New Who Review for “School Reunion”
Posted By Kathleen David on October 14, 2006
As I have stated before this is the gem of the season for me. It may be that I am an old Whovian who was brought up in the school of Tom Baker and Liz Sladen or that I still have a soft spot for that bloody tin dog or I have a thing for Evil Giles but this one rocked my world. No, it is not the perfect episode and there are plot holes you could drive a Mac Truck through (or a small hatchback compact car) but there is a love you can feel coming off the screen.
Seeing Liz Sladen again as Sarah Jane Smith was great. Having Rose see what happens to companions eventually is priceless. It sets up a number of dynamics that we have not seen before in Doctor Who. K-9 was icing on the cake. The villains were fun in their righteousness. They believed what they were doing was the best thing for the universe. I so want ASH to play the Master now. I loved the fact that it looked like he could un-hinge his jaw and swallow things whole.
Of course spoilers behind the cut and in the comments.
I am grateful that this episode was produced.
“Oh my g*d! I’m the tin dog!” and “Forget the shooty dog-thing.” are among my favorite lines from this episode. There are a lot of quotable ones here. Mickey figuring out where he is in the gang was a great scene. The actor managed to act with a lump of metal and make it believable.
But the scene that just rocks my socks is when Sarah Jane finds the TARDIS and then the Doctor. From the lighting to the music (or lack there of) to the actors that scene plays so well. Sarah Jane’s gambit of emotions upon seeing the Doctor again are brilliantly played by Liz Sladen. Rose and Sarah Jane having a Monster Off to see who has been in more peril was hilarious. Then comparing notes on the Doctor to see if some of his habits go from regeneration to regeneration. Then the Doctor walks in as they laugh and point at him is the capper with his reaction.
ASH is wonderful. He plays villain very well. The alien way he held his body was magnificent. You watch him just walk and you know something very odd is going on. Then there was a scream which was augmented with SFX but the base weird sound came from Tony’s throat. His delivery of his argument to the Doctor about why what they were doing was best for everyone was brilliant.
I like that Kenny gave them the escape from being trapped. The kid was smart just not uber chip smart (Ariel now refused to eat the French fries in school after this episode) and any where else he would be the smartest kid in the school. And the kids at the end cheering Kenny for blowing up the school was fun.
But this episode is really about Sarah Jane and what happens after the Doctor leaves you with a head full of memories of what is and what could be. This episode gave the character a funny sort of closure to the events earlier in her life. She really couldn’t go forward without a proper good-bye and knowing that it was probably the last time she was going to see him which she is now OK with. It hit all the right notes with me.
I felt the show started out a little slow, but once Liz Sladen came on screen the story picked up. Seeing K9 was great and I am so glad they got John Leeson to return as the voice. K9 was in the first episode of DOCTOR WHO I ever saw (Part 1 of The Sun Makers), back when my local PBS station was showing them one episode at a time on Saturday afternoons. The suprise ending was not much of as suprise since Liz Sladen is finally getting her DOCTOR WHO spin-off next year. Yes the same one they filmed a pilot for almost 20 years ago! Hopefully this time without the dyslexic singing…
“Yes the same one they filmed a pilot for almost 20 years ago!”
Well, except this one won’t have the tin dog in it. (He’s getting his own spin-off.)
And SJS will receive top (and only) billing, as opposed to the old show, which was called “K-9 and Company,” relegating SJS to additional cast status!
You know, I actually have to think about who has the better mechanical canine. Jimmy Neutron with Goddard, or the Doctor with K-9.
Also, i really like Mickey. Why do they have to make him such a twit?
I have yet to see it!
A friend of mine is recorded it (I don’t have cable) and I can’t wait to see it!
As for John Leeson’s return vocal performance, he and Liz Sladen have been neighbors for decades (they’re BOTH native Liverpudlians!), so how could they NOT have made it a “true reunion?”
Technically, this has nothing to do with the Doctor, BUT last night I was scanning the channels and guess WHO pops up on the PBS channel playing a young Casanova? That’s right? None other than David Tennant.
Thing is, he could have just as easily have been the Doctor playing the role of Casanova. Wonder what that says about his acting abilitiy?
I think it was the Cassanova bit that got him Doctor Who. What cracked me up was seeing him in the last Harry Potter movie. I agree with everything Mrs. David said about highlights. Same here! : )
E, you only have to wait a couple more weeks to a big change in Mickey. Let’s just say the segment of Doctor Who Confidential about the character was called ‘Mickey Smith: From Zero to Hero.
And David, Leeson and Sladen are still neighbors; they both live in Ealing, just up the road from our flat in Brentford. I keep thinking I’d love to get the two of them together for a new interview over coffee, so maybe someday…