School Reunion: Redux

Aug 27, 2009 14:52


Of all the companions to make a comeback in "Doctor Who", it is little surprise that Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith was chosen. Consistently voted THE most popular companion over the years, and appearing alongside Tom Baker's Doctor during the golden age of seasons twelve to fourteen, Sarah had already been featured twice in the series proper since her departure in 1976's 'The Hand of Fear': in the 1981 spin-off "K9 and Company" and the 1983 twentieth anniversary adventure 'The Five Doctors'.

Her return to the New Series is a welcome one, and Elisabeth Sladen slips back into the role as if she had never been away. Now I do believe there was greater dramatic potential to be had with other characters, especially the Doctor's own granddaughter Susan. And, surely, the companion with the most issues with the Time Lord to be dealt with would be Peri (if the Master's account of her survival at the conclusion of 'The Trial of a Time Lord' is to be believed).

But Sarah (she was rarely, if ever, referred to as Sarah Jane in the Classic Series) does finally get her chance to have a proper good-bye with the Doctor, and learn why he never returned for her. Unfortunately, to achieve this, Russell T Davies and Toby Whithouse ask the audience to ignore Sarah's characterization after 'The Hand of Fear' in order to retcon her established relationship with the Doctor. The idea that she spent all those years having a lonely, unfulfilled life is a bitter pill to swallow. However, Elisabeth Sladen portrays this with a beautiful, and, at times, heartbreaking sentiment.

David Tennant is clearly living a fanboy's dream. The way in which he reacts to Sarah Jane Smith in their first scene together is priceless. It was simply a brilliant moment, as well as the expression of happiness on his face when he is remembering the time they spent together. The script gives the Doctor many nice, revealing moments, such as the discussion with Rose regarding the fact that he is, in essence, immortal and has to watch all his friends die eventually. It was also interesting to note that the Doctor really does seem to consider Finch's deal to join the Krillitanes and change history... until Sarah snaps him out of it by reminding him of his own words from 'The Brain of Morbius'.

Although Rose and Sarah have a great (and genuinely funny) scene where they come to terms with each other and compare their experiences traveling with the Doctor, this is where the rot starts to set in with Rose for much of the remainder of the second series. The story ultimately casts her in a bad light; Rose appears jealous, bitchy and more than a little overpossessive. She should count herself lucky it wasn't Ace or Leela who reappeared in the Doctor's life, otherwise the floor would have been wiped with Miss Tyler.

I've always found Rose's reaction toward learning there were other companions before her very odd. After all, who did she think all those female clothes belonged to when she found something to wear in 'The Unquiet Dead'? Plus, the Doctor flat-out told her he had traveled with a lot of people in 'The Doctor Dances'.

Mickey continues to act as the comic relief, but it's nice to see him with some character development. His interaction and likening himself to K9 is wonderful. And being upgraded to a proper, bona fide companion holds promise for the future.

Anthony Stewart Head--the best Doctor we never had--plays the villianous Mr. Finch wonderfully. And the swimming pool showdown between him and the Time Lord is one of the episode's highlights. The fact the story was set in a high school was a great idea--as well as being a nice little nod to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". There's also a couple of tiny hints back to the very first episode of 'An Unearthly Child' with a student knowing far more than they should, and John Smith being an uncommon man (John Smith and the Common Men was the name of the band Susan was listening to on her radio).

The Krillitane were an interesting alien species, and it would be nice to see the Doctor battling them again. If he met them in the past or future they could look completely different due to the fact they take the best "bits" of other alien races and incorporate them into their own bodies.

'School Reunion' is a fun romp, with a good, solid story. It is reminiscent of the nearly incomprehensible 1996 direct-to-video spin-off 'Downtime', which, ironically, also featured Sarah Jane Smith. Some of the emotional drama was a little overplayed, particularly Sarah's line about the Doctor replacing those around him with new models (hitting the audience over the head with a sledgehammer a bit much there).

I'm still worried about the nerdy butterball Kenny. Surely he must be serving a long prison sentence after word got out from his fellow classmates that he was responsible for blowing up the school!

4 / 5 stars

review, doctor who, elisabeth sladen, david tennant, billie piper

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