yes, it is a recurring pattern and a subtle clue

We open with Sarah Jane leaving Luke and K-9 to go out on a date, once she’s gone, Luke asks Mr Smith to come out so they can find out what she’s up, they’ve placed a tracer on her car because her excuses are getting lamer. K-9 is sassy to Mr Smith, setting up a rivalry that will last until the end of the series.

K-9 confirms there’s no alien presence in the area so the three head out to investigate on foot, Sarah Jane is having a date, the sound of the TARDIS can be heard in the background. They agree to keep quiet but thanks to Mr Smith later that evening, that lasts about 5 seconds. Well, we can get this lying bullsh*t out of the way quickly then.

The man’s name is Peter Dalton, that’s all we’ll find out about him with Rani and Clyde. Sarah Jane later says she was scared to tell them in case things went wrong. Well, given the premise of this show your track record will most likely be in-tact. They met in a shoe shop and she bumped into him again on the street. But they do joke about the idea of Sarah Jane revealing everything to him, something that’ll most definitely come into play later, although the drama isn’t what you might think, the TARDIS is heard again.

3 days later, Luke is about to meet Peter officially for the first time, and is worried about basically the same things anyone else would be, Rani and Clyde go for a sneak peak as Peter arrives in a black car, naturally the badge of that car isn’t shown because this is the BBC where product placement isn’t really a thing. Sarah Jane is handed a parcel which when it begins shaking, Rani takes it off her hands. Gita’s also interested… in being the florist for their wedding.

Luke introduces himself. Rani drops the parcel but Gita goes to introduce herself. COMEDY! The parcel moves again and we see an eye pop out. This is enough to wake up K-9, despite orders to remain out of sight. It’s the slug creature from Mark of the Bezerker. Luke tries to pass K-9 off as his as it walks around out of control. Peter is thankfully gullible enough to believe that sh*t, oh, there we go, it’s a Merc, the BBC is telling you to buy Mercedes!

They’ve managed to capture the creature, who Sarah Jane found on eBay (PLUG) Sarah Jane asks Rani to get Mr Smith to teleport the creature home and they’re successful. Honestly, the joke Peter makes about Sarah’s journalistic instincts is funnier than any of Gita’s comic relief in the entire series.

2 days later Clyde has discovered Peter’s house is up for sale, by Mellor and Luxton, a company they made up so they didn’t have product placement. Guess it is more difficult to relate to a not-mercedes and a not-eBay. Clyde says Sarah Jane has never been around there, so Clyde wants to investigate, despite protests from Rani, you’d think it’d be the other way around since Rani is a wanna-be journalist.

They get into the house, finding it hasn’t been used in weeks, especially given the hundreds of letters posted through the letter box. Peter asks Sarah Jane to Marry her and... Are you kidding me? Is Sarah Jane really willing to take it this quickly? She puts on a ring which glows red. Later, Clyde and Rani take badly to the news, explaining what they’d found. Sarah Jane explains his firm got him a flat in London after the ring glows again. OK, so the next question should be why didn’t he redirect his mail? There could be important sh*t he’s missed?

Clyde worries that it’s all a bit fast but the ring is effecting Sarah Jane’s mind. As Mr Smith is about to warn her about it, she shuts him down. Clyde is offered K-9 to shut him up for the time being as Sarah Jane says goodbye. An evil laugh confirms things aren’t what they seem.

So, it’s wedding day. Clyde’s mum and Maria can’t come due to commitments and the Brigadier is in Peru. I believe they intended him to be in this episode for one final reunion, unfortunately Nicholas Courtney fell ill and wasn’t able to be on set, or really have any part in the episode. Peter is also the last of his family so the gathering is rather small, just a few people Gita somehow is familiar with. Sarah Jane arrives in a white Limo, fashionably late of course, Rani is with her of course (she's the bridesmaid) as the TARDIS is heard one more time. The wedding begins and let’s get to this cliché before it’s too late. K-9 is around, still not trusting everything to be as it seems.

So here we go, if anyone has cause for bla bla, the Doctor runs in! The fans are turned on as ‘The Angel’ the Trickster appears.

Maybe there a few too many subtle hints to the Trickster being involved but I loved that reveal. It was an actual reveal rather than being in the next time segment like it was last time.

Rating 7.5/10

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith part 2

Sarah and Peter disappear first but soon everyone other than the Doctor, Rani, Clyde and K-9 are gone. The Doctor tries to reassure Luke that things will be ok. He works out that time has moved on they along with the hotel have been left behind. We get the classic Pertwee Line ‘I’ll explain later’ before everyone tries to force questions upon him.

They head to the TARDIS but find it’s not there, or trying to shift in but not there at that specific moment. They’re trapped in a second on loop so naturally nothing within the building is repeating at all.

Sarah Jane wakes up and sees what the ring is doing to her, she forces it off. The Doctor tells the kids the Trickster is part of the Pantheon of discord, creatures from beyond the universe that try and break into our reality. No mention of his brigade, along with the spider-crab-thing from Turn Left.

They realise they’re being left behind as hostages to force Sarah Jane to do his bidding, the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, since writers have basically given up on it making any sort of sense, detects a time trace which he follows, he deduces that Sarah Jane is close by. Peter tells Sarah Jane that ‘the Angel’ asked him to get her to wear the ring in case people try to stop them being together. Sarah Jane realises it’s the Trickster and heads out looking for the Doctor.

K-9 deduces the temporal schism is divided in 2, Sarah Jane’s trapped in another second. Spacial distortion takes Sarah Jane back to Peter. Sarah Jane laments that it’s a trap but of course it was, you even said that was your track record. Peter explains he fell down the stairs in his house and presumably broke something pretty major because he thought he was going to die, naturally Trickster made him an offer and he agreed. Sarah Jane explains her previous encounters with him and calls him out.

So we have both sides deducing what the Trickster wants, to stop Sarah Jane defending Earth, the chaos and destruction from which he’ll feed on. The Trickster next confronts the Doctor, telling him the gate is waiting for him, probably the gate of plot convenience from the End of Time. The TARDIS conveniently chooses this moment to appear because of some emergency programme. Its sparking with artron energy because of plot convenience. Just as he gets in the fans start blowing. None of the others get in but Clyde gets a face full of Artron energy, equal and opposite to the Trickster’s power, apparently.

The TARDIS disappears but Clyde soon works out he has been given a dose of Artron energy and can use it to fight the Trickster. As he does the Doctor manages to get close to Sarah. She’s fought the trickster enough times to know how he can be defeated. Clyde crashes in and passes out and the Doctor is forced to retreat. Sarah Jane explains what the Trickster’s bargain really means and that he must withdraw from the deal to save the Earth and keep them alive. He rather f*cking suddenly decides, yeah, I actually will do that and throws the ring back in the Trickster’s face. Things return to normal but Peter is back to being dead and the wedding is cancelled.

Sometime later, Sarah Jane seeks comfort with everyone really, but the scene they hinted about last time happens and the TARDIS appears in the attic. Everyone explores but no-one’s allowed to go anywhere thanks to bs that happened in the first 2-parter that I’m still holding back rage from. And that’s kinda it for this one.

It’s a very talky episode, your mileage may vary on how interesting that is. For me, it’s not perfect. Luke and Rani don’t really do anything and half the episode is focused around Peter, a character we know isn’t sticking around and the Doctor, a character from another show. They’d make some improvements on this the next time round. But for another time.

Rating 5/10

The Eternity trap part 1

We open with Professor Rivers giving us some history of Ashen Hill Manor, around the time of 1965. The evil in the house attracted a magician named Erasmus Darkening. A name chosen because Awful B Bad was taken. He was in the service of Lord Marchwood, a widow. Darkening promised that if he was protected, he’d restore the Marchwood wealth, he could turn any metal into gold purportedly. Two years passed but no results, only whispers that he’d been abducting people and wasn’t human.

Lord Marchwood’s children are the next to go missing, Lord Marchwood never found them. And they say he's still looking. Professor Rivers, Clyde, Rani and Sarah Jane are investigating the manor, purportedly one of the most haunted locations in the UK. They want to find out once and for all and Sarah Jane has come along to cover the story. Clyde and Rani are there because erm.. because… because plot has to happen. Luke is staying with the Chandras, how delightful for him.

Yup, this is the horror episode of the series. We’re introduced to Toby Silverman, another totally forgettable character you won’t see out of this episode. He has a cliché disapproving father but that’s all we know for now. The family that owned the house disappeared 20 years ago, we’re just finding out.

Sarah Jane, Luke and Rani go to explore whilst Sarah Jane explains her rationale for not believing in ghosts. They hear a bell and rush back to Professor Rivers and Toby, the bell stops and they heard nothing. Not having learned from any horror film ever, the split up to investigate further. Also BOOKS, be frightened!

Rani and Clyde find a shed in the garden by a fountain, Ghostbusters reference and the fountain begins activating. They hear a child, music, a radio and spot a footprint that neither of them made, before heading back into shed. They see Mr Darkening in a Mirror briefly. Sarah Jane suggests they saw a memory imprinted on a physical object. Night is upon them and for the experiment to be accurate, their phones need to be off so time for everyone to say goodnight to their respective families.

Toby briefly sees Darkening in a camera, then another goes and Professor Rivers go to investigate. A non-existent draught blows Sarah Jane’s book to a page with an image of Darkening. DOLLS, DOLLS ARE SCARY, Professor Rivers fixes the camera but something happens, putting the readings on overdrive and Professor Rivers disappears

The group head up to investigate and find Professor Rivers can talk to them through the walkie-talkies but not hear them from wherever she is. The room comes alive again, as Sarah Jane continues to look for rational explanation, they hear the song plus a message on the chalkboard telling them to get out, they find the door locked but that’s nothing a sonic lipstick can’t solve.

Sarah Jane concludes there’s some kind of energy source in the house, and isolating that is the key to getting Professor Rivers back. Once again, they split up. The lights flicker where Sarah Jane is and a voice tells her to leave, she turns around to see two children, the girl warns her to leave and that they want their father. She hears a growling outside

Rani finds that someone had been investigating the house, apparently Darkening didn’t exist before going into their employ, but there was nothing concrete to connect the disappearances to him. Apart from the fact HIS NAME IS DARKENING! Anyway, he says he’s going to investigate the secret passages and they find a sheet documenting them, including one in the room Toby had set up in.

Sarah Jane heads outside to investigate, a red eye’d creature attacks her she’s saved by someone else. Rani and Clyde discover a secret passage and head inside. Sarah Jane and Toby talk about ghosts but Darkening appears on the screens again, Sarah Jane is somehow still in denial about ghosts. Rani and Clyde find Darkening’s secret chamber. There’s some sort of machine operating in the room. Darkening arrives in the room, promising they won’t leave.

This episode is very good, setting up some character work for Rani and Clyde particularly, their chemistry is boiling in this. The rest of the story does create a nice atmosphere, very Haunted Mansion

NOT THAT ONE!

The reveal that there’s technology at work is hardly a surprise given this is a Doctor Who spinoff we’re dealing with but Sarah Jane being in this much denial is a little out of character.

Rating 8/10

The Eternity Trap part 2

Lord Marchwood confronts Darkening but they exist at different frequencies or something so neither can harm the other, but Lord Marchwood can smash a table which no doubt exists also at a different frequency, Clyde and Rani run, running into the children who help them out.

Sarah Jane heads into the study, a television turns on from under a sheet, lights turn on and Professor Rivers is heard on a record player. Clyde and Rani arrive in the fireplace because SHUT UP, and they explain the technology. They run into Marchwood who tells them to leave, but they all say they’ve seen the children, he hasn’t them in over 300 years. Toby shows them a discovery, a queue of all the people that Darkening has taken over the years, still trapped, unable to fade into the ether. They ask for Sarah Jane’s help and reveal Professor Rivers can still be saved.

Darkening arrives and dissipates the queue, he promises that all that cross his domain shall be his. Rani and Clyde offer to serve as a distraction so Sarah Jane and Toby go through the passage to check out Darkening’s machine. They do so, and soon the room begins shaking in a way that makes it appear as though it’s coming after the two of them. They find themselves locked in the billiard room. The balls begin moving on their own, the cues shake, the armour shakes and they run outside to take cover. The main door is locked.

Sarah Jane and Toby find the machine and Sarah Jane deduces based on past experience that it’s turned the house into a portal to another galaxy. Darkening’s an alien from another dimension who got stranded, he pretended to be an alchemist to get resources to build his machine but something went wrong, all the people are trapped between dimensions, alive (ish), if they turn off the machine, they can stop the disappearances but would doom Professor Rivers.

Clyde and Rani barricade themselves in the shed from earlier, hoping they’ve bought Sarah Jane enough time. Apparently not since Darkening is confronting them. He explains that the portal is basically to nowhere but he feeds on their life energy to gain his own immortality. Rather than taking them right now, he lets them go after warning them about Clyde and Rani’s predicament.

The door begins to shake as the creature is trying to get in, Clyde and Rani hold up oars, ready to defend themselves but before they do Lord Marchwood defeats the creature. Lord Marchwood is becoming a bit too much of a dues ex-machina for my taste. They’re brought into the house where the meet up with Sarah, who after seeing the EMF readings he’s producing, comes up with an idea that could possibly defeat Darkening.

Marchwood summons Darkening and they argue over their roles in events, it was Marchwood who damaged the machine, beginning the dark ages, but Darkening did take innocent children because of reasons. Anyway, he tries to goad Darkening into a fight but upon seeing the equipment Darkening just laughs. He calls out Sarah Jane, insulted by her actions but her stratagem relied on his ego, he steps onto the shield, the real trap, Sarah Jane attaches the cable and converts him to energy, she also blowing up all the computers, much to a returned Professor Rivers’ dismay.

Sarah Jane destroys Darkening’s machine, acknowledging that the rest of them have likely been allowed to pass away. Toby now wants to study aliens instead of ghosts thanks to Sarah Jane. And let’s get to the ending you see in just about everything where they disprove horror, a hint that the actual ghosts exist.

It’s an interesting episode with some decent twists and great character moments, it felt like everyone had a part to play even if Lord Marchwood did come off as too much of a dues ex-machina.

Rating 8/10

Next time, the evil of art and a new family of an old planet.