''The Eternity Trap'' is a two-part story of ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC s ...

'' which was first broadcast on

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

on 5 and 6 November 2009. It is the fourth serial in the third series. The story involves the scientific investigation of a haunted house.

Plot

In the 17th century, Lord Marchwood employed Erasmus Darkening, an alien trapped on Earth, to make gold out of base metals. Erasmus was secretly working on a transdimensional accelerator to create a portal to his own galaxy. While Marchwood's children spied on Erasmus, he used the accelerator to trap them between dimensions. Lord Marchwood confronted Erasmus and attacked the machine, causing it to malfunction. To maintain immortality, Erasmus used the energy from people he had trapped over the centuries with his technology. In the present, Professor Rivers and her assistant Toby perform a scientific investigation of ghost sightings at Lord Marchwood's manor. They are joined by Sarah Jane, Clyde, and

Rani ''Rani'' () is a female title, equivalent to queen, for royal or princely rulers in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It translates to 'queen' in English. It is also a Sanskrit Hindu feminine given name. The term applies equally to a ...

. A mysterious poltergeist-like entity begins manipulating objects, including writing the message "get out" on a mirror; this is Lord Marchwood trying to scare everyone off to avoid a similar fate. Erasmus uses the accelerator to take Professor Rivers, though she is yet to be fully absorbed by the manor. Lord Marchwood slays a creature that came to the manor during one of Erasmus' unsuccessful experiments. Aided by Lord Marchwood's sword as a conductor, Sarah Jane comes up with a plan to stop Erasmus by turning him into electricity. Erasmus is destroyed and Professor Rivers is returned. Sarah Jane destroys Erasmus' machine with the

sonic lipstick The sonic screwdriver is a fictional multi-tool, multifunctional tool in the British television science fiction, British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, used by the Doctor. Like the TARDIS, it has become o ...

. While Erasmus' victims were assumed to have been destroyed as well, Lord Marchwood and his children appear in the window of the manor.

Continuity

Tommy Knight Thomas Lawrence Knight (born 22 January 1993) is an English former actor best known for playing Luke Smith in ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' and ''Doctor Who'', Kevin Chalk in the original run of '' Waterloo Road'', Cal Bray in ''Glue'' and Arc ...

was not available for filming of this episode due to his GCSE exams. This story is therefore the first not to feature Luke Smith and there is no explanation of his absence or whereabouts in the story itself. As a result of this absence,

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

is the only cast member to have appeared in every episode of the series. Other series mainstays such as Mr Smith, K9, Sarah Jane's attic and

's parents, Haresh and

Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, ...

, do not appear in this story.

Novelisation

Pearson Education Pearson Education, known since 2011 as simply Pearson, is the educational publishing and services subsidiary of the international corporation Pearson plc. The subsidiary was formed in 1998, when Pearson plc acquired Simon & Schuster's educatio ...

published a simplified

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of this episode by

Trevor Baxendale Trevor Baxendale is a writer. His first ''Doctor Who'' novel ''The Janus Conjunction'' was published by BBC Books in 1998. He has also written novels for ''Torchwood'' and ''Blake's 7'', as well as short stories, comic strips and audio drama scr ...

under the title ''The Haunted House'' for school literacy programs in September 2010.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eternity Trap, The The Sarah Jane Adventures episodes 2009 British television episodes Television episodes about ghosts Television episodes about the paranormal Television episodes set in the 17th century Television episodes written by Phil Ford (writer)