N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

Why do antagonists always warn the heroes they’re about to die?

“Prepare to be incinerated,” says Mr Dread in The Vault of Secrets.

Why ‘prepare’?

Why not simply incinerate them and be done with it? Besides, ‘incinerate’ isn’t even the right verb, as he and his lackeys are clearly not carrying flamethrowers, but rather some fancy alien tech.

Still, Mr Dread is at least compensated by having one of the story’s best lines.

“I want you to know: this is not in my job description.”

Mr Dread , The Vault of Secrets, Part Two

Nu-Who’s penchant for ludicrous support group acronyms (Love and Monsters‘s LINDA, I’m looking at you!) continues with Ocean and Minty’s BURRPS. And speaking of monsters, Minty’s alien detector looks like one of the Third Doctor’s Time Monster lashups.

The Terminator, The Addams Family and, most obviously, Men in Black, all get nods here. It has to be said, though, that Mr Dread and his men in black aren’t particularly menacing, even with their Auton-style hand-guns.

It all adds up to underwhelming, although, once again, I maintain I would happily watch a spin-off show about Rani’s parents Gita and Haresh. Who wouldn’t read a news story titled “Lizard spaceman used me like an overcoat”?