Reunited: Blood Type

"They had trusted me with their stories."

Writer: Simon Guerrier 

Format: Audio

Released: July 2025

Series: Smith & Sullivan 1.03

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Harry, K9

Synopsis

Busier than ever, Sarah has little time to write up her cases for publications. But taking shortcuts risks making mistakes, as a journalist and as an investigator. 

When an old adversary reappears, the pressure reaches boiling point. Can Sarah rely on her closest friends in this crisis?

Verdict

Blood Type was another great episode to conclude the Reunited first series of Smith & Sullivan! I have really enjoyed this trio of stories and I sincerely hope this isn't the last for this spinoff range as there is still so much more potential in filling the gaps between A Girl's Best Friend and the Sarah Jane Smith series at Big Finish. Can we just keep rolling into the 1990s and beyond? I think there's something unique about Sadie Miller's portrayal of the character her mother made famous and is so beloved which is testament to how well she has stepped into those shoes. Ones which are very difficult to fill! She's just really engaging and I always feel like she has a sense of desperation about her. Not in a negative way, but she's just got so much on her plate and she wants it all to go well. She's urgently wanting success when it comes to everything she puts her focus on. That was evidenced here in her having six stories on the go for her current publication, but none were finished and now she wasn't being granted any further commissions and her payments were even being withheld. You could understand why as she was continuously getting sidetracked, but I like that some realism of real world problems were thrown into the mix. Sarah would need to keep paying the bills and she couldn't live off of Harry's generosity forever when it came to the cafe trips and meet-ups. He was happy to do it though of course! Bless him, he's so nice. I thought the format of the story in having it told in a half-Companion Chronicle style format with Sarah Jane basically writing her pieces and transcribing them to K9 (and therefore the listener) was terrific. It was something different from what's come before and that was refreshing to listen to. Sarah definitely felt like the main character here which was absolutely fine and I like that some focus was also shifted onto K9. I was wondering throughout the episode why he sounded like he was somewhat malfunctioning and then I was kicking myself when the reveal came that he was the culprit for altering Sarah's published works! Roy Kitt as an alien owning a hairdressers was intriguing and Sarah tracking him and wanting to actually help protect him was nice. She even wrote a feel good piece about him to help drive up some business, so when it was discovered that he was the one that had placed the device on K9 under his chin it wasn't surprising but it felt a bit harsh on the journalist! She had genuinely been trying to help, but he just wanted to stay hidden with his stereo that was feigned from a perception filter. He wasn't at all what he appeared! Some more backstory on him and the Distinct would have been beneficial, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. It was just good for this to be an early look into technology and how advancement can be the end of numerous professions. It's almost AI before AI! Sarah being jealous of new typewriters and their capabilities was fascinating and I liked how she managed to get one from Veronica Hyde in her haste. Her death came as a bit of a surprise after playing a big role in Union of the Snake, but it certainly helped sell the impact of events! Sarah being on hand then to finally finish her pieces with some help from K9 once he was restored to normality was good and she would soon be back in Brenda's good books at the magazine. Kitt having to confess to Veronica's murder and face jail time in order to protect his identity was pretty brutal from Sarah, but it was what was required if he wanted to be like them. The ending was intriguing in describing that the statue of Winston Churchill had come to life, and that sounds like quite the basis for a future series! Or might Sarah be joining another UNIT mashup? Either way, I'm all here for it. Overall, a terrific finale to a really enjoyable series.

Rating: 8/10