I'm glad the village/Army base locations were ditched in favour of a school setting. Not only was this reminiscent of the very first story, AN UNEARTHLY CHILD, it fed into the childhood memories of everyone who was at school during the 70s like myself when Sarah and later K9 were regulars.

It was straight into the story, with The Doctor & Rose already in place at the school where alien intelligence was afoot. In the old days, they'd have taken the whole of the first episode to get there. Sarah Jane's career as an investigative reporter enabled her to get straight to the action. Her cynicism with Finch reminded me of her trip to Thinktank with Jellicoe & Winters in "ROBOT", Tom Baker's first story. Interesting that Ms Sladen attended the first readthrough of the Tennant Doctor with this. I've listened to the commentary where Phil Collinson says he wanted Sarah's first scene to be voice only. Funnily enough, I thought I spotted the back of Sarah's head in one of the scenes where Mickey was at the internet cafe.

And then the scene where The Doctor and Sarah meet. Of course, he can recognise her, but she can't recognise him. The dropping of his alias enabled to reveal she hadn't forgotten her most "uncommon" friend, but she still doesn't know. The scene where she sees the TARDIS again and turns to see the Tennant Doctor, realising who he is, were poetic.

In fact, given this was one 45 minute episode, there was a lot of ground to cover. Sarah felt dumped, waiting out for a visit that hadn't come - at least until the circumstances they now found themselves in.

It's true Sarah did have contact with The Doctor between 1976 & now. In K9 & CO she unwrapped the metal mutt and answered her own hope - "Oh Doctor, you didn't forget". Sarah met The Doctor again in THE FIVE DOCTORS. But it was mostly Jon Pertwee, so she couldn't have her issues out with him because her sudden departure hadn't happened yet. Good job Tom Baker didn't appear then after all - there would've been continuity problems with SCHOOL REUNION, or RTD & Co wouldn't have been able to tell part of the story. However, Sarah did catch a glimpse of the 5th Doctor and seen he'd moved on already with Tegan & Turlough, although she might have been so chuffed seeing Jon Pertwee again, any angry thoughts went out the window. That still leaves 23 years to get used to feeling dumped.

The producers have used the character of Sarah to tell a story about what happens when The Doctor moves on and leaves a travelling companion behind. As such, it applies equally well to all the other assistants and companions who left, voluntarily or involuntarily. And with Sarah & K9 compartmentalised again, this could be it where returning companions are concerned.

The "ex" thing is a metaphor, in that it plays as serious drama that can be applied to all relationships. While confirming the belief of some fans who think The Doctor does sometimes get off with his companions.

In some ways it was a greater link with the old series to feature an actress & actor from the original series in the same roles than it was to bring back or redesign an existing monster. There seems to be a greater acknowledgement this series, now new WHO is an established hit, that it has a history.

Of course Sarah's appearance had implications for the current and future set-up. It's interesting that in the first episode Rose dumped Mickey to join The Doctor, thinking she was the one and only. Now she realises she's the "latest in a long line". One of her predecessors then encourages her ex to join Rose and The Doctor - whom Rose now must realise isn't going to be around forever.

I think the overall journey arc for Rose is going to be of her rediscovering what was at home all the time (especially if Jackie dies, as rumoured elsewhere). A kind of modern day Dorothy from WIZARD OF OZ. Mickey is coming closer to her again and I reckon she'll go back with him at the end of all this.

The trade-off between Sarah & Rose was funny and perfectly understandable and leaves you wondering why they didn't attempt it in the original series. When they share notes on The Doctor stroking the TARDIS, it had me in stitches. In fact the humour was spot-on - Mickey graduating from tin dog (or Tin Man) status by the conclusion.

There was a lot of speculation as to whether Anthony Head was going to play The Master. On the surface, he didn't - although I noticed a close-up where the letters "HEAD" were missing, just leaving "MASTER" in frame.

School dinners are topical. What happened to some of the children doesn't bear dwelling on for a family audience and they didn't - treating these scenes with a lightness of touch found in, for example, THE DEMON HEADMASTER.

The way it ended played like the final curtain for Sarah in DR WHO, which was touching but also sad. But this was always the intended power of the episode. More a case of Friends Reunited, But Then This Really Is It.

However, I hope both Sarah (investigative reporter with experience of alien phenomena) & K9 (alien artefact) make it to TORCHWOOD.

School Reunion was a thoroughly enjoyable episode, but not IВ’m afraid due to the rather hurried plot(the fact that the Who team are already in place and investigating from the start speaks volumes for the time constraints the programme is under these days) but for Anthony HeadВ’s sinister and memorable portrayal of Mr Finch, the return of K9 and most significantly of all the return of Sarah Jane Smith.

I cannot commend Elisabeth Sladen highly enough really for this performance. She has always been my favourite companion anyway, so to speak, and set against that rather lofty background you always wonder, and worry, how older characters will fare when placed in the modern era. Sladen however is so competent, so professional, so obviously caring and protective towards her character that her scenes are a genuine pleasure to watch. Yes this was an unashamed nostalgia trip for us oldies but I hope younger viewers will be able at least in part to glean why Sarah holds such a special place in our affections and wonВ’t be too upset that Sarah won the little bitch war with Rose!The scenes between the Doctor and Sarah in the sun-drenched park at the end were too much for me IВ’m afraid and this soppy old git wept a little.

IВ’ve always been slightly bemused by the latter day close association of Sarah with K9 because K9 featured in precisely none of SarahВ’s stories in the 70В’s. They did of course appear very briefly in the Five Doctors and prior to that in the one-off K9 and Company. And what of the old robot dog?I loved the fact that John Leeson was asked to do the voice as only he can, and that the dog itself was only used sparingly and to maximum effect when he was, mustering just enough energy to zap a Krillitane or two and then to zap the vat at the crucial moment, much to FinchВ’s disgust!

Given the longevity of SarahВ’s travels with the Doctor and the close rapport between the two, particularly with the Fourth Doctor- the departure scenes between Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen at the end of the Hand of Fear were particularly well handled as I recall-I have no problem with the suggestion that Sarah has suffered, despite a brief meeting with the Doctor subsequently, a good deal of emotional turmoil both in relation to the realisation that she has been dumped and the need to re-adjust to mundane Earth life after witnessing so many amazing things. She urges Rose to seek her out one day if she needs to-admirable advice. So yes despite the fact that SarahВ’s tenure on the programme was pre-RTD and therefore pre the kind of emotional intensity that people either love or loath about the show these days, of course Sarah will have questions that need answering and will need closure by urging the Doctor to bid her a proper farewell. And that is the ingredient, plus SladenВ’s incredible performance, that lifts this story from being mildly enjoyable to being memorable and-dare I say it-tear В–jerking. After such a fitting finale, I hope in the nicest way that Sarah isnВ’t brought back, except perhaps if we see Rose seeking her out when her time on the show is done, though IВ’m sure Elisabeth Sladen is more than capable of deciding whatВ’s best for her rightly cherished character.

School Reunion is a pretty rubbish Doctor Who story. It is, however, also a great episode of Doctor Who.

ItВ’s a rubbish story becauseВ… Well, come on. Oh, itВ’s the oil all of a sudden! TheyВ’re actually allergic to it! Oh, theyВ’re trying to crack the daft-sounding sci-fi equation thing, oh no! Oh look, the ugly fat kid has set off the fire alarm and managed to save everybody! Aw, the cute tin dog is going to trundle in with his laser beam and save the day too.

ItВ’s ChildrenВ’s BBC territory, and compared to Tooth and Claw, the plot of which seemed to flow naturally and easily В– or even to New Earth В– it appeared distinctly amateurish in new series terms, and Toby Whithouse is going to have to buck his ideas up if he gets the chance to write for the show again, when he is unprotected by being able to use two of its icons to cover the damage. LetВ’s hope his forthcoming episode of Torchwood В– the organisation which got another throwaway mention here В– allows him to flex his plotting muscles a little more effectively.

Perhaps the CBBC feel was added to by the school setting, which given the use of computers to control the students particularly evoked memories of his 1991 CBBC serial Dark Season. Not that thatВ’s a bad thing, as a bit of nostalgia and evocation of other productions has never hurt the series, and the school setting probably also worked well for the current child and teenage audience, who would have enjoyed the identification factor of seeing the Doctor at work in a school just like theirs. Mind you, thatВ’s no excuse for В“Kenny blew up the school!В” Yeuch.

However, I am being picky and pedantic, I know, because when it comes down to it School Reunion was no more about the Krillitane plot to crack the thingamajig paradigm than Rose was about the third invasion of Earth by the Nestene Consciousness. Like Rose, this was a vehicle for bringing a companion aboard, albeit only for one episode, but unlike the new series debut she wasnВ’t somebody new being introduced to both the Doctor and the audience.

This was the return of Sarah Jane Smith. Hurrah!

We all knew it was coming, of course. WeВ’d seen the previews and the press features and the magazine articles. WeВ’d seen various clips in the trailers and support shows, but still, that scene where the Doctor was introduced to Sarah in the staff room, and the look on his face as he recognises herВ… It was magical. TennantВ’s portrayal of the DoctorВ’s delight as he speaks to Sarah В– В“Good for you, Sarah Jane Smith!В” В– is utterly infectious, and this is why itВ’s a great episode of Doctor Who.

Toby Whithouse has been very keen to point out in just about every interview heВ’s done about the series that unlike most of the other writers working on the show, heВ’s not a huge fan of the original Doctor Who. He thinks that this helped when he was given the Sarah В– K9 episode, as he was less intimidated by having to write for the icons of the series. Now firstly, I think this is bollocks В– Shearman managed to write for the Daleks without collapsing into a puddle on the floor, and everyone else has managed to pen effective episodes featuring the Doctor, the TARDIS etc without having nervous breakdowns at the sheer excitement of it all.

Secondly, it seems odd because there are so many little fanboy touches, В“kisses to the pastВ” as our old friend Philip Segal used to call them, that it seems impossible to believe Russell T Davies didnВ’t have a hand in penning many of the scenes featuring the Doctor and Sarah. ItВ’s insulting, I know, to suggest that any of the good bits in the guest writersВ’ episodes were written by the showrunner, but it does seem that last year the only scripts Davies left pretty much untouched were MoffatВ’s episodes, and Elisabeth Sladen herself has said in interviews that Davies В“sprinkled his gold dustВ” across the episode.

But whoever wrote the thing, which is pretty unimportant at the end of the day when you simply have to consider what ended up on screen, did a bloody good job with SarahВ’s scenes. Nearly all of them bring a lump to the throat in some way or another В– В“I thought youВ’d died!В” В“Did I do something wrong?В” В“Say goodbye this timeВ…В” ItВ’s pretty damn affecting stuff, and not the kind of emotional punch you usually expect from an episode of Doctor Who, even in the new series. The ending, as Sarah turns down another spin in the TARDIS and gets a final farewell hug from the Doctor before trundling off with her new K9 was justВ… Aw!

I donВ’t know how much all of this would have registered with new fans, although on Saturday evening I did by chance watch the episode for a second time in the company of some other people, one of whom was a woman who said sheВ’d never seen any of the classic series and thus didnВ’t know who Sarah was. She seemed to find it pretty moving, so it does perhaps work on that level for new viewers as well as old, which has to be commended as there must have been a worry that this episode would do nothing for purely new series followers.

I do have to say though that the one aspect of SarahВ’s return I didnВ’t think fired on all cylinders was her initially antagonistic relationship with Rose. It seemed a bit forced, especially the shouting match of monsters theyВ’d encountered which had looked so good in the BBCi three-minute preview, and their making up all seemed a bit rapid, although the sheer speed at which everything went by was a factor across the episode. You also have to wonder why Rose was so keen to offer Sarah a place back aboard the TARDIS at the end of the episode, but seemed a bit pissed off when Mickey finally decided to join up.

Sarah wasnВ’t the only character returning though, as we also got the reappearance of K9. IВ’m not a massive fan of the silly tin dog, although then again I donВ’t despise the creature as others do either. IВ’m fairly ambivalent towards him, although I will accept he got some nice moments in his brief appearances in the episode, and his final В– or not so final, depending on how you look at it В– sacrifice to destroy the Krillitane was nicely handled and doubtless spilled some tears amongst the younger viewers.

You have to feel a bit sorry for Anthony Head as Mr Finch, as in any other week heВ’d be the major guest star of the episode, but here he and his character rather got buried under the return of Sladen as Sarah Jane. He was perfectly fine as the smooth villain, and his scenes with Tennant were very good, but on the whole he was pretty much overshadowed by everything else that was going on. Tennant himself was on sparkling form in most of the episode, with only his embarrassing В“correct-a-mundoВ” scene in the classroom bringing the DoctorВ’s character down a notch this week for me. He more than made up for it though both with his scenes with Sarah, and with his explanation to Rose of why he had to leave his companions behind, because they age and die and he just regenerates. ItВ’s an issue weВ’ve not seen the show confront before, and Tennant delivered the lines excellently.

You wouldnВ’t want them to sacrifice plot and other supporting characters purely to bring back old series elements every week, but as a one-off emotional and nostalgic punch it worked very well indeed, and I certainly wouldnВ’t lose this episode from the run for anything. ItВ’s so sad to finally say goodbye to Sarah Jane Smith from the DoctorВ’s life, but nice that he finally got to fulfil that long-ago made promise of В“until we meet again.В” Wonderful stuff.

But no, I didnВ’t cry. That would be silly. This is, at the end of the day, only Doctor Who, and itВ’s not that type of series.

This was the episode I was dreading the most of the ones I know about so far. This one had all the makings of a clinical example of the worst excesses of fanwankery. Old companions meeting new Doctor/companion team + cult actor from another cult genre show = ... well, let's face it, the worst fanfic and New Adventure novels have all done it before (Hell, sometimes even the BEST novels couldn't help themselves), and that Big Finish hasn't done it more often defies belief. After the sheer mediocrity of "New Earth," and the gigantic letdown of "Tooth and Claw," which I was REALLY looking forward to, how low was the new season of Doctor Who going to sink in only its third episode?

Well, not low enough apparently, because this episode redeemed the season so far and then some. The inclusion of Sarah Jane Smith and K9 back to the fold didn't seem tacked on for fan reasons (tho let's face it, they were), they served a dual purpose. First, of course, to show that the Doctor isn't the only one investigating paranormal events in the UK, and second, and most important, the compare/contrast between Sarah Jane and Rose.

And LORD was this episode just positively DRIPPING with the shippiness. I'm not usually one to call out the ship, or non-ship, or whatever in this series, but good GOD, if anyone thinks that the Doctor and Sarah Jane didn't have a romantic/sexual THING going on after this episode you are positively DELUSIONAL.

That's right, I said it, DELUSIONAL. The ending of "The Hand of Fear" was a lover's spat if ever there was one, Sarah Jane getting K9 to begin with was a backhanded apology after Romana dissed HIM in "Warrior's Gate," and she was happy to see the Third Doctor in "The Five Doctors" because it wasn't the one she had an affair with.

The implication of Sarah Jane being a faithfully waiting but nevertheless jilted lover all these years sits right (even if it does go against what Lawrence Miles had written in Interference ... hmm, wonder if THAT'S why he's ragging against this episode, it contradicts his novel), and furthermore, look what it's done to Rose. She's seeing there's more than what's on the surface with the Doctor now. She's special, but not THAT special anymore. She's not the only one and never has been. And awwww look at the Doctor not being able to say he loved Rose OR Sarah Jane. Rivers in Egypt...

Ah, poor K9, clunky as ever, yet faithful to the end. Just like a good little robot. Same as Mickey. Oh, whoops, he's figured it out. And now he wants in on the real TARDIS action. Rose ain't too pleased for some reason. Both men in her life are pissing her off now it seems. Aw.

Anthony Stewart Head, of course, was fanservice, but he does have a Who pedigree, with that Excelis trilogy of audios, and the cameo as St. Valentine in Death Comes to Time. And in a plot whose McGuffin was right out of "Remembrance of the Daleks," he played the smarmy villain to a T. Not bad, but really anyone could have filled the part. The plot, eh, take it or leave it. The real story here was the Missus meeting the Ex, as Mickey so aptly put it. And it made for a damn fine episode.

Plus, you know, K9 blowing shit up always helps too.

Good old Russell T Davies!

Surprised?

Well, first things first, I have to accept that my review of Tooth and Claw was unduly negative; looking back, I appear to be one of those moaning minnies, criticised in some of the other reviewersВ’ comments, who simply cannot accept RTDВ’s vision of the series. By and large thatВ’s true, but it must be said that В‘Tooth and ClawВ’ was very good by any standards, and it was simply the grating nature of some of the regularsВ’ characterisation that spoiled it for me; in the review I concentrated too much on that, at the expense of what was, objectively, at least average and possibly superior Doctor Who.

But that isnВ’t what my surprising statement was about, oh no. I was giving Russell credit for something else entirely; in this case, for something he didnВ’t do В– and that is, not writing В‘School ReunionВ’. Russell has been quite good at this throughout В– although he couldnВ’t restrain himself from doing the series finales, he has В– as other people have already noted В– given a lot of the best material to other writers. Victorian Cardiff and zombies. The Blitz. The Dalek. And the return of Sarah Jane Smith and K9 had classic written all over it from the start В– my honest opinion is that Russell would not have done it as well as the writer who in the end got the job has done it. Whoever Toby Whitehouse is, he really came up trumps here. So well done Russell.

With all that out of the way, the very first thing to say is well done, Elisabeth Sladen. What a consummate actress. What a performer. What a star. We love you, Lis.

I was prepared for this to be dreadful, I had to be, or else I couldnВ’t have stood it had it been. But even I never thought that Lis Sladen could let us down! Well done, Elisabeth Sladen. What a consummate actress. What a performer. WhatВ…

В…oops, repeating myself. But LisВ’ contribution to the programme was superlative. Whitehouse has done a wonderful job with the returning guests, getting Sarah JaneВ’s characterisation close to В‘bang on the noseВ’ В– what quibbles there were, for example the initial unpleasantness between Sarah and Rose, and SarahВ’s implied sexual attraction to the Doctor, ElisabethВ’s performance ironed out, because with her you can believe it. K9 was even better, in terms of being true to the original, that is (those nose lasers! Sweet.) Even Mickey was less irritating than usual, and he had a couple of good scenes saving the kids. The more I look back over it, the more incredible it seems that Whitehouse has juggled so many elements so well.

Not all the credit can go to him, however (itВ’s alright though, thereВ’s a lot of credit to go around). James Hawes deserves a round of applause (hey, that nearly rhymes). His direction is in the very best tradition of TV directing В– you donВ’t notice it, but if it wasnВ’t there, and if it wasnВ’t so skilfulВ… youВ’d know. And as for the performances! It would have been very hard for a writer to fail with Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Stewart Head, John Leeson and David Tennant on the team. Leeson В– as fabulous as he ever wasВ… his В“MasterВ”-s must have brought a tear to every eye. Good old K9. Good dog. And Head, playing the Head, was also utterly wonderful. We were treated to an old-school В“join us, Doctor, and all this can be yoursВ” scene from the lead villain, and he played it so well, part of me was actually taken outside the story, to the point of saying, В“what acting!В” В– while the rest of me goggled. WhatВ’s more, you could see David Tennant reacting to it, pushing himself В– the Doctor, visibly, is actually considering it. How nice that it was Sarah who talked him through it, just like in Genesis of the Daleks.

And thatВ’s another thing. HOW GOOD was David Tennant in this? From his Clint Eastwood-style confrontation with the Headmaster to his first sight of Sarah Jane, and right up to their goodbye В– В“GoodbyeВ… my Sarah Jane.В” Even the scenes that he could have overplayed he nailed; IВ’m thinking of the В“no, everybody else diedВ” scene, and in particular the В“if I donВ’t like it, it will stopВ” scene. Totally in character for this more merciless Doctor (he used to have so muchВ… the third Doctor would never have even thought of behaving the way the tenth has, that at least is certainly true), but nicely played nonetheless. The Doctor losing his defining mercy with the passage of time is truly disturbing. I donВ’t like it at all; it makes him a different person. But this is a review of В‘School ReunionВ’, and in the context of this storyВ… well, while it didnВ’t add anything, it didnВ’t harm the story, as such.

We also see this DoctorВ’s cruelty again in his scenes with Mickey at the beginning and the end, although it can now be interpreted as just a crazy male-bonding ritual they always go through. And, in another welcome moment, Sarah Jane says she prefers the console room how it was before, when she was travelling with the Doctor В– you and me both, Sarah!

Good joke about the Doctor thinking of a comprehensive school which produces clever children as being worthy of investigation in itself! And, surprisingly for a show with left-liberal politics, they even mentioned how it ought to have been swarming with hoodies with ASBOs, although the Doctor didnВ’t seem to take it very seriously. Shame they had to blow it up; even if the staff were evil bat-winged aliens with delusions of godhood! Possible plot hole, though; how come, if itВ’s been three months or so, nobody else has noticed the weirdness? Like, the gobbled-up childrenВ’s social workers? Or UNIT/Torchwood? And why was only Milo clever in Dr SmithВ’s class when the Krillitanes seemed to be using all the pupils by the end? Oh well.

The dialogue was mostly excellent, and that is something you can solely accredit Toby Whitehouse with. And probably the wealth of continuity is his too; Time Lords, the Skarasen, The Invisible Enemy and the year 5000 when В“discoВ” was the in-thing! Thank you, thank you, thank you В– I love continuity!! And all of it right!! Except the references to them not having met for years and years, when in fact they last met in 1996, if not sooner (novel, Interference, Lawrence Miles В– В“if not soonerВ” means possibly1997, in Bullet Time). But never mind! It hardly matters, in fact emotionally the script is far stronger for it, and whatВ’s more I think that if ever weВ’ve been obliged to cut a writer some slack, this is the time. This could even have been the best in the series.

I remember watching Doctor Who as a child, and my first Doctor was the unforgettable Tom Baker. But I don't really recall much of the clasic series, and certainly don't have the encyclopedic knowledge of many dedicated fans. I know a lot of them have been looking forward to the re-introduction of Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, but even if, like me, you knew next to nothing about these much-loved characters, it was obvious from the emotional tone of this episode that this was a big deal. Liz Sladen obviously felt a great affection for her character of Sarah Jane and put in a great performance, showing a great range of emotions from regret to anger and finally some resolution.

There was so much packed into 45 minutes - from a homage to the classic series, jealousy and back biting from the leading ladies, emotional understandings, some pretty cool monsters, funny one liners and a chubby kid saving the day! Oh and extra points for the Doctor wearing glasses (yum!).

I've deliberately left the casting of Anthony Head out of that list, as he deserves a separate mention. The verbal showdown between him and the Doctor around the edge of the swimming pool, was perfectly pitched, perfectly paced and just wonderful to watch. Here were two well-matched adversaries, sizing each other up, cool and menacing, jousting with words. And in an episode which dealt with the solitary price of being immortality, it also gave us a chance to see the dark side of the Doctor, with that telling line, "I used to have so much mercy."

I think this is one significant difference between Tennant's Doctor and Christopher Ecclestone's (may he forever be praised for playing a major part in resurrecting this series). For an actor often cast in brooding roles and with the physical build to carry off an air of imposing menace, Ecclestone delighted me with his child-like delight and wonder, his desire to explore. When he did show his darker moods, as in Dalek, his rage often stemmed from fear.

David Tennant's Doctor is like quicksilver, flicking between light and dark with the speed of cloud shadows scurrying across the hills on a sunny day. He can laugh and explore and enjoy new experiences, as he showed in response to last week's werewolf ("That's beautiful"). But his anger is ice cold. "You get one warning, that's all", had echoes of a similar stand-off moment in New Earth, when he declared, "It stops with me!". Is this pride or arrogance? Could this be a foreshadowing of things to come? Judging from the links that only became obvious in retrospect last series, it makes sense to look for clues in the writing.

The contemporary nod to recent campaigns for healthy school meals, and the chubby, salad-eating boy saving the day were nice touches. (Was it just me, or was he just wearing a big jumper?). There was so much in this episode, it was almost easy to overlook the monsters which, to my mind, were a little too much like the bat-style beasties of Father's Day. But I'm sure they'll have prompted some behind-the-sofa moments.

With an episode from the same writer that brought us the chillingly spooky gas mask zombies to look forward to this week, I'm already counting down the days…