There were two things I was looking forward to when I heard about this series. The first was the Cybermen but the second was the return of Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah Jane who travelled with the third and fourth Doctors between 1974-1977 with a spin-off pilot (1981) and a guest spot in The Five Doctors (1983). Possibly the best companion ever it was the first time that a companion had returned in the new series. It also sees the return of K9 which isnt such an exciting prospect. It still baffles me why K9 is put with Sarah Jane considering that they never travelled together until the 1981 spin-off. However it was Sarah Jane that generated interest for me.
The story is set in a school and when the episode begins the Doctor and Rose have their feet well and truly under the table. The Doctor is a teacher and Rose is a dinnerlady. At the same time Sarah Jane is investigating the school for a unnamed newspaper. There is something going on at the school which I really couldn’t care about. All I wanted was to see the moment when Sarah Jane and the Doctor meet. However the trick that the writer (Toby Whithouse) did was to make us think we were going to get that reunion in the staffroom but the Doctor doesn’t tell Sarah Jane that he is the Doctor. The look on David Tennant’s face as Elisabeth Sladen walks away was priceless. That was a fan reaction and not an acting one.
The first proper meeting occurs after Sarah Jane (like the others) has broken into the school. She soon stumbles across the TARDIS and then back out into another room and realises that the guy she saw earlier was the Doctor. A very well handled build up and brilliantly directed. I thought that a nice joke did take place when we realise that the Fourth Doctor didn’t leave Sarah Jane in Croydon but miles away. It was followed almost immediately by Rose’s realisation that she isn’t the first person to travel with the Doctor and probably wont be the last. This was quite a knock down for the character and quite why it took so long for this to happen is baffling to me.
The B plot is that the school is been runned by the Krillitanes. A wonderfully devised creature that cannibalise the features of other races. The plot is ok but if it hand’nt been for the Sarah Jane appearance then it wouldn’t have been as good an episode as it could have been. There is a wonderful scene between the Doctor and the Anthony Head character. It was possibly one of the finest best confrontations in the new series history. I must admit that the scene where K9 got destroyed by the school blowing up was quite sad. As much as I find K9 an irritation he is still a part of Doctor Who history and I think it was the sense of sadness from Elisabeth Sladen and the joy when she saw the new K9.
This might as well have been called The Sarah Jane Reunion because this was all about her return. Noel Clarke served an adequate purpose but his involvement was minimal unlike the next two episodes. Anthony Head was very good. As the Krillitane leader it was his scenes were always enjoyable. However it was Elisabeth Sladen that stole the show for me and its easy to see why she got her own series. John Leeson also deserves a mention it was only right that he got to come back as he is effectively K9. David Tennant was in fan mode throughout this episode. The scene at the end outside the TARDIS seemed to sum this up for me and was a lovely moment.
School Reunion is a lovely nostalgia episode but nothing more. The Krillitanes were good and for never for newer fans who didn’t know how big a deal Sarah Jane’s return is will still enjoy this episode. School Reunion is good fun.
The story is set in a school and when the episode begins the Doctor and Rose have their feet well and truly under the table. The Doctor is a teacher and Rose is a dinnerlady. At the same time Sarah Jane is investigating the school for a unnamed newspaper. There is something going on at the school which I really couldn’t care about. All I wanted was to see the moment when Sarah Jane and the Doctor meet. However the trick that the writer (Toby Whithouse) did was to make us think we were going to get that reunion in the staffroom but the Doctor doesn’t tell Sarah Jane that he is the Doctor. The look on David Tennant’s face as Elisabeth Sladen walks away was priceless. That was a fan reaction and not an acting one.
The first proper meeting occurs after Sarah Jane (like the others) has broken into the school. She soon stumbles across the TARDIS and then back out into another room and realises that the guy she saw earlier was the Doctor. A very well handled build up and brilliantly directed. I thought that a nice joke did take place when we realise that the Fourth Doctor didn’t leave Sarah Jane in Croydon but miles away. It was followed almost immediately by Rose’s realisation that she isn’t the first person to travel with the Doctor and probably wont be the last. This was quite a knock down for the character and quite why it took so long for this to happen is baffling to me.
The B plot is that the school is been runned by the Krillitanes. A wonderfully devised creature that cannibalise the features of other races. The plot is ok but if it hand’nt been for the Sarah Jane appearance then it wouldn’t have been as good an episode as it could have been. There is a wonderful scene between the Doctor and the Anthony Head character. It was possibly one of the finest best confrontations in the new series history. I must admit that the scene where K9 got destroyed by the school blowing up was quite sad. As much as I find K9 an irritation he is still a part of Doctor Who history and I think it was the sense of sadness from Elisabeth Sladen and the joy when she saw the new K9.
This might as well have been called The Sarah Jane Reunion because this was all about her return. Noel Clarke served an adequate purpose but his involvement was minimal unlike the next two episodes. Anthony Head was very good. As the Krillitane leader it was his scenes were always enjoyable. However it was Elisabeth Sladen that stole the show for me and its easy to see why she got her own series. John Leeson also deserves a mention it was only right that he got to come back as he is effectively K9. David Tennant was in fan mode throughout this episode. The scene at the end outside the TARDIS seemed to sum this up for me and was a lovely moment.
School Reunion is a lovely nostalgia episode but nothing more. The Krillitanes were good and for never for newer fans who didn’t know how big a deal Sarah Jane’s return is will still enjoy this episode. School Reunion is good fun.
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