Episode #173 : School Reunion

Rose: I thought you and me were—well, I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year 5 billion, right, but this... Now, this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're gonna do to me?

The Doctor: No. Not to you.

Rose: But Sarah Jane. You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?

The Doctor: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay; you wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone that you— [breaks off]

Rose: What, Doctor?

The Doctor: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.

Episode 173:   School Reunion.
Companions:   10th Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, K9 and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         29th April 2006.

Deffry Vale High School is haunted by strange, bat-like creatures at night. When the Tenth Doctor investigates, he finds an old friend, Sarah Jane Smith, already working undercover.

Prior to this story I think there was also some concern that the new series of Doctor Who was a reboot rather than a continuation. With the return of Sarah Jane and K9 we at last knew that we were continuing almost where we left off.

In School Reunion the time travellers have been brought home by Mickey who has reported UFOs and strange incidents around a school in London. Whilst investigating they encounter Sarah Jane Smith who is also looking into the events. After a bit of a spat between Rose and Sarah Jane, the time manage to work together to stop the evil Krillitane's from achieving a sort of godhood.

It is such a pleasure to see Sarah Jane back after so long. The writers and producers obviously recognised that she is by far the most popular companion the Doctor has had. K9's return is also cool but is overshadowed by her. Following her appearance her, Sarah Jane goes on to start in the children's show The Sarah Jane Adventures, which I will also be covering here.

There is some fantastic dialogue in this story that helps overcome it's shortfalls. The quote above is one such example when Rose realises that she is just one in a long line of companions and doesn't like the revelation. I don't think any previous companions even consider it. They all think that they will be with the Doctor forever.

The villains are the Krillitane, a race of invaders who steal body parts (not literally I assume) of the species they conquer. In this story they are attempting to break the code of the universe and set themselves up as gods using the brains of children. As a concept great, but the CGI appearance is just shocking. When you see how well the werewolf in the previous story was done, it is more than a little disappointing to see rubbery looking gargoyles with big eyes.

The story is fun and its nice to see the return of old companions plus references to the classic show. had the Krillitane been designed and implemented better, perhaps I might view it more favourably.