Here it is, not only a powerhouse Sarah Jane Adventures episode but also the very last thing that David Tennant filmed during his tenure as the Tenth Doctor. Yes, he would later return for the 50th anniversary special, but this right here was the very last episode he shot before handing over the TARDIS to Matt Smith. And somehow I never got around to watching it until today.

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith - Episodes 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Oh let me tell you how much I loved this story. Basically, Sarah Jane meets a really nice guy and falls in love. And he really is a genuinely nice guy. He is not, as I suspected, a nefarious villain attempting to worm his way into her life. He is just a kind, decent man who loves her and wants to marry her. Yes, the KidCrew are understandably suspicious (which of course turns out to be well-founded), but ultimately Boyfriend Peter turns out to be very much a tragic victim of the Trickster.

You see, three months previously Peter tripped and fell down the stairs in his own home and would have died had not the Trickster appeared and, well, tricked him into accepting a bargain. He gets to live, and he gets to meet the woman of his dreams. Win/win! The ulterior motive is that the Trickster knows Sarah Jane will hang up her alien supercomputer and live a normal domestic life if she marries Peter.

Things get crazy at the wedding itself, when the Doctor arrives (of course right at the "if anyone has an objection" part of the service), at which point all of the primary characters are whisked off into a repeating one-second pocket of time. In the end Peter has to accept his own death in order to save the world, and it is a heart wrenching moment. Not coincidentally, it also gives us another Tenth Doctor "I'm so, so sorry" moment.

Tragically, this story was originally supposed to also include a guest appearance by the Brigadier, but unfortunately Nicholas Courtney suffered a stroke prior to filming that made that impossible. 

The most beautiful moment of the show comes near the end, with the final goodbye between the Doctor and Sarah Jane. The dialog is almost verbatim flipped from their goodbye all the way back in The Hand of Fear, and it is just a magnificently sweet moment. 

God, I loved this story so much. 

STATS:

Featuring: Sarah Jane Smith, Tenth Doctor, Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, Rani Chandra, K9
Episode(s): The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 8,078 today, 4,135,347 total
Distance Walked: 4.07 miles today, 2,166.07 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 100 today, 9,000 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 1,753 total
Weight: 261.58 lbs (five day moving average), net change -45.72 lbs