The Sarah Jane Adventures s03e07 Episode Script

where Sarah Jane Smith lives.
And it's home to things way beyond your imagination.
There's an extra-terrestrial super computer in the wall.
A genetically engineered boy genius in the attic.
A schoolgirl investigator across the road.
And a whole universe of adventure right here on the doorstep.
Ready? Always.
No-one really knows just when Ashen Hill Manor was first built.
But, through history, there has always been a house here.
And, so they say, just as long as there's been stone and oak, there has always been evil.
They say it was the reputation of the house that attracted the magician Erasmus Darkening.
He entered the service of the young lord of the manor, the widower, Lord Marchwood.
Darkening promised that in return for his protection, he would replenish the family's fortunes with the secret of making gold from base metal.
But after two years working in a secret chamber far beneath the house Darkening's alchemy had failed to bear one ounce of gold.
And the people on Marchwood's land were uneasy.
There were stories of how Darkening came among them at night.
Of how he took away people that never returned and that he was not human.
Elizabeth? Joseph? Elizabeth?! Joseph?! My children, where are you?! No matter how long, no matter how hard their father searched for them, they were never ever seen again.
My children! My children! And they say he searches still.
It's a good story, Professor, but I don't believe in ghosts.
Of course you don't.
And neither do I.
But Ashen Hill Manor is reputedly one of the most haunted locations in the UK.
So let me get this right, if you don't believe in ghosts, Sarah Jane, and you don't believe in ghosts, Professor, then What are we doing here? To see if we're right.
To find out scientifically one way or the other.
In that case, I'm delighted you invited me along to cover the story.
We're set up through here.
Are you are sure about this? I mean there's are no such things as ghosts, is there? Clyde, I don't believe you.
After all the things we've seen, you're scared of ghosts! Who said anything about scared? Did I mention "scared"? I don't think so.
Don't worry.
I'm sure.
Whatever people may think they've seen at Ashen Hill Manor, it has more to do with imagination than the supernatural.
Introductions - Sarah Jane Smith, journalist.
My assistant from the Pharos Institute, Toby Silverman.
Hello, Toby.
This is Rani and Clyde.
Sort of Sarah Jane's apprentice.
And I'm carrying the sandwiches.
So are you the technical genius? I don't know about that.
I'm just interested in the quantifiable effects of meta-normal energies on the established phenomena.
We should've brought Luke.
Only he said that people who believed in ghosts were still living in the Dark Ages.
Or something like that.
Luke is my son.
Toby is the son of Professor Sir Rupert Silverman.
The physicist? What does your father think of his son dabbling in the paranormal? I ought to get on with putting my monitoring equipment together.
Yes, of course.
This house has a long history of psychic activity.
Then there are the disappearances.
Disappearances? Nobody said anything about any disappearances.
No, they didn't.
There's something else, isn't there? The Scrivens family, who legally still own the house, a mother, a father and two children, vanished one night 20 years ago.
The keys were found still in the doors.
Locked from the inside.
Toby! What on earth are you doing? My screwdriver.
I just put it down there and it's gone, it's vanished.
What's that? EMF meter.
Paranormal activity causes a fluctuation in the electro-magnetic field.
Save your batteries, Professor.
The only ghost at work here is the spirit of Sir Isaac Newton.
Gravity.
It fell and rolled away.
Come on.
Let's have a look around.
At least we know Lord Marchwood was real.
I've no doubt he was.
And his children probably disappeared, too.
Perhaps Lord Marchwood did spend the rest of his life looking for his children.
But the afterlife? I doubt it.
Ah, it's so sad how this house has fallen into disrepair.
It must have been quite wonderful.
Professor Rivers couldn't have picked a creepier place for a ghost hunt.
It's felt like someone's been watching me since we got here.
It's psychological, you know this place is supposed to be haunted and your imagination starts to work overtime.
No wonder Luke wanted to stay at home.
I could get bored of jumping at my own shadow pretty fast.
What about the disappearances? An entire family vanishes into thin air.
Whether or not you believe in ghosts, that's just sinister.
I've seen so many strange things in my life, wonderful and frightening, yet all of it had a scientific explanation of some kind.
The trouble with ghosts is that there simply isn't any scientific basis for them to exist.
BELL TOLLS What's that? Dinner time? I didn't see any bell tower.
That's because there isn't one.
BELL CONTINUES RINGING Miss Smith? Didn't you hear it? The bell.
The church bell.
What bell? There's no bell tower, there's nothing.
But why did we hear something like Quasimodo on a joy ride and Professor Rivers and Toby heard nothing? It doesn't make sense.
I'm telling you, I don't care whether Sarah Jane believes in ghosts or not, there's something seriously freaky about that place.
GROWLING Let's check up here.
"The History Of Ashen Hill Manor.
" Perfect.
Look at this place, it's beautiful.
Yeah, I bet Castle Dracula looked OK on a sunny day too.
Look.
Doesn't look like it's been used years.
Well, that would be because everyone just disappears.
Are you scared? Clyde Langer, scared? I've taken on just about every creep in the universe right.
I ain't afraid of no ghost.
Good.
Come on, then.
Oh, it smells like cucumber farts in here.
It's just old and damp.
It must have been wonderful here years ago.
A picnic by the fountain.
Taking the boat out on the lake.
If you like to paddle.
WATER RUNS Who turned that on? CHILDREN'S LAUGHTER Who's there? Is there someone out here messing with us? Cos we're not falling for it, OK? DOOR OPENS I'm not hearing this.
WALTZ MUSIC You don't believe that? Wait till you see this.
Wet footprints? RADIO BROADCAST CRACKLES CHILD SOBS Hello? What are you doing? If it's a ghost, it can't hurt us.
It's already dead.
Besides, listen to her.
CHILD'S SOBS CONTINUE Hello? Are we feeling freaked yet? What's wrong? I think what you experienced was a stone tape manifestation.
Some of us are a bit new to this kind of thing, you might need to explain.
It's the theory that events can be recorded on physical matter, normally stone, and then, under certain circumstances, they get played back.
It's the most convincing explanation for most so-called hauntings.
The house is built on a giant slab of granite bedrock, which research suggests is a great conductor of these psychic recordings.
There are stories about the Grey Lady that walks the castle rampart, or sometimes a legion of Roman centurions marching along a road.
Only people only ever see them from the knee up.
Because the Roman Roads were lower? Exactly.
I heard about this castle where some lord was murdered by his jealous brother.
He lopped of his head and every Hallowe'en, it rolls down the castle steps.
The man in the mirror, he didn't look like any sort of recording.
If it was a disembodied spirit, let's hope he shows up again tonight.
It's after eight and it's gone dark.
It's time to begin the experiment.
If I could have everybody's mobile phones, please.
What for? Mobiles can interfere with our equipment.
We can keep in touch throughout the house with walkie-talkies.
I'd like to speak to Luke first.
And Clyde and Rani should call their parents.
Of course.
We'll be in the control hub running final checks.
Toby.
Hi, Mum.
Everything's cool.
Just bedding down for the night in the old haunted house.
I haven't seen any ghosts yet but I reckon they're on a skeleton staff.
And yes, we've had dinner, we had ghoul-lash.
The EMF network? All meters through the house operating and on-line.
Thermostats? Operating and on-line.
Video cameras? Toby? Sorry.
For a moment I thought I saw You saw what? Oh, nothing.
All cams are fine.
Good.
Oh, no.
Hang on, nursery cam's on the blink.
Mm-hm, I'll go and check it.
Apparently Luke's been driving Dad round the bend all afternoon.
What? Luke's your dad's star pupil.
He's probably just secretly planning your wedding.
Ugh.
Not any more.
Dad taught him to play chess today.
And Luke beat him six times before he went home.
Oh, I bet he had your father in pieces.
I closed this book.
I know I did.
Is there a draught in here? Someone tell me the window is open.
Please.
It isn't.
Must be a draught coming down the chimney.
That's him! That's the man from the pavilion.
That's Erasmus Darkening.
The magician? I bet he made a mean balloon giraffe at kids' parties.
That's better, Professor.
Oh.
The camera doesn't do you any favours.
I heard that.
Where is the Professor? Something seriously freaky just happened.
Which I'm sure has a rational explanation.
She's in the nursery.
Won't be long.
Happy with the positioning, Toby? Right on target.
Miss Smith wants to talk to you.
I'll be down in a minute.
MOBILE PLAYS LULLABY I refuse to believe that book was opened by any ghost, and certainly not the ghost of a supposedly evil magician from the 17th century.
Well, something opened it, Sarah Jane.
And there wasn't any breeze, we'd have felt it.
That was definitely the man in the pavilion.
Oh! Wow! Look at that! What is it? EMF readings throughout the house are spiking.
Something's happening.
SHE SCREAMS What happened? Where did she go? She's vanished.
Come on! Better check the landing.
Professor Rivers didn't strike me as the kind that plays hide and seek.
'Hello? Hello? 'Is anybody there?' Professor? Where are you? You had us all worried for a second.
'Hello? Where am I? 'Is anybody there? Can anybody help me?' Professor! Celeste! Wherever Professor Rivers has gone, she can't hear you.
But where is she? I don't know.
But these readings are like nothing I've ever seen before.
What is that? It's like your EMF meter only more useful.
LULLABY PLAYS Who set that off? Poltergeist activity.
This room is famous for it.
Or perhaps just a freak mechanical fault.
I just got head-butted by a rocking horse! No, you must've knocked it.
I didn't! I know I didn't! The electro-magnetic signature is increasing by five milli-Gauss eightten.
This is astonishing! No, this is freaky! These readings are going crazy.
(CHILD'S VOICE) # Ring a-ring o' roses, a pocketful of posies # We have to get out of here.
# A-tissue! A-tissue # This is amazing! Look! Come on, now! It's locked! It can't be.
The energy in here is building! I don't want to be in here when it peaks.
# A pocketful of rosies # Come on! # A-tissue # We all fall down! # Still say there's no such thing as the paranormal then? I only wish the Professor were here to see it And my father.
Your watch.
Did it pick up something alien? The readings were confused.
Alien? Now, that's more like it.
Aliens, I can handle.
We have to track down the source of whatever is happening here, we have to stop it and get Professor Rivers back.
And how do we do that? We do what we always do.
We look for clues.
My readings are different now.
Still energy signatures that I don't recogniseneither human nor alien, but less intense, almost dormant.
The EMF readings have gone back to normal as well.
Those readings in the nursery were completely unnatural.
Unnatural, but not supernatural.
There's an energy source in this house.
If we can locate that, we'll be on our way to finding the Professor.
So we split up yeah? Oh, I don't think so, Rani.
Professor Rivers managed to disappear in the blink of an eye.
The same thing may have been happening here for centuries.
Yeah.
But it's a big house, and we don't know how much time we might have.
All right, but don't take any unnecessary risks.
Hey, there's nothing to worry about, we all know Luke is the loose cannon in the gang.
I'll check through the house.
Yes, have a look around, but be careful.
OK.
The study.
Always a good place for clues.
This place doesn't look like it's been touched since the last people disappeared.
Yeah.
Just be careful.
Around here I wouldn't be surprised if there really was a skeleton in the cupboard.
Oh, jumping at shadows, now.
CHILD'S VOICE: Please, you must leave here.
You're Lord Marchwood's children.
But you can't be.
We want our father.
Your father? He keeps us from him.
Who does? You must leave the house before he comes for you, all of you.
Who? Who will come? Was it you that opened the book? Were you trying to warn us about Erasmus Darkening? He will take you all, you will never leave.
Don't go.
I want to help you! FAINT GROWLING Clyde, look at this.
Someone was researching the house and the people that disappeared.
It didn't do them much good, did it? They still all disappeared.
Look, this list goes all the way back to 1655, Lord Marchwood and his children.
And your friend Erasmus Darkening.
I am unable to find any historical records of Erasmus Darkening.
But Marchwood's household accounts prove he existed.
Stories that Darkening was responsible for disappearances from local villages are impossible to substantiate.
Perhaps the answer lies in the secret passage.
Did you say secret passage? Mm-hm.
As in whoever wrote that went looking down it and maybe never came back.
We should show this to Sarah Jane.
Oh, no, wait, wait, wait.
What is it? It's a list of the secret passages.
Well, guess what? There's one in Toby's control room.
Hello? Is there anybody out here? Whoever you are, I'm not here to hurt you.
I promise.
Save yourself, my lady! Get thee to the Netherworld! Hello? When me and Luke were being held prisoner by those nutty Gorgon nuns he got us out by opening a secret passageway.
It's just a question of finding a panel or something to press.
Hey presto! I think we've hit a brick wall.
Now that's magic.
It looks pretty dark down there.
Yeah.
Never leave home without one.
Especially if you're going somewhere with Sarah Jane Smith.
You coming? Well, someone's got to hold your hand haven't they? Go on.
Couldn't you have brought a bigger torch? What and spoil the look of my jacket? I'm not just an action hero, you know.
I am a style icon.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Whoa! Very Spiderman! Come on.
It's all right, Toby.
It's only me.
Are you all right, Miss Smith? I'm not sure.
Well, they do exist, Miss Smith.
And we could be on the verge of something so enormous here.
Is that why you're so jumpy? Oh, I'm not jumpy, I'm excited.
This could be the scientific discovery of all time.
The ultimate question answered.
Is there life after death? And that would mean you could prove yourself to your father? I'm presuming that he doesn't approve of your area of research.
Science has a very short-sighted view of the paranormal.
For a good reason.
There is nothing scientific about ignoring phenomena just because it doesn't fit in with your view of the universe, Miss Smith.
Toby, my view of the universe is very detailed and I understand humanity's need to believe in some sort of afterlife, but whatever is happening here, ghosts do not exist.
Well, I have those EMF readings for you.
Darkening! Where? He's gone.
Are you sure you don't believe in ghosts? Look at this place.
I take it all back.
Everything else that was not creepy.
This place, this is creepy.
This is Creepsville, Transylvania.
Look at this stuff.
This is Hogwarts Tim Burton Style.
It's Harry Potter Has A Close Shave Off Sweeney Todd.
Clyde, do you know where we are? Well, it isn't Santa's workshop.
According to the legend, Erasmus Darkening spent two years working in a secret chamber beneath Ashen Hill Manor.
This is it.
It's all for real.
He hasn't been around in a while.
Maybe this is the reason for whatever's going on here.
If this part of the legend is true.
Then maybe he really did make those two kids disappear.
And Professor Rivers? Rani, this guy lived hundreds of years ago.
And I know what I saw in the pavilion.
It was him.
Darkening.
Well, I have to admit it, I've seen some weird stuff, but there's weird and then there's .
.
this place.
What was I saying again? It's like electronics but from hundreds of years ago.
And it's still working.
MAN LAUGHS SPOOKILY Who's there? Welcome to my dominion.
My halls of granite.
You crossed my threshold of your own free will and now by my will, you shall stay.
For all eternity.
Release us from this purgatory.
Whatever is going on in this house is far more dangerous than a haunting.
Get down! What was that? The poltergeist activity.
I think it's following us! It doesn't matter what you shut out, you never know what you're locking yourself in with.