May 13: The Vault of Secrets Parts One & Two (SJA)

The previous story was interested in exploring some of the common nightmares that people have and putting them into a different context.  The Vault of Secrets, by contrast, is more of a good old-fashioned romp.  It's effectively a sequel to last series' Prisoner of the Judoon, with some elements from the "Dreamland" cartoon thrown in for good measure.  And so we see the return of Androvax, trying to rescue members of his race who are in suspended animation and being held by the Men in Black.

The Men in Black. (The Vault of Secrets Part One) ©BBC

The Men in Black have made a smooth transition from CGI creations to live action -- not that it was exactly a hard transition, given their nature, but it's still done well.  Plus it's nice to see some love for the somewhat neglected cartoon.  (Even if that's probably because Phil Ford wrote both that and this.)  They're a much more compelling threat here than they were in "Dreamland" as well, since they're actually the main...well, "villains" is too strong a word, but that's the function they're fulfilling for a good chunk of time.  No Viperox here to steal their thunder.  It also helps that Angus Wright does a great job of being cold and imposing as Mister Dread, the leader of the Men in Black.

And interestingly, we also get an attempt to reframe Androvax's character.  He's still rather unpleasant to deal with, but he's not as evil as he was the last time.  Instead he has the noble goal of trying to rescue the last surviving members of his species before he dies, and while he may be going about achieving that goal in the wrong ways (taking over people and stealing what he needs without remorse), that doesn't make what he's trying to do any less honorable.  Of course, the fact that the planet will be destroyed by his actions does mean that he needs to stopped, or another solution found, but at least his heart is in the right place.

But the best thing about The Vault of Secrets is that it never loses its underlying sense of fun.  From Sarah Jane disrupting a NASA Mars rover before it captures an image of a pyramid (thus providing us with a quick in-joke) to Clyde quoting Terminator 2 to Gita dragging Haresh to the British UFO Research and Paranormal Studies Society (B.U.R.P.S.S.), the overwhelming feeling this story gives off is one of playfulness.  It's clearly having a good time with all these ideas, and it's hard not to feel the same way as a viewer.  And we even get a happy ending, with Androvax able to take his people away without the Earth being destroyed.  It's not a deep, philosophical episode, but The Vault of Secrets is an entertaining episode that will leave a smile on your face.