'The Eternity Trap' (Part 2) by Phil Ford

As Erasmus Darkening closes in on Clyde and Rani, he is halted by the timely arrival of the swordsman, Lord Marchwood; although Marchwood is unable to harm Darkening because they are on different frequencies, he is still able to cause a distraction that allows Clyde and Rani to escape, assisted by Elizabeth and Joseph. Elsewhere, Sarah attempts to make contact with the ghost, only to experience more spooky activity as a television turns itself on, a gramophone plays a message asking for Sarah’s help, and then Professor briefly appears with a warning. At that moment Clyde and Rani tumble out of the fireplace, eager to tell Sarah of their adventure down the secret passageway. Heading into the main hall the trio encounter Lord Marchwood, who warns them to leave the manor or become lost too. Marchwood disappears when Toby arrives on the scene with news that the main staircase is now full of ghosts – all the people that Erasmus Darkening has kidnapped over the centuries. One of these misplaced souls, the current owner, Mr Scriven, warns Sarah that Professor Rivers will soon be lost too, once she has been fully absorbed into the house like them; before Sarah and her friends can learn more Erasmus Darkening appears and banishes his prisoners for being ungrateful for the gift of immortality he has bestowed upon them. Sarah faces off against Darkening, declaring that he is not a ghost but an alien – and she knows how to deal with aliens; vowing to take Sarah and her friends, Darkening vanishes again… Leaving Clyde and Rani behind to find a way to distract Darkening, Sarah and Toby make their way through the secret passageway to the magician’s workshop. Meanwhile, Clyde and Rani encounter some terrifying poltergeist activity, as the fixtures and furnishings of the manor come to life and attack them; against Sarah’s instructions the duo flee outside, only to find that something large and growling is stalking them through the grounds… Investigating Darkening’s workshop, Sarah finds the alien technology that Clyde and Rani found; recognising it as a transdimensional accelerator – a means of creating a portal to another galaxy – Sarah deduces that Darkening was trapped on Earth, and built the machine as a mean to get home; however, something must have made it malfunction, trapping Darkening, Lord Marchwood and all the other people between dimensions. When Erasmus Darkening reappears, an angry Sarah rebukes the magician for using the power of the people he captured to grant himself immortality; Darkening just laughs, and notes that something else came through the portal – something terrible… Elsewhere, Rani and Clyde flee from the monster and manage to reach the safety of the pavilion; as the creature tries to break in the kids prepare to fight for their lives – but then a blast of light flashes through the doorframe, and when they go outside, Clyde and Rani find that they have been saved by Lord Marchwood, who has despatched the ferocious beast with his sword. Escorting Clyde and Rani back to the house to rejoin Sarah and Toby, Marchwood reveals that he was responsible for the poltergeist activity, in an effort to frighten them away from the manor. When Toby’s detector shows that Lord Marchwood is saturated with electromagnetic energy, Sarah realises that he has been absorbing the creature’s energy every time he fought it – which gives Sarah an idea… A short while later, Lord Marchwood summons Erasmus Darkening for a final confrontation; but when Marchwood condemns the sorcerer for his terrible actions, Darkening reveals that it is Marchwood who is responsible for their dire situation: when he attacked Darkening for taking his children, his sword missed the magician and instead found the accelerator, causing the damage that trapped them between dimensions. When Marchwood attempts to lure Darkening inside a circle of electrical cables, the alien genius easily sees through the deception and steps away; however, the plan has a double bluff, and having ensured that Darkening is now standing on the huge family crest set into the wooden floor, Marchwood stabs his sword into the metal, allowing Sarah to attach a jump lead and activate Professor River’s hastily rewired equipment. The resulting magnetic field overloads Darkening with power, destroying him in a brilliant explosion of light. To everyone’s delight Professor Rivers reappears; although the scientist has no recollection of her abduction, she is extremely angry at the destruction of her equipment. Having destroyed the transdimensional accelerator with her sonic lipstick, Sarah bids goodbye to Professor Rivers and Toby as they set off for the Pharos Institute. As Sarah leaves with Clyde and Rani, she ponders her conviction that there are no such things as ghosts – having spied Lord Marchwood and his children watching them from an upstairs window…

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

Directed by Alice Troughton
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Piers Wenger
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC HD):
6th November 2009 @ 4.35 pm

Notes:
*Featuring Sarah Jane Smith, Clyde and Rani