School Reunion

Recently, I finally sat down for two weeks and hammered out the story of my life - all the trials and tribulations, the scrapes and the dangers and the countries I've been to along the way, and of course, the people I have met. It never really struck me until writing it all down how many good friends I have had over the years and places I have lived. I wonder where they are now...

The Doctor must feel like this at times. He is a man with a very, very long life who has befriended and parted with many friends along the way and he too - in between adventures - must wonder where his beloved confidantes are from time to time.

So, one day, Sarah-Jane Smith and K9 appear from out of the blue. The sheer sense of pathos between the Doctor and Sarah was overwhelming to the point at which I was biting back the tears. Here were two friends who had shared something so special to each other, barely a thing had surpassed it ever since. Of course, in times like this, difficult questions are asked like - Why didn't you come back for me? The answer was our first proper glimpse into the soul of the Tenth Doctor, in that he lives virtually forever and to watch someone you love (like a human with a short life span) grow old and die would be too much to bare. So you move on. Forever moving on.

Rose, in this episode, gets a sense of mortality too. Sure, she's stared death in the face every time the TARDIS has landed, but the sense of mortality that the time of her life will one day end... and what will happen then? Will she wait on like Sarah and she herself couldn't bare to do in Parting of the Ways? Will she move on and put that poor boy Mickey out of his misery by finally having respect for him? Or will she fall to pieces? I think some interesting questions are raised here about as and when Rose will leave the TARDIS. Russel, I can tell you're gonna make me cry when it comes.

The sense of closure that Sarah Jane gets at the end with her insisting that this time the Doctor really did say Goodbye and the surprise of K9 being lovingly restored (his self - sacrifice was wonderful) really did make me blub for real. It's a shame that Sarah never had a family, and yes, the Doctor would be a hard act to follow...

Oh, I forgot - the plot. Well realised CGI aliens that made me think that that was what the Tetraps should have looked like. An all-too-side-lined wonderful performance from Anthony Head which was delightfully creepy in the teaser. Chilling. Oh who cares! The wonderful thing about Doctor Who nowadays is that a whole episode can go by and you couldn't give a flying Krillitane about the latest alien invasion when something in the foreground is making you cry or whoop with joy. The spectacle is there, the alien threat is there, the pathos and the humour and the nostalgia - check, check, check. My only complaint is that it was too damn short. Make it an hour next time, please.

And so Mickey realises he is the Tin Dog and decides to join the TARDIS crew. Mickey you ARE the Tin Dog. But we love Tin Dogs so that's OK.