School Reunion

"The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss they define as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world of a relationship, everything has its time and everything ends."

Writer: Toby Whithouse

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 29th April 2006

Series: 2.03

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Sarah Jane, K9

Synopsis 

After UFO sightings and a sudden increase in exam results of a nearby school, the Doctor and Rose take employment as a teacher and dinner last to investigate. But also on the case is a journalist called Sarah Jane Smith.

Verdict 

School Reunion is an absolutely wonderful episode of Doctor Who. It's just beautiful and it's not often you get to describe an episode with that adjective. The story starts off tremendously with a school headmaster eating a child who lived in a children's home. She wouldn't be missed so she was just devoured. Well, something good is going to happen in this episode after that! The Doctor being a physics teacher at the school was great and I loved his humour when it came to delivering the lesson. His being ashamed of himself after saying "correct-a-mundo" (check me on spelling!) was superb. Then things got interesting as Milo, a pupil, knew barrel loads of information far beyond human knowledge. He gave the Doctor the calculations to travel faster than the speed of light. Not your average physics lesson. I loved the humour surrounding Rose being a dinner lady but wow, she looked absolutely sensational. The moment where Mr. Finch introduced Sarah Jane to all the teaching staff ranks as one of my all time favourite moments in Doctor Who. The reaction of the Doctor was just astoundingly good. He was so utterly overjoyed and pleasantly shocked to see his former companion whom he had not seen since his fourth incarnation. Now considerably older than when we last saw the renowned companion, I loved how she was still pursuing her journalism which is how she'd met the Doctor in the first place way back in The Time Warrior, some 32 years before this episode was broadcast. When Sarah saw the TARDIS in the school and then saw the newly regenerated Doctor behind her, it was an incredible moment. She'd been hoping to run into the man who showed her the universe and now she had found him. I liked how she was angry at her abrupt departure in The Hand of Fear and I thought it was so typical of the Doctor that he left her in Aberdeen rather than Croydon. Rose's position in the episode was an extremely awkward one as she realised that she was far from being the Doctor's first companion. Mickey's description of it being like the missus and the ex was more than adequate! I liked Mickey here, even if he did screech like a girl at the packets of rats. This episode really did see a blend of the old and new and when Sarah and Rose compared adventures shared with the Doctor we had some quite wonderful references. Sarah mentioned Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Planet of Evil, Death to the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars and in quite spectacular fashion Terror of the Zygons. Rose tried to trump that with references to The Unquiet Dead, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Aliens of London/World War Three, The Parting of the Ways and Tooth and Claw. But if anyone's judging, I'd say Sarah was the victor in that argument. But the references didn't stop there as Sarah recalled The Christmas Invasion events and she almost seemed quite jealous that Rose was there with the Doctor on top of the spaceship. Sarah bringing the Doctor to see K9 was almost as equally wonderful as her return! The reference to The Invisible Enemy and K9 being cutting edge in the year 5000 was marvellous. The Doctor was again pleasantly surprised and it's lovely that companions of the '70s were returning and not being forgotten with the revival. The Krillitanes provided excellent enemies for the episode and I love the idea of them being a physical amalgamation of the races they conquered. The comparison to it being like people of a nation was sublime. I am interested in knowing when the Doctor previously encountered them though. Their attempts to crack the Skasis Paradigm through the school children was terrific and I liked how their oil was enhancing pupil intelligence. Mickey believing himself to be the tin dog of the TARDIS team was comical and I loved how it was the original tin dog who pointed out to him that they were in a car when needing to get into the deadlocked school building. Eventually Mickey grasped what K9 was insinuating and smashed the door down. The Doctor expressively declining the invitation to be a God was tremendous and I admired Sarah's speech about love and loss in life. K9 sacrificing himself to blow to the Krillitanes and the school was a touching moment. When Sarah realised what's happened I thought the Doctor embracing her was wonderful. Good ol' Sarah Jane. I liked how she didn't approve of the new TARDIS interior when compared with the Classic version and I thought it was nice how she encouraged Rose to not give up travelling with the Doctor. And then Mickey officially became companion at Sarah's recommendation! A Smith is back on board. Overall, an emotional and just outright stunning episode. Welcome back Sarah Jane Smith!

Rating: 10/10