School Reunion by: Toby Whithouse and directed by: James Hawes

 

“School Reunion” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler with Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith, Anthony Head as Mr. Finch, and John Leeson as the Voice of K9 Mk. III.  It was written by: Toby Whithouse and directed by: James Hawes with Helen Raynor as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 29 April 2006 on BBC One.

 

One element Russell T. Davies always wished to include in his revival for Doctor Who was a returning guest appearance for one of the original series companions as an idea to explore for a modern audience what it would mean for a companion to leave the Doctor.  The pitch was titled “Old Friends” and initially penciled for the back half of the second series, giving Doctor Who a full year to establish itself as successful without an overreliance on the original run.  Davies chose Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, as the companion to return, Sladen being convinced after Davies and Phil Collinson informed her that Sarah Jane would be the focal point of the episode.  Scripting duties were given to Toby Whithouse, a friend of executive producer Julie Gardner, with the brief that it must include Sarah Jane and K9 as returning characters, though no specifics in terms of what the story would be about, giving him free reign to choose a story.  The first treatment of the episode to materialize was called “Black Ops” involving aliens at an army base and increasing the intelligence of nearby townsfolk that Sarah Jane would be investigating without K9.  Whithouse, however, found this difficult so Davies suggested setting an adventure at a school, taking inspiration from Dark Season (Davies’ first television project from 1991) and the controversial work of chef Jamie Oliver over school lunch and dinner menus.  With these changes, the storyline became “Friends Reunited” as scripting began before becoming “School Reunion” as the former was a reference to a social media site popular in the UK at the time.

 

“School Reunion” is the first high point for the second series of Doctor Who, though not without its flaws.  After two episodes of varying quality, Whithouse’s setup is simple and solid: Mickey Smith calls the Doctor and Rose back to Earth to investigate a school where half the staff have been replaced and there are whispers of missing children.  Now, the later point is revealed in the pre-credits sequence to be children being eaten by at least the head teacher Mr. Finch, played by Anthony Head, is sent a student with a headache who has no home to go to and gets promptly eaten alive in a chilling sequence.  The Doctor is incognito as a physics teacher while Rose is working in the cafeteria where one of the lunch ladies has a hot oil spilled on her, causing her to burst into flames.  These are some genuinely dark scenes, but the presentation and direction from James Hawes plays them for almost dark comedy which really makes the tone of the episode work quite well.  Anthony Head as our main villain brings a gravitas to the role, in every scene turning on a devilish charm and making the main confrontation with the Doctor a sublime scene for both characters.  Finch is a Krillitane, a composite species that appropriates aspects from the species they conquer into their DNA (a fascinating concept making it a shame the creatures haven’t returned), and their goal in the episode is to become masters of reality, something that the Time Lords would usually interfere and stop, but since the Time War left them dead only the Doctor is left.  There is this temptation of the Doctor joining them, David Tennant playing it very stoically and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane desperately pleading that everything must end and die or else there would be no point to life.  Tennant plays the episode as an almost celebration of life and the Doctor’s history, meeting Sarah Jane with a smile on his face and beaming at the reveal of K9, once again voiced by John Leeson.

 

Much of “School Reunion” is also focused on Rose having to realize that the Doctor has had previous companions.  Now, this story posits that Sarah Jane was in love with the Doctor, something that Davies believes true of every companion and something that I just don’t see.  Sarah Jane isn’t interested in resuming her travels, more intent on helping out on Earth, but there is a great concern for Rose.  Rose is generally not well served by the plot, increasing her jealousy with the script positing the Doctor having never mentioned having any previous traveling companions before.  While the scene where Rose and Sarah Jane bond over their past adventures and the quirks of the Doctor is great, the scenes between the two before this moment are almost entirely unbearable, the jealousy and envy being explicitly romantic.  Elisabeth Sladen and Billie Piper are both doing a great job throughout the episode exploring the first real time two companions have interacted for an extended period of time (The Five Doctors really only had minor interactions).  This is also the first episode where the treatment of Mickey Smith notably regresses from his development in the first series.  The Doctor is antagonistic towards Mickey, rolling back their mutual respect for one another established in “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” and present in “The Christmas Invasion”, making fun of him for being frightened of the danger and discovery of freeze dried rats in the school that cover him.  The idea that Mickey is the “tin dog”, implied to be a third wheel that just isn’t important feels like a considerable disservice, especially as he rescues the students and provides them with a way out of the school at the climax, framed as him learning to not be the tin dog.  It’s a framing that ignores his actions in “World War Three” where he saves Jackie Tyler and provides the missile that defeats the villains and “The Parting of the Ways” where he provides Rose the support to save the Doctor.  The episode ends with Mickey joining the TARDIS team which will continue this weird antagonism between him and the Doctor and further regressing both characters.  One final issue, there are the occasional pieces of dialogue about Rose and Sarah Jane’s appearances that have aged quiet poorly and are just mean spirited such as the implication that Rose needs to stay thin and beautiful for the Doctor and at Sarah Jane’s age.

 

Overall, “School Reunion” is helped greatly by giving Toby Whithouse the freedom to tell whatever story he felt was appropriate.  While there is the clear influence of Davies’ views of the classic series and classic series companions, it does succeed on exploring what comes after life with the Doctor and establishes Rose’s realization that she will be with the Doctor through her own ends.  There is a powerful performance by David Tennant here when confronting a threat that wishes to enter the upper echelon of the universe, making themselves gods and using children as a computer to do it.  The guest cast is brilliant and an extra bonus is not focusing on the students themselves so any lapses in child acting are minimal.  Aspects have aged poorly and the portrayal of the Rose/Sarah Jane dynamic is incredibly messy with some character development being rolled back, but it’s a genuinely great episode and a good gateway for new fans to have a portion of the classic series to explore.  8/10.