The Vault of Secrets

"The other side of this door is not a place you want to be."

Writer: Phil Ford
Format: TV
Broadcast: 18th-19th October 2010
Series: SJA 4.02

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani

Synopsis

When an old enemy, Androvax the Veil returns to Earth asking for help, the gang face a dilemma - should they trust him? Or does the legendary Vault hold an even greater terror? A second threat arises, when android guardians threaten to destroy anyone who uncovers their secrets. As the battle between Sarah, Androvax and the androids reaches its climax, Rani has to save her mother from being caught in the crossfire. The Vault opens and the destiny of the entire Veil species is at stake. Is it too late to save them?

Verdict

The Vault of Secrets was a decent story to continue the fourth series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. It was the first of what is somewhat a new era for the show following the departures of Luke and K9 and it wasn't a bad start at all. I liked the idea of Androvax returning following his appearance in Prisoner of the Judoon and this time it appeared that the Men in Black had taken on the role of hunting him down instead of the more familiar Judoon. There were a few flashbacks to that story which were good but things didn't quite match up to Androvax's first appearance. The concept of BURPSS was a bit silly, even for a children's show, and the puns were actually quite painful at times. There was a great use of humour from Clyde though as he referred to Mr Dread's gun as 'handy'. I did enjoy that, I'll admit. Gita had a strong story and she had dragged Haresh along to what was basically an alien support group. He wasn't too pleased with being dragged along but then Gita spotted Androvax in Sarah Jane's front garden and things escalated from there. His continued use of taking over people's bodies was interesting and I do like the concept behind the Veil species. It's a great name but Androvax was weak and was dying from poison inflicted in him on the prison planet the Judoon had sentenced him to. He'd managed to escape but was dying and he was asking for Sarah Jane's help. That was immediately strange and it seemed obvious that he would double cross them once he got the chance. The fact that he needed two dials to open the Vault and rescue his species from cryogenic sleep was intriguing, especially once the revelation came that it would mean the destruction of Earth because of hyperspace instability. Ocean and Minty were quite humorous characters and the former having dealt with the Men in Black before was good, especially when it was revealed that she was in possession of the second dial required to open the Vault. In the body of Clyde, Androvax wasted no time in taking what he needed. Mr Dread was a good character and his lack of wanting to be comedic was great. However, he was defeated a little easily for my liking by the gang but did end up saving the day. What I didn't like about this story was the fact that Clyde and Rani didn't recognise Androvax had taken the form of Sarah Jane when it came to opening the Vault. She was also taken over far too easily for my liking as well. For someone like Sarah Jane, I wouldn't expect her to let her guard down like that. I did enjoy the little nod to Pyramids of Mars and seeing her with a hand was a nice reminder of The Hand of Fear but sadly that wasn't enough to secure a higher rating. Androvax being allowed to resurrect his race in space seemed a bit of an underwhelming finish which was a shame. Overall, a decent story but not without its flaws.

Rating: 7/10