The Eternity Trap (TV story)

The Eternity Trap was the fourth story in The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3. This saw the return of Professor Rivers and was a Luke-lite episode.

Synopsis
A haunted house, with mysterious whispers and secrets in the shadows attracts Sarah Jane's attention. When Professor Rivers and the gang investigate an old legend, a monstrous creature appears in the night as the terrifying grasp of Erasmus Darkening reaches out from centuries past. Sarah Jane and the gang discover the secrets of Erasmus Darkening, but are they too late? As ghosts from the past rise up, and the quest to find the missing children reaches a climax, it seems that nothing can stop the ancient alchemist's rise to victory.

Part 1
Professor Rivers tells the story of a haunted Manor. She says that a man named Lord Marchwood and how he employed Erasmus Darkening. Lord Marchwood thought that Erasmus could make gold out of nothing. His two children Elizabeth and Joseph spy on Erasmus he spots them and vanishes them for Eternity. Rivers is telling the story to Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani and her assistant Toby. Luke is at home as their stand by in case anything goes wrong. Sarah Jane splits up from the group and finds a book on the history of the manor. She turns round from the book case where she is reading from and unknown to her the books begin moving. Clyde and Rani also do this they go outside and find a shed. There is a fountain outside all of a sudden the fountain goes of and some wet foot prints appear to the shed. They hear a young girl cry. It stops as Clyde pulls a sheet of a Mirror. All of a sudden a face appeares on the mirror of a man. They ran back into the manor to find Sarah Jane. Meanwhile in the control room the camera in the playroom cuts out. Rivers goes to investigate. All of a sudden the nursery monitor starts to play. Then seconds later Rivers vanishes. They all go to investigate and they find that all the toys come alive. On the mirror in the room a message appears saying "Get Out". Clyde and Rani begin exploring and find a secret passage way, they go down and find Erasmus' lab. Meanwhile Sarah Jane goes out and finds a balcony a creature in the bushes with red eyes appears it advances towards Sarah Jane. But Lord Marchwood's ghost manifests and he fights it of. Clyde and Rani find a computer, then when they turn around they see Erasmus Darkening.

Part 2
Lord Marchwood arrives to rescue Clyde and Rani. Then they are aided by his children. Sarah Jane hears a recording of Professor Rivers saying "Sarah Jane help me" over and over. Then she sees her. She warns her that "he is coming for you" and then disapears. Sarah Jane reunites with Clyde and Rani and then they find Lord Marchwood. Sarah Jane believes they're not ghosts. Toby, Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani discover all the people that have disappeared except for Professor Rivers who hasn't been absorbed yet. Erasmus arrives and they all disappear. Erasmus tells them he will come for them all. Sarah Jane knows Erasmus is playing with them. Sarah Jane and Toby investigate Erasmus' secret chamber while Rani and Clyde distract Erasmus. Toby tells Sarah Jane about a creature who came into his room and watched him every night when he was younger. Rani and Clyde are chased by something into a game room. When all the games start playing themselves they run outside and get locked out. Sarah Jane and Toby find Erasmus' machine. Sarah Jane suspects that Erasmus was trying to get home to another galaxy with the machine. The machine malfunctioned and all the people that disappeared got trapped between dimensions. Clyde and Rani run into the pavilion. Sarah Jane and Toby get interrupted by Erasmus. Sarah Jane works out that the machine is giving Erasmus and all the people that disappeared eternal life. She also works out the creature that attacked her earlier came through the machine. Lord Marchwood once again rescues Clyde and Rani again by slaying the creature. Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani and Toby reunite along with Lord Marchwood. Sarah Jane comes up with a plan to stop Erasmus. They can turn him into electricity but he has to step into a certain area. Lord Marchwood uses his sword and a wire to connect it to do it. Erasmus is destroyed and Professor Rivers is returned. Sarah Jane destroys Erasmus' machine with the sonic lipstick. Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani say goodbye to Professor Rivers and Toby. Sarah Jane still doesn't believe in ghosts. They drive away. We then see Lord Marchwood and his children at the window.

Cast

 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
 * Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Professor Rivers- Floella Benjamin
 * Erasmus Darkening - Donald Sumpter
 * Toby Silverman - Adam Gillen
 * Lord Marchwood - Callum Blue
 * Joseph Marchwood - Rhys Gear
 * Elizabeth Marchwood - Amelia Clarkson
 * Mr Scriven - Tony Boncza

Story notes

 * This is the only Sarah Jane Adventures story prior to his departure in SJA: The Nightmare Man not to have featured Tommy Knight as Luke Smith. This was due to Tommy being busy taking his GCSE exams.
 * Neither Mr Smith nor K-9 appear in this episode. Mr Smith is mentioned.
 * This isn't Callum Blue's first experience playing a "ghost", as he is well known for his role as Mason, a grim reaper in the American series Dead Like Me.

Ratings
to be added

Myths

 * The faceless being that Toby saw as a child was The Trickster.
 * Some people believed that Erasmus Darkening may have been a Time Lord. Sarah Jane commented on Darkening's manipulator having TARDIS-like qualities. Clyde made reference to some aliens looking human and used the Doctor as an example. He seemed obsessed with living forever as if he were a Time Lord on his last regeneration. His clothing was suggestive of Time Lord clothing. The counter argument is that the Doctor has indicated that he "would know" if there were other Time Lords still in the Universe. Erasmus was, however, trapped between dimensions, which it is hypothesised may have "hidden" him.

Filming locations

 * The Haunted House in the episode was previously used in Series Four of Doctor Who in DW: Forest of the Dead.

Production errors

 * In Part One, when the Professor is taken, her scream can be heard, but the cameras she is using have no audio, as she earlier uses her radio to talk.
 * Mobile phones are said to interfere with equipment, while walkie-talkies do not, however, all hand-held transmitters currently in common use are actually more powerful sources of EM radiation than any mobile phone conforming to current cellular network standards.
 * Considering the secret passage hasn't been opened for years - possibly centuries - the presence of illuminated electric lightbulbs on the wall is puzzling (as is the need to use flashlights in the obviously well-lit corridor).

Continuity

 * Clyde references the events of SJA: Eye of the Gorgon.
 * Clyde mentions the Doctor, whose tenth body he previously met in SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
 * Professor Rivers previously appeared in SJA: The Lost Boy and SJA: Day of the Clown.

Timeline

 * The Eternity Trap occurs after: SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith
 * The Eternity Trap occurs before: SJA: Mona Lisa's Revenge