It must be fun to travel time and space with a man so interested in everything. The problem is, The Doctor can never die — his companions however, do. That is the underlying tension that Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) brought to “School Reunion,” the third episode of Series 2. Once again, an episode that is a mixed bag.
The reunion between Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor was a nice touch, sans the whole “Why did you leave me?” stuff. He was right about one thing: No matter the length a person spends with a Timelord, he will never grow old nor will he die. I couldn’t help feeling that a Christopher Eccelston performance would have exploited that loneliness better. In fact, the whole underlying theme of loss made me think of Christopher Eccelston’s Doctor rather than David Tennant’s. Character development, however, is hard to achieve in science fiction.
As in the previous two episodes, the creature of the week was the main focus — this time, it’s bat people. This race had incorporated themselves into human bodies to carry out a dastardly plan — they want to unlock the universe in order to make more of themselves. That’s at least what I think they were trying to do. It feels like the dangers of the Doctor and Rose have been so passive and blah. I have the sneaky feeling that when another old enemy comes into play later this season, the writing will finally get a boost in quality.
Noel Clarke’s Mickey Smith still came off as the black Adric, annoying and seemingly in the way. This time I think the writers have learned to tone that aspect of his character down, in favor of a more practical approach — make him do the grunt work. From pulling wires to smashing doors down, Mickey is good as a character to cut through the bullshit. This being the case, I think his return would have been better left out until later in the season. It’s really hard to pay attention to him and the main plot and the return of Sarah Jane Smith without feeling confused. Since Sarah Jane hasn’t been in the program for years, I would have stuck to that more.
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Article comments
1 - Jim
I don't think Mickey is anywhere near as annoying as Adric. The show wanted us to think Adric was likeable, whereas the show always seems to want us to think Mickey is an irritant. Adric was also very smug, and Mickey isn't.
Sarah Jane wasn't a part of a failed spinoff. The special was a ratings success. The BBC just didn't want to do a series, for whatever reason.
I hope they can have her on another show. Lis Sladen is TOO good of an actress to waste.
As for Tennant, from the bits and pieces I've seen, he is better than Eccleston, who could never do emotional scenes (he usually just came across as oily and unpleasant).
Thank you, Russell T. Davies, for giving Sarah Jane closure. You did this overaged fanboy's heart good.
2 - chloe
i <3 doctor who! It is such a great show and i just love the whole thing! I think K9 was so cute and it was really sad when u thought he died! I think all of the episodes are great - the writing is fantastic and the effects are genius the actors are amazing. At first i thought i preferred christopher ecclestons doctor but i think David tennant is equally as good and the perfect person to play the new doctor - but i still miss the old one as well! And i totally disagree with jim - christopher is just as good an actor as david and i like both of them equally! xxx
3 - Matthew Milam
In regards to number one, the "K9 and Company" episode was intended to be a pilot for the series. The ratings and critical negativity determined that without the Doctor, pretty much all spin-offs wouldn't work.
Of course with Torchwood, that may change.