Haber Mallow enters the tomb of Hari Seldon and Queen Sareth digs around on Trantor.

The fourth episode of the second season of the Foundation adaptation is one of those hours where developed plot threads take their next logical move – and there’s nothing wrong with that – just nothing particularly memorable happens.

The two clerics Constant and Berisof wake up with their guest Haber Mallow and take him to Hari Seldon’s vault. Will he also be obliterated on entry, like the warden was? It’s really no spoiler to reveal that a team safely make their way in.

On Trantor, Queen Sareth is trying to find out about her family – did Cleon 17 have a hand in their death? In this regard, the show differs from I call ‘Game of Thrones Syndrome’ – characters wandering endlessly round beautiful gardens, hatching Machiavellian plans. The most exciting moments come from Ben Daniels’ Bel Riose, finding himself on the firing line in a dangerous planetary mission.

Verdict: As episodes go, it’s fine, with bits of plot squeezed out across the running time. Just not that memorable. 6/10

Nick Joy