In yesterday's post I mentioned that my wife and I had visited Balmoral Castle in Scotland a few years ago. It turns out that I am a moron (shocking, I know!) The place I was thinking of was Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, which is a completely different thing. I was only off by about a hundred miles. Oops.

As for today's viewing, it featured the return of both Sarah Jane Smith and K9. Yay! Let's talk about that.

School Reunion

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The most significant thing about this episode (aside, of course, from the return of Sarah Jane and K9) was that it was the first story in the revived series to affirmatively establish that the new show was, in fact, a continuation of the old one and not a reboot. Prior to this point there had been vague references and hints, but nothing that explicitly linked it to the classic series. At the time there was still some small debate about whether or not NuWho was actually a reboot, but with the return of Elisabeth Sladen and the voice of John Leeson that notion was firmly put to rest.

The story itself is nothing particularly interesting. Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is skulking around as the evil headmaster of a British high school, using the children there for some sinister plan. Mickey catches wind of the strangeness and clues in the Doctor, while at the same time Sarah Jane Smith is investigating for the same reasons. The past and present collide, there are a bunch of bat things and acidic slime, and a big explosion with the apparent destruction of K9 at the end as the bad guys are defeated. Roll credits.

The thin plot is really there to serve as a framework to explore what happens to the Doctor's companions when they are left behind, and for Rose to glimpse her potential future. Those are the scenes worth watching here. Elisabeth Sladen is absolutely a joy to watch, and I gather that David Tennant didn't have to do much acting in the scenes where he was overjoyed to see her given that Sarah Jane was the companion when Tennant watched the show as a child.

There is some initial conflict between Rose and Sarah Jane, the pretty new model confronted with the aging and abandoned old one. There is also a point where Mickey realizes that he is the Tin Dog in the relationship. Some of it is played for laughs, but eventually the Doctor has a somber moment in which he explains to Rose that while she can spend her whole life with him, he has to live with the fact that everyone he knows will age and die and he still has to carry on. The theme of the Doctor as the Lonely God is very much the central notion of the Tenth Doctor era.

The final scene was absolutely perfect (not to mention a foreshadowing of the season finale, but I'll get there in a week and a half). The Doctor and Sarah Jane have their parting words. He tries to get away without actually saying goodbye, and she refuses to let him do that. He finally actually says, "Goodbye, my Sarah Jane!" and then they share an embrace. She stays, he leaves, and it turns out that he also leaves behind a fully-repaired K9 Mark IV. 

It's just so nice to see Sarah Jane and K9 again. I am looking forward to watching both of their spinoffs this fall after I finish this ridiculous project. I wish the main plot had been a bit stronger, but it is what it is.

Tomorrow, however, marks the point for me where David Tennant and the writers finally really find their feet. It is one of my all-time favorite episodes, and I am eager to see it yet again.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Tenth
Companion(s): Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith
Episode(s): School Reunion
Steps Walked: 7,809 today, 2,665,352 total
Distance Walked: 4.39 miles today, 1,386.61 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 605 total
Weight: 252.80 lbs (five day moving average), net change -54.50 lbs