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{{Quote|I'd like to introduce Miss [[Sarah Jane Smith]].|[[Lucas Finch]]}}
{{title dab away}}
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{{Infobox Story SMW
|image          = School Reunion.jpg
|series          = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|season number  = Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)
|series episode number = 3
|story number    = 170
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-2-episode-3-school-reunion-shooting-script-07072005.pdf
|doctor          = Tenth Doctor
|companions      = [[Rose Tyler|Rose]]
|featuring      = Sarah Jane Smith
|enemy          = [[Lassar]]
|setting        = [[London]], [[2007]]
|writer          = Toby Whithouse
|director        = [[James Hawes]]
|producer        = [[Phil Collinson]]
|confidential    = Friends Reunited (CON episode)
|broadcast date  = 29 April 2006
|network        = BBC One
|format          = 1x45-minute episode
|production code = 2.3
|prev            = Tooth and Claw (TV story)
|next            = The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)
|made prev      = New Earth (TV story)
|made next      = Tooth and Claw (TV story)
|clip            = Sarah Jane Smith Returns! (HD) School Reunion Doctor Who
|clip2          = The God Maker - Doctor Who - School Reunion - Series 2 - BBC
|bts            = The return of Sarah Jane - Dr Who Confidential - BBC sci-fi
|thwr=50|thwr2=61|thwr3=90|featuring2=Mickey Smith|featuring3=K9 Mark III{{!}}K9 Mark III|featuring4=K9 Mark IV{{!}}K9 Mark IV}}
'''''School Reunion''''' was the third episode of [[Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 2]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.


{{Infobox NewTV|
It continued from the prelude established in ''[[Tardisode 3]]'', and saw the start of [[Mickey Smith]]'s travels in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. This episode was most notable for marking the return of original series companions [[Sarah Jane Smith]] and [[K9]], both having last appeared on-screen in 1983's ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]''. With Sarah Jane's inclusion in this story, it was established the current series was not a reboot, but rather a continuation of the Original Series. [[K9 Mark III]] was destroyed and replaced by a [[K9 Mark IV|newer model]] at the end of the episode. Months after this episode aired, rumours of a spin-off series with Sarah were confirmed by the BBC and ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' premiered on [[BBC One]] on [[1 January (releases)|1 January]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]].
story name= School Reunion |
image= [[Image:School Reunion.jpg|250px]]|
series=[[Doctor Who]] -<br/>[[TV stories|TV Stories]] |
number= [[Series 2 (Doctor Who)|Series 2]] |
story number= 3|
doctor=[[Tenth Doctor]] |
companions= [[Rose Tyler]]<br>[[Mickey Smith]] (joins)<br> [[Sarah Jane Smith]] (guest star)<br>[[K-9 Mark III]] (guest star; dies)<br>[[K-9 Mark IV]] (introduction; guest star)|
enemy= [[Krillitane]]s<br>[[Brother Lassar]]<br>[[Wagner]]<br>[[Jackson (School Reunion)|Jackson]] |
setting= [[Earth]], [[England]], [[Deffry Vale]], [[January]], [[2007]] |
writer= [[Toby Whithouse]] |
director= [[James Hawes]] |
producer=[[Phil Collinson]]  |
broadcast date= [[29th April]] [[2006]] |
format= 1x45-minute Episode |
production code= 174 |
previous story= [[Tooth and Claw]]<br>[[The Five Doctors]] (for [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah-Jane]] and [[K-9]]) |
next story= [[The Girl in the Fireplace]] (for regular cast)<br>[[Invasion of the Bane]] (for [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah-Jane]]) }}


== Summary ==
This story is the first to bring up the impact travelling with the Doctor as a [[companion]] has on one's life, even providing insight on the Doctor's perspective, notably why he never usually came back for a companion.
[[Sarah Jane Smith]] and [[K-9]] join the [[Tenth Doctor]], [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] and [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] to investigate sinister events at a modern-day [[Deffry Vale High School|comprehensive school]], and take on the evil [[Krillitanes]].


==Plot==
== Synopsis ==
At the [[Deffry Vale High School]], the headmaster, [[Mr Finch]], notices a student waiting outside his office. She says she has a headache, and has not simply gone home because she lives in an orphanage. Mr Finch offers sympathies that there is no-one to miss her, and invites her into his office; it is nearly time for lunch. The door closes, there is a flap of wings, and the girl screams.
[[Deffry Vale High School]] is haunted by [[Krillitane|strange, bat-like creatures]] at night. When the [[Tenth Doctor]] investigates, he finds an old friend, [[Sarah Jane Smith]], already working undercover.


Together with [[Rose]], the [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]], under the alias "[[Aliases of the Doctor |John Smith]]", has gone undercover in the school.  He teaches a physics class, asking a few simple questions about physics, which none can answer except a student called Milo.  After asking a few more questions, the Doctor advances onwards through higher levels of knowledge, finally asking how to travel faster than the speed of light. Milo answers every question without missing a beat.
== Plot ==
At [[Deffry Vale High School]], the [[headmaster]], [[Lassar|Mr Finch]], notices [[Nina (School Reunion)|a student]] waiting outside his office. She has a headache, and cannot simply go home because she lives in a [[orphanage|children's home]]. Mr Finch offers his sympathies that there is no-one to miss her and invites her into his office; it is nearly time for lunch. The door closes, then there is a flap of wings, and the girl screams.


Meanwhile, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] is working undercover in the cafeteria. At lunch, she goes over and talks to [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]], complaining about the last two days. The Doctor mentions that it was [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] who alerted them to something odd going on, and he was right. Everyone at the school seems too well-behaved, and there is something odd about the [[chips]]. Rose eats a few, saying she likes them. The school menu has been designed by [[Mr Finch]] himself to improve concentration and performance. Another teacher, [[Mr Wagner]], approaches one of the students, [[Melissa]]. He tells her that Milo has failed him, so she is being moved up to the top class. He also summons another student, [[Luke]], but not [[Kenny]], who for some reason is not allowed to eat the chips. The Doctor observes all this quietly, then looks up and sees Mr Finch gazing down on the cafeteria floor, watching everything.
The Doctor, posing as "[[Aliases of the Doctor|John Smith]]", teaches a [[physics]] class in the school. He asks a few simple questions, but only an intelligent student called [[Milo (School Reunion)|Milo]] can answer. The Doctor advances to higher levels of knowledge, finally asking how to [[Faster-than-light travel|travel faster than light]]. Milo answers every question without missing a beat.


In the kitchen, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] watches the other kitchen staff, all wearing gloves and face in masks, bringing in a large barrel. [[Mrs Jackson]], the head Dinner Lady, warns them not to spill a drop. [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] calls Rose on her mobile phone, telling her about the massive [[UFO]] activity he has discovered around the area. However, his investigations are being blocked by something called [[Torchwood]]. Rose, in turn, tells him that the kitchen staff were all replaced three months ago with a new set. As they speak, the barrel slips, spilling something over one of the staff who starts to burn. The rest usher her into a side room. As Rose starts to phone for an ambulance, Mrs Jackson tells her not to worry — the woman is all right, even as Rose hears screams and sees lots of smoke appear. Rose glances down at the barrel, which is leaking a golden, oily substance.
[[File:Rose Tyler dinnerlady (SR).jpg|thumb|left|Rose Tyler: Dinner lady.]]
Meanwhile, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] is working undercover in the cafeteria as a dinner lady. At lunch, she complains to the Doctor about the last two days. He mentions that it was [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] who alerted them to something odd going on and rightly so: everyone at the school is unusually well-behaved and there is something odd about the [[chips]]. Rose eats a few, saying she enjoys them. The school menu has been designed by Mr Finch himself to improve concentration and performance. Another teacher, [[Wagner|Mr Wagner]], approaches [[Melissa (School Reunion)|Melissa]], one of the students. He tells her Milo has failed him, so she is being moved to the top class. He also summons another student, [[Luke (School Reunion)|Luke]], but not [[Kenny (School Reunion)|Kenny]], who is overweight and not allowed to eat the chips. The Doctor observes all this, then looks up and sees Mr Finch gazing down on the cafeteria floor, watching everything.


In the Maths classroom, [[Mr Wagner]] tells the children at their [[computer]]s to put their headphones on. The screens flicker on, and the monitors begin to display a green rotating cube with rapidly scrolling, [[alien]]-looking symbols, and seemingly random text on the right. The children start to type on their keyboards with incredible speed.
In the kitchen, Rose watches the other kitchen staff, all wearing protective gloves and face masks, bringing in a large barrel. One of the [[Dinner lady (School Reunion)|dinner ladies]] warns them not to spill a drop. Mickey calls Rose on her [[mobile phone]], telling her about the massive [[Unidentified Flying Object|UFO]] activity he has discovered around the area. However, his online investigations are being blocked by something called [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood]]. Rose, in turn, tells him the kitchen staff were all replaced three months ago with new personnel. As they speak, the barrel slips, spilling something on one of the staff, who starts to burn. The others usher her into a side room. Rose starts to phone for an [[ambulance]], but is told not to worry, she is all right, even as Rose hears screams and lots of smoke billows out of the side room. Rose glances down at the barrel, which is leaking a golden, oily substance.


[[Mr Finch]] escorts a journalist, [[Sarah Jane Smith]], around the school. Sarah has been assigned to a profile on him, and Finch explains that one of the policy changes he has made are free — but compulsory — school dinners. In the staff room, [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] is speaking to [[Mr Parsons]], head of History, who tells him of the extraordinary knowledge of his students since Finch became Headmaster. Also, since his arrival, seven teachers came down with flu, and were replaced by strange new ones. The teacher the Doctor is replacing resigned when she won the lottery, which she did not even enter. Mr Finch brings Sarah into the staff room, and when the Doctor sees her, he begins to smile. When he introduces himself as [[Aliases of the Doctor |John Smith]], Sarah remarks that she once knew a man who went by that name. When she finds out that "Smith" is a new teacher, she starts asking him if he has noticed anything odd. Her questions show that she has lost none of her inquisitive nature, and the Doctor is delighted, although he does not reveal his real identity to her.
In the maths classroom, Mr Wagner tells the children at their [[computer]]s to put on their [[headphones]]. The screens flicker on. The monitors display a green, rotating cube with rapidly scrolling, [[alien]]-looking symbols and text. The children, as if entranced, type on their keyboards with incredible speed. Clearly, something is ''very'' wrong.


As [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] wanders the halls in a slight nostalgic haze, [[Kenny]] goes into the Maths room. He sees, to his shock, a [[bat]]-like creature beneath one of the desks, which transforms rapidly into [[Mr Wagner]]. Wagner tells Kenny to leave, and the boy beats a hasty retreat. School ends for the day, and night falls. [[Sarah Jane Smith]] breaks into the school to explore, even as the Doctor, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] and [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] do the same. The Doctor sends Mickey to the Maths room and Rose to get a sample of the oil while he checks out the headmaster's office. All through this there are the sounds of flapping, the occasional shriek and winged shadows flitting across walls.
[[File:Meeting Mr Smith (SR).jpg|thumb|right|"John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name".]]
Mr Finch shows a [[journalist]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], around the school. Sarah has been assigned to write a profile on him. Finch explains that one of the policy changes he has made is free — but compulsory — school dinners. In the staff room, the Doctor is speaking to [[Parsons (School Reunion)|Mr Parsons]], head of History, who tells him of the extraordinary knowledge of his students since Finch became Headmaster: one of his students gave him the exact height of the walls of [[Troy]] in [[cubit]]s. Also, the day after Finch arrived, seven teachers came down with [[influenza|flu]], and were replaced by strange new ones. In the Doctor's case, the former [[Physics teacher (School Reunion)|physics teacher]] he replaced abruptly resigned when she won the [[lottery]], despite the fact that she never played, claiming the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. Mr Finch brings Sarah into the staff room, and the Doctor smiles delightedly at unexpectedly seeing his old friend, but introduces himself as John Smith. Sarah remarks that she once knew a man who went by that name. When she learns "Smith" is a new teacher, she asks if he has noticed anything odd. She has lost none of her inquisitive nature, and the Doctor is elated, although he does not reveal his real identity to her.


[[Sarah Jane Smith]], trying to break into [[Mr Finch]]'s office, notices she is being watched. She enters a store room and to her shock sees the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] standing there. Backing out, she sees "John Smith", who calls her "Sarah Jane", and she realises it really is [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]]. After a brief exchange, they hear a piercing scream and they run towards the sound, meeting [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] along the way. The Doctor introduces the two women, and Rose is immediately jealous. The scream turns out to be [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]], who opened a cupboard only to be covered in shrink wrapped [[rat]]s. Sarah surmises that the rats are for dissection, but Rose retorts that rat dissection hasn't been used in schools for years, making a snide dig at Sarah's age. As they head for Finch's office, Mickey welcomes the Doctor to "the missus and the ex" — every man's worst nightmare. The Doctor suggests that the rats may be food for something, and when the enter Finch's office, they find out what it is: thirteen large, bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling, asleep. They back out hurriedly, but as they shut the door, one of the creatures wakes up and shrieks. Outside, the Doctor tells them they have to go back in so that he can use the TARDIS to analyse the oil sample Rose procured. Sarah tells the Doctor that she may have something that can help him, and takes him to her car, revealing an inactive and rusty [[K-9|K-9 MK III]], with one of his side panels missing. Sarah explains that one day it had just stopped working, and she could not repair the advanced [[Time Lord]] technology inside it.
As the Doctor wanders the halls in a slight nostalgic haze, Kenny goes into the Maths room. He is shocked to glimpse a [[bat]]-like creature under one of the desks. It transforms rapidly into Mr Wagner. Wagner tells Kenny to leave and the boy beats a hasty retreat.


Not knowing that they are being trailed by [[Mr Finch]] and another bat-creature, they go in [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah's]] car to a nearby café, where [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] works on repairing [[K-9]]. [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] teases [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] about her jealousy, while Sarah asks the Doctor why he never came back for her. The Doctor tries to brush it off, saying that she was getting on with her life. Sarah replies that he was her life. The hardest thing was adjusting back to mundane life after all she had seen. She asks him why he could not have come back, and the Doctor turns serious and does not reply.
That night, Sarah Jane Smith breaks into the school to explore, even as the Doctor, Rose and Mickey do the same. The Doctor sends Mickey to the maths department and Rose to get a sample of the oil, while he checks the headmaster's office. There are sounds of flapping and the occasional shriek through the school, and winged shadows flit across the walls.


[[K-9]] comes back to life, and recognises [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] as its master. He smears some of the oil sample on its eye sensor, and K-9 determines it is [[Krillitane oil]]. The creatures are [[Krillitanes]], a composite species which take the best physical parts of other species they conquer. The Doctor did not recognise them because they looked different back then. He realises that they are doing something to the children.
[[File:Hello Sarah Jane (SR).jpg|thumb|left|"Hello, Sarah Jane".]]
Sarah, trying to break into Mr Finch's office, notices she is being watched. She enters a storeroom — where she finds [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. Stunned at seeing the ship again, she backs out of the room into the gym, where "John Smith", now wearing his long coat, is waiting and says, "Hello, Sarah Jane." Sarah manages to say, "It's you...Doctor! Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it? You've regenerated..."


As they leave the café, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] asks [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] if [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] is her future; that she will be left behind like all his other companions. The Doctor tells her he did not go back for Sarah because it would have been too hard — while humans age and die; [[Time Lords]] are almost immortal. Rose can spend the rest of her life with him, but he cannot spend the rest of his life with her. [[Mr Finch]] hears the phrase "Time Lord" and sends the other [[Krillitane]] down to swoop over them, although it does not harm anyone.
The Doctor replies that he has done so "half a dozen times since we last met." Sarah remarks he looks "incredible", and he says she does too, but she dismisses it as being true for herself and says she has grown old. She then reveals she had waited for him and thought he had died, and in response, the Doctor speaks to her of the [[Last Great Time War|Time War]] for the first time: "I lived. Everybody else died." Sarah Jane is still in disbelief until they hear a piercing scream and run towards the sound; now she knows this is the Doctor.


The next day all of them return to [[Deffry Vale High School|the school]]. [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] sends [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] to discover what is inside the computers, and tells [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] to stay in the car with [[K-9]] as surveillance — a task Mickey compares to being "sent to the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter". The Doctor himself is going to have a word with [[Mr Finch]]. The two confront each other at the swimming pool. Finch confirms that he is a [[Krillitane]] named '''Brother Lassar'''; the wings being a recent addition to their form, having been obtained from the invasion of [[Bessan]] ten generations ago. What the Doctor sees as [[Human]] is just a morphic illusion. Surprised to see a [[Time Lord]], Finch sarcastically refers to them as a race of pompous, dusty senators, afraid of change and chaos, and now all but extinct. He can sense, however, that the Doctor is different, but still refuses to reveal his plans, challenging the Doctor to work it out. Finch says that they are not enemies, and asks if the Doctor would declare war on them. The Doctor quietly replies that he had much more mercy when he was younger, and this is their only warning. Finch promises, however, that the next time they meet; the Doctor will join with him.
Along the way, they run into Rose; the Doctor introduces the two and Sarah comments on Rose's youth. The scream turns out to be Mickey, who opened a cupboard, only to be covered in shrink-wrapped [[rat]]s. Sarah suggests the rats are for dissection, suggesting cattily that maybe Rose isn't old enough to have gotten to that point in school, but Rose retorts that rat dissection hasn't been performed in schools for years, making a snide dig at Sarah's age. As they head for Finch's office, and Sarah and Rose begin to bicker, Mickey laughs and tells the Doctor, "The missus and the ex — welcome to every man's worst nightmare!"


Working on the [[computer]]s, [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] and [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] begin to argue about who has had more experience time travelling, yelling the names of the different monsters they have met. Both of them soon realise the argument is pointless and bond by comparing notes on the Doctor, bursting into laughter when he enters, much to his consternation.  
[[File:Teachers sleep at school.jpg|thumb|right|"Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do".]]
The Doctor suggests that the rats may be food for something. When he and the others enter Finch's office, they find what that "something" is; large, bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling, asleep. They back out hurriedly, but as the door shuts, one of the creatures wakes and shrieks. Outside, the Doctor tells the others that when Finch arrived at the school he brought twelve staff members with him, so they've got thirteen giant bat people to deal with. He is about to head back inside despite the danger so he can use [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] to analyse the oil sample Rose procured, but Sarah tells the Doctor she may have something that can help him. To the Doctor's excitement, in her [[car]] boot is an inactive and rusty [[K9]] [[K9 Mark III|Mark III]], with one of his side panels missing. Sarah explains that one day the robot dog just stopped working and she could not repair its advanced technology.


[[Mr Finch]] tells the other [[Krillitane]]s that they are moving to the final phase. [[Deffry Vale High School|The school]] will be sealed, and they will become [[god]]s. Even though it is break time, intercom calls all pupils to class and the staff to the staff room. All the pupils appear strangely happy that the break has ended early, except [[Kenny]], who hesitates, but eventually follows the others inside. Meanwhile, the Krillitanes begin by devouring the rest of the staff.
Not knowing that they are being trailed by Mr Finch and another bat-creature, the group go in Sarah's car to a nearby café, where the Doctor repairs K9. Mickey teases Rose about her jealousy, while Sarah asks the Doctor if she did something wrong since he never returned for her after his visit [[Gallifrey|home]]. In an intense moment, the Doctor tries to brush it off, saying that she was getting on with her life. Sarah replies that he was her life: the hardest thing was adjusting back to mundane life after all she had seen. She asks him why he could not have come back. The Doctor looks dour, but does not reply.


In the Maths room, [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] finds the computers fixed with a [[deadlock seal]], something which even the sonic screwdriver cannot breach. [[Mr Finch]] seals all of the school's exits while [[Mr Wagner]] activates the [[computer]] programme which the children begin working again. [[Kenny]] finds himself unable to get out of the school, but attracts [[Mickey Smith|Mickey's]] attention. Mickey reactivates [[K-9]], asking it if it has some way to get in the school, but K-9 reminds Mickey that he is in a car. Meanwhile, [[Rose Tyler|Rose]], [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] and the Doctor watch the symbols flash on a large screen, and the Doctor works out what it is. The [[Krillitane]]s are trying to solve the [[Skasas Paradigm]]. The Doctor explains that the Paradigm is the [[God]]-Maker, the Universal Theory; whoever solves it will be able to control the building blocks of the [[universe]] — all of [[time]] and [[space]]. The Krillitanes are boosting the children's intelligence with the [[Krillitane oil|oil]], using them and their imaginations as a giant processing device. Finch appears at this point, asking the Doctor to join them, tempting the Doctor with the ability to change the universe, to save everyone, even restore the [[Time Lord]]s. He also offers Sarah and Rose the chance to travel with the Doctor forever, never growing old. For a moment the Doctor does appear tempted, but Sarah tells him that pain and loss define them as much as happiness or love. Everything has its time, and everything ends, whether a world or a relationship. The Doctor picks up a chair and hurls it at the screen, smashing it. He tells Rose and Sarah to get out.
K9 comes to life and recognises the Doctor, who smears some of the oil sample on its eye sensor. K9 determines it is [[Krillitane oil]]. The creatures are [[Krillitane]]s, a composite species who take the best physical parts of other species they conquer. The Doctor did not recognise them because they had looked different when he had last seen them; basically humans with [[Giraffe]] necks. He realises that they are doing something to the children.


[[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] crashes the car through the front doors of [[Deffry Vale High School|the school]] and he and [[Kenny]] rush towards the pupils. [[Mr Finch]] shrieks, summoning the other [[Krillitane]]s, who transform into their [[bat]]-forms. Mickey and Kenny meet up with the others and run into the cafeteria, pursued by the bat creatures. Finch tells them he wants [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] alive, but to eat the others. As the Krillitanes attack, a laser bolt shoots one of them down. [[K-9]] appears in the doorway, blaster at the ready. The Doctor tells K-9 to hold them off while they retreat. However, K-9's battery is failing, and Finch tells the others to ignore "the shooty dog thing" and get the others. In the physics lab, the Doctor realises that the solution is the [[Krillitane oil|oil]]. The Krillitanes have changed their physiology so often that even their own oil is toxic to them now. The Krillitanes start bashing down the door. The Doctor tells Mickey to get the children unplugged and evacuated. Kenny triggers the fire alarm, the high pitched sound hurting the bat-like ears of the Krillitanes and stunning them long enough to get past to the kitchens.
As they leave the café, Rose is struggling to come to terms with the realisation that she's not the first person the Doctor travelled with. She tells the Doctor how troubled she is that he's never mentioned Sarah despite the two once being as close as they are now, and that she feels like she's seeing her own future and will end up just being left behind like all his other [[companion]]s. The Doctor promises he will not just leave her, explaining that he did not go back for Sarah because it would have been too hard: "I don't age. I [[regeneration|regenerate]]. But humans decay, you wither and you die. You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on, alone. That's the curse of the [[Time Lord]]s." Hearing the phrase "Time Lords", Mr Finch sends the other Krillitane to swoop over and scare them.


[[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] unplugs the [[computer]]s and gets the children out of the school. In the kitchens, [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] discovers the barrels of [[Krillitane oil|oil]] are [[deadlock seal]]ed. The Doctor gets the others out while he and [[K-9]] stay behind. K-9 tells the Doctor that the barrels will not withstand a direct hit from its laser, but as its batteries are weak, it has to remain nearby. The Doctor protests, knowing that K-9 will be caught in the explosion, but the [[dog]] replies there is no alternative. Sadly, the Doctor bids his old friend good-bye, and calls it a good dog. The Doctor takes [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]]'s hand and while she asks about K-9, drags her away from [[Deffry Vale High School|the school]]. [[Mr Finch]] and his brethren enter the kitchen in human form, searching for the Doctor. Finch mocks K-9 when he sees it, but K-9 shoots a barrel, spilling the toxic oil over the [[alien]]s. Finch snarls to K-9 "you bad dog"; the dog replies, "Affirmative." The explosion takes out a large chunk of the school. The pupils cheer the school's destruction, and hail [[Kenny]] as the hero who did it. Sarah weeps over K-9's sacrifice as the Doctor comforts her.
[[File:Swimming pool Lassar (SR).jpg|thumb|left|"Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you".]]
The next day they all return to the school. The Doctor sends Rose and Sarah to discover what is inside the computers, and Mickey to stay in the car with K9 as surveillance — a task Mickey compares to being "sent to the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter". The Doctor himself confronts Mr Finch at the swimming pool, where Finch confirms he is a Krillitane named Brother Lassar and the wings are a recent addition to their form: what the Doctor sees as [[human]] is merely a morphic illusion. Surprised to see a Time Lord, Lassar calls them a race of pompous, dusty senators, afraid of change and chaos and now all but [[extinct]]. He can sense that the Doctor is different but still refuses to reveal his plans, challenging him to work it out. The Doctor quietly replies that he had much more mercy when he was younger, and that this is his only warning. Lassar replies they are not even enemies and smugly promises that the next time they meet, the Doctor will join with him.


Later, [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] enters the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], which is standing in a park. [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] suggests that Sarah join them, but Sarah declines, saying it is time she found a life of her own. [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] asks if he could join them in the TARDIS. Sarah says they need a Smith aboard the TARDIS, and [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] agrees, although Rose does not look as pleased. Before she goes, Sarah admits that she wants to stay, but tells Rose that some things are worth getting a heart broken for. She adds that someday, if Rose needs to, to find her. Outside, Sarah thanks the Doctor for her time with him. The Doctor asks if there had been anyone special, and Sarah tells him that there was this one man, who she travelled with for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. She asks him to say good-bye this time, and he does, hugging her tightly. Sarah watches the TARDIS disappears, and as it does so, a brand new [[K-9 Mark IIIb|K-9]] is revealed. K-9 explains that the Doctor rebuilt and improved it. Happily, Sarah orders K-9 home. They have work to do.
Working on the [[computer]]s with the [[sonic screwdriver]], Sarah and Rose get into an argument about who has had more experience time travelling, yelling the names of the different monsters they have met. Sarah settles it when she mentions the [[Loch Ness Monster]], but both women soon realise the argument is pointless and begin to bond by comparing notes on the Doctor (Sarah is very amused to hear from Rose that the Doctor still strokes parts of the TARDIS). When the Doctor himself enters, they burst into laughter, much to his confusion.


== Cast & Characters ==
Lassar tells the other Krillitanes that they are moving to the final phase: the school will be sealed and they will become [[god]]s. Even though it is break time, the intercom calls all pupils to class and the staff to the staff room. All the pupils appear strangely happy that the break has ended early, except Kenny, who hesitates, but eventually follows the others inside. The Krillitanes begin by devouring the rest of the staff.
*[[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
 
*[[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
In the maths room, the Doctor finds the computers fixed with a [[deadlock seal]] which the sonic screwdriver cannot breach. Lassar seals all of the school's exits while Mr Wagner activates the computer program which the children begin working on again. Kenny cannot get out of the school, but he manages to attract Mickey's attention. Mickey tries to reactivate K9 but he doesn't respond so Mickey hits it in frustration which makes it come to life. Mickey asks K9 if it has some way to get through the locked doors in the school and it reminds him they are in a car. Mickey is initially confused by this answer but then realises what the dog means and shouts for Kenny to get out of the way.
*[[Sarah Jane Smith]] - [[Elisabeth Sladen]]
 
*[[Mr Finch]] - [[Anthony Stewart Head]]
[[File:Everything has its time (SR).jpg|thumb|right|"Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends".]]
*[[K9]] (voice) - [[John Leeson]]
Rose, Sarah and the Doctor watch the symbols flash on a large screen. The Doctor works out that the Krillitanes are trying to solve the [[Skasis Paradigm]]. He explains that the Paradigm is the God-Maker, the Universal Theory; whoever solves it can control the building blocks of the [[universe]] — all of [[time]], [[space]] and [[matter]]. The Krillitanes are using the children as a giant processing device and are boosting their intelligence using the oil. Rose points out that oil is on the chips which she has been eating. The Doctor then gives her a complex sum which she instantly answers correctly, much to her shock. Sarah asks why the Krillitanes are using children instead of adults and the Doctor replies that the God-Maker needs imagination to be solved and adds "they're not just using the children's brains to break the code. They're using their souls." At this point, Lassar reveals himself and asks the Doctor to join them, tempting him with the ability to change the universe, to save everyone, even restore the Time Lords. He offers Sarah and Rose the chance to travel with the Doctor forever, never growing old. The Doctor appears tempted, but Sarah reminds him that pain and loss define them as much as happiness or love: everything has its time and everything ends, whether a world or a relationship. The Doctor picks up a chair and hurls it at the screen, smashing it. He, Rose and Sarah flee the room.
*[[Mickey Smith]] - [[Noel Clarke]]
 
*[[Mr Wagner]] - [[Eugene Washington]]
Mickey crashes the car through the front doors of the school, and he and Kenny rush back inside. Lassar shrieks, summoning the other Krillitanes, who transform into their bat-forms. Mickey and Kenny meet up with the others and run into the cafeteria, pursued by the bat creatures. Lassar tells them he wants the Doctor alive, but to eat the others.
*[[Kenny]] — [[Joe Pickley]]
 
*[[Melissa]] — [[Lucinda Dryzek]]
As the Krillitanes attack, one of them is shot down by a laser and K9 appears in the doorway, blaster at the ready. The Doctor tells K9 to hold them off while they retreat. However, K9's [[battery]] is failing and Lassar tells the Krillitanes to ignore "the shooty dog thing" and get the others. In the physics lab, the Doctor realises the solution is the oil: the Krillitanes have changed their physiology so often that even their own oil is toxic to them now. As the Krillitanes start bashing down the door, the Doctor tells Mickey to get the children unplugged and evacuated. Kenny triggers the [[fire alarm]], the high-pitched sound hurting the bat-like ears of the Krillitanes and stunning them long enough for the Doctor and the others to get past to the kitchens. However, this doesn't work for long; Lassar simply punches through the wall and rips out the power lead to the alarm.
*[[Nina]] — [[Heather Cameron]]
 
*[[Luke]] — [[Benjamin Smith]]
[[File:Good dog (SR).jpg|thumb|left|"Goodbye, Master".]]
*[[Milo (School Reunion)|Milo]] — [[Clem Tibber]]
Mickey runs into the computer room and yells for the children to leave but none of them respond. After a few moments, he unplugs the computers which snaps the children out of their trances and they begin to evacuate. In the kitchens, the Doctor finds the barrels of oil are deadlock sealed. He gets the others out while he and K9 stay behind. K9 tells the Doctor that the barrels will not withstand a direct hit from his laser, but as his batteries are weak, he has to remain. The Doctor protests, knowing that K9 will be caught in the explosion, but the [[dog]] replies there is no alternative. Sadly, the Doctor bids his old friend goodbye, calls him a good dog and exits the building. The Doctor takes Sarah's hand and while she asks about K9, drags her away from the school.
*[[Mr Parsons]] - [[Rod Arthur]]
 
*[[Mrs Jackson]] - [[Caroline Berry]]
Brother Lassar and his brethren enter the kitchen in human form, searching for the Doctor. Lassar mocks K9 when he sees him, but K9 shoots a barrel, spilling the toxic oil over the aliens. Lassar snarls to K9, "You bad dog"; the dog replies, "Affirmative." The explosion takes out a large chunk of the school. The pupils cheer the school's destruction and hail Kenny as the hero who did it. Sarah weeps over K9's sacrifice as the Doctor comforts her.
*Krillitane School Nurse - [[Susan Casanove]]
 
Later, Sarah enters the TARDIS in a park. The Doctor suggests that Sarah join them, but Sarah declines, saying it is time she found a life of her own. Mickey asks if he may join them in the TARDIS; he wants more than just to be their 'tin dog' and is ready to see the universe. Sarah says they need a Smith aboard the TARDIS, and the Doctor agrees, although Rose does not look pleased.
 
[[File:Smith hug (SR).jpg|thumb|right|"Goodbye. My Sarah Jane".]]
Before Sarah goes, Rose asks her what to do and wonders if she should stay with the Doctor. Sarah reassures her that some things are worth getting your heart broken for and adds that if someday, Rose needs to, she should find her. Outside, Sarah thanks the Doctor for her time with him. The Doctor asks if there has been anyone special. In jest, Sarah tells him that there was one man whom she travelled with for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. She asks the Doctor to say goodbye properly this time — and he complies, saying, "Goodbye...my Sarah Jane!" He smiles at her and they hug tightly, with Sarah looking to be on the verge of tears. Sarah then watches the TARDIS disappear, but as it does so, a brand new [[K9 Mark IV|K9]] is revealed. K9 explains that the Doctor rebuilt and improved him. Happily, Sarah orders K9 home: [[The Sarah Jane Adventures|They have work to do...]]
 
== Cast ==
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* [[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
* [[Mickey Smith]] - [[Noel Clarke]]
* [[Lassar|Mr Finch]] - [[Anthony Head]]
* [[Sarah Jane Smith]] - [[Elisabeth Sladen]]
* [[Parsons (School Reunion)|Mr Parsons]] - [[Rod Arthur]]
* [[Wagner (School Reunion)|Mr Wagner]] - [[Eugene Washington]]
* [[Nina Jones|Nina]] - [[Heather Cameron]]
* [[Kenny (School Reunion)|Kenny]] - [[Joe Pickley]]
* [[Luke (School Reunion)|Luke]] - [[Benjamin Smith]]
* [[Milo (School Reunion)|Milo]] - [[Clem Tibber]]
* [[Melissa (School Reunion)|Melissa]] - [[Lucinda Dryzek]]
* [[Dinner lady (School Reunion)|Dinner Lady]] - [[Caroline Berry]]
* Voice of [[K9]] - [[John Leeson]]<ref>Leeson plays two different versions of [[K9]] in ''School Reunion'': [[K9 Mark III|Mark III]] and, briefly, [[K9 Mark IV|Mark IV]].</ref>


== Crew ==
== Crew ==
''To be added.''
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|Note=Though not credited in any way, [[Mat Irvine]] did help considerably with the operation of [[K9]] for this episode. In the DVD commentary, [[Phil Collinson]] acknowledges Irvine as the "operator of the original K9 prop", as seen in the very last scene of the episode, and admitting that the original prop had been stored in Irvine's garage and was found especially for this scene.
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== Worldbuilding ==
=== British locations ===
* [[Nina (School Reunion)|Nina]] is from the children's home, [[Ambrose Hall]].
* [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah Jane]] tells the Doctor that he left her behind in [[Aberdeen]], [[Scotland]], not [[South Croydon]].
* Deffry Vale has a cafe known as [[Da Vinci]].


==References==
=== Science ===
===[[:Category: Planets|Planets]]===
* Non-coding [[DNA]] is DNA that doesn't code for a [[protein]].
*[[Bessan]]
* Sarah Jane suggests the vacuum-packed [[rat]]s are used in [[biology]] lessons. Rose indicates that the practice of [[Dissection|dissecting]] rats has been out of date for a long time.
* Finch says the Krillitanes appearing as a human is a simple [[morphic illusion]].
* The [[Skasis Paradigm]] is a supremely complex algorithmic sequence that if cracked, would allow one the key to manipulate time, space, and universal matter.
* Two identical strips of [[nylon]] charged with [[static electricity]] hung from a string repel each other because they have the same charge.
* A [[quantum tunnel]] with an FTL factor of [[36.7 recurring (number)|36.7 recurring]] is used to [[Faster-than-light travel|travel faster than light]].


===[[:Category:Races and Species|Races and Species]]===
=== Technology ===
*[[Ascinta]]
* [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver]] cannot open [[deadlock seal]]s.
*[[Perganon]]


===[[:Category:Technology|Technology]]===
=== Diseases and illnesses ===
*[[Deadlock seal]]
* Nina was suffering from a [[headache]].
* After [[Lassar|Mr Finch]] arrived at the school, half the staff seemingly got [[Influenza|flu]].


== Notes ==
=== Mathematics ===
*According to Milo, [[faster-than-light]] travel can be accomplished by harnessing a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of 36.7 recurring.
* [[Parsons (School Reunion)|Mr Parsons]] tells the Doctor that he had a student who told him the height of the walls of [[Troy]] in [[cubit]]s.
*Mickey Smith becomes a companion of the Doctor at the end of the episode
* According to an interview with writer [[Toby Whithouse]] in Doctor Who Magazine #367, this episode had the working title ''Black Ops''. The original storyline submission for the episode involved the Doctor meeting Sarah while investigating events at an army base neighbouring an isolated village. The change of location to a school was suggested by [[Russell T. Davies]].
* This is the first time that companions from the original series of Doctor Who appear in the new series. Up to this point, there was still substantial debate in fandom over whether the revived ''Doctor Who'' series actually takes place in the same continuity as the 1963-89 series; the appearances of Sarah Jane and K-9 in this episode are considered several of the major pieces of evidence to support that it does (Sarah Jane, in addition, utters a line of dialogue recognizing that the TARDIS interior had been changed). Other pieces of evidence include the [[Journal of Impossible Things]] images of past Doctors in ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'', the canonical appearance of the [[Fifth Doctor]] in ''[[Time Crash]]'', the return of [[Davros]] with direct references to Sarah Jane's involvement in ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'' in ''[[The Stolen Earth]]''/''[[Journey's End]]'', and the [[infostamp]] acquired by [[Jackson Lake]] on The Doctor's life in ''[[The Next Doctor]]''.
* The [[K-9]] prop used in the episode is one of the original props from the [[1970s]]. The fake innards of the prop have been redesigned to match the style of [[Gallifreyan]] technology introduced in the new series.
* Finch's unusual turn-of-phrase "Forget the shooty-dog thing." referring to K-9 was included as an homage to the work of television writer Joss Whedon, known for similar unusual dialogue; Tony Head, the actor who plays Finch, is best known for co-starring in Whedon's series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.
* Even before appearing in ''School Reunion'', Head was already connected to the ''Doctor Who'' franchise, having provided narration for ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]''; he has also been identified as one of several actors considered at various times to play the Doctor. After appearing in this episode he has continued to narrate ''Confidential'' and also provided the voice of [[Baltazar]] in the animated serial ''[[The Infinite Quest]]''.


=== Trivia ===
=== Newspapers ===
*In one scene Rose and Sarah break up with laughter when The Doctor enters the room, after spending several minutes comparing notes on The Doctor. To get a realistic reaction, David Tennant wore a fake moustache (unbeknownst the actresses) as he entered the scene. Their reaction was caught in one take.
* Sarah Jane claims to be writing an article on [[Lassar|Mr Finch]] for ''[[The Sunday Times]]''.


*During the scene in the fish and chip shop when the Doctor and Sarah talk about her leaving him, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division, is played in the background.
=== Individuals ===
* The Doctor thought the students would be happy-slapping hoodies with [[ASBO]]s and [[Mobile phone|ringtones]].
* [[Physics teacher (School Reunion)|The teacher]] the Doctor replaced won the [[lottery]] without playing, having the winning ticket posted through her door.
* As a derogatory comment on her age, Rose suggests Sarah Jane is from the [[Dark Ages]].
* Rose talks about her friend [[Shareen Costello|Shareen]].
* Rose considers [[K9]]'s appearance to be "so disco", implying she thinks K9 is a dated relic from the [[1970s|seventies]]. The Doctor bristles at the remark and tells her "In the year [[5000]] this was cutting edge".


=== Ratings ===
=== Vehicles ===
School Reunion - 7.6m viewers (39.8%)
* Rose phones for an [[ambulance]].
* Mickey drives a [[car]] through the school doors (after K9 repeatedly tells him, "We are in a car").
* Sarah Jane says getting parts to fix K9 isn't like getting parts for a [[Mini Metro]].
 
=== Planets ===
* The Krillitanes invaded [[Bessan]].
 
=== Civilisations ===
* Mr Finch mentions [[Perganon]], [[Ascinta]] and the [[Time Lord]]s as civilisations the Doctor could save if the [[Skasis Paradigm]] were to be cracked.


===Filming Locations===
=== Influences ===
* The primary location for the school filming was Duffryn High School in Newport


===Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors===
* [[Russell T Davies]] cited ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' as an influence on his take on ''Doctor Who'' and this episode is a direct homage, with strange goings-on in a school, monsters and [[Anthony Head]] playing a villain (and engaging in Buffy Speak).
*Sarah's words in this episode seem to indicate that her experiences in ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' did not happen, or at least that she does not recall them. This would seem to indicate that the [[Time Lord]]s wiped the memories of those who participated in these events. (The fact that the Fourth Doctor in [[Logopolis]] should have recognized [[Tegan Jovanka]] from having met her as the [[First Doctor]] supports this supposition.)
* The subplot about cooking oil drew on ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie%27s_School_Dinners Jamie's School Dinners].''
*Sarah encountered the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Sam Jones]] in ''[[Interference]]'' but given that the time line was in flux at this stage it is conceivable that these events never occurred. ''The production team may only have gone by the television series.''
* The Krillitanes' physical appearance was inspired by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpy Harpies] from ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_and_the_Argonauts_(1963_film) Jason and the Argonauts].''
*If Krillitanes are sensitive to sound, then why doesn't the school bell affect them? ''A school bell, while loud, is likely not high-pitched enough to affect the Krillitane's hearing''
*At the start of the episode, Lassar assumes bat form to devour a child. He later tells the Doctor that while his brothers remain in bat form, with a morphic illusion giving them the appearance of humans, while implying that his own human form is real (a personal preference). ''It is possible that, for whatever reason, he used a morphic illusion to appear to be a standard Krillitane while attacking the girl. In the scene where the Doctor and his companions enter the school at night, they go into the Headmaster's office to find the Krillitane 'teachers' to be sleeping there, thus it could be seen to be one of them who ate the child.''
*How did the Doctor build the replacement K-9 so fast? ''Presumably he had one in storage, as he did the earlier replacement K-9 as seen at the end of [[The Invasion of Time]].''


==Continuity==
=== Songs from the Real World ===
*When Sarah and Rose argue they refer to a lot of encounters with aliens. Sarah refers to meeting:
:[[Mummy|Mummies]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]'')
:"Lots of [[robot]]s" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Time Warrior]]'',''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'', ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', and [[DW]]: ''[[The Android Invasion]]''; she also encountered the [[Raston Warrior Robot]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'', though Sarah may or may not remember this event)
:[[Dalek]]s ([[DW]]: ''[[Death to the Daleks]]'' and ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
:[[Anti-matter monster]]s ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of Evil]]'')
:[[Dinosaur]]s ([[DW]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'')
:The [[Loch Ness Monster]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Terror of the Zygons]]'')
*Rose refers to meeting:
:[[Gelth|Ghosts]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Unquiet Dead]]'')
:[[Slitheen]] in [[10 Downing Street]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]'', ''[[World War Three]]'')
:[[Dalek Emperor]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]'')
:"Gas-masked zombies" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'')
:A [[Werewolf]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Tooth and Claw]]'')
*[[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] left [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] on [[Earth]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear]]'' and this story is referenced on several occasions. It is revealed that Sarah Jane was dropped off in [[Aberdeen]] (in north-east [[Scotland]]) rather than South [[Croydon]] in [[London]].
*[[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] left [[K-9 Mark III]] with Sarah in the spin off series ''[[K-9 and Company]]''.


*The Doctor says "Correct-a-mundo", adding "A phrase I have never used before, and will hopefully never use again." In [[TDA]]: ''[[The Feast of the Drowned]]'' he used the phrase "Ace-a-mundo", and makes an almost identical comment on it.
* During the scene in the fish and chip shop when the Doctor and Sarah talk about her leaving him, "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Will_Tear_Us_Apart Love Will Tear Us Apart]" by [[Joy Division]] is played in the background.


* Sarah has previously encountered two incarnations of the Doctor since leaving: [[Bullet Time]] ([[Seventh Doctor]]), [[Interference - Book One]] ([[Eighth Doctor]]).  
== Story notes ==
* This episode notably confirms the fact that the revival series was a direct continuation of the series's original 1963-1989 run and not a reboot, a topic which was then under minimal debate in fandom.
** This is the first appearance of [[Sarah Jane Smith|a classic series companion]] in the revival series.
** This episode marks the first time the revived series clearly recognised on screen that incarnations prior to the Ninth Doctor existed. There had earlier been hints, such as the Ninth Doctor's comment in ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' about his ears, his reference to kissing complete strangers in ''[[The Long Game (TV story)|The Long Game]]'' and his reference to the Cyberman head in ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'' as "an old enemy". This episode stops short of explicitly calling the current Doctor the Tenth, hinting only that "half a dozen" regenerations had occurred since he and Sarah Jane last met, in keeping with the fact that it was the Fourth Doctor who left Sarah Jane on Earth. However, ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'' indicates the last Doctor that saw Sarah Jane was actually the [[Fifth Doctor]], though the later inclusion of the [[War Doctor]] amends this error.
*** This does not take into account Sarah's meetings with the Seventh and Eighth Doctors in the BBC novels (''[[Bullet Time (novel)|Bullet Time]]'' and ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference- Book One]]'' and ''[[Interference - Book Two (novel)|Book Two]]'' respectively), but these can be reconciled on the assumption that later events erased these meetings from history from Sarah's perspective.
* [[Mickey Smith]] joins the Doctor on his travels at the end of the episode.
* According to an interview with the writer [[Toby Whithouse]] in [[DWM 367|''Doctor Who Magazine'' #367]], this episode had the working title ''Black Ops''. The original storyline submission for the episode involved the Doctor meeting Sarah Jane while investigating events at an army base near an isolated village, where the townsfolk were developing advanced scientific knowledge and engineering a sophisticated bomb. The change of location to a school was suggested by [[Russell T Davies]]. Whithouse later clarified in the DVD commentary that the original specification for the script, given to an unnamed writer, had been for a school; the writer had instead submitted an episode set in an army base and admitted that writing for ''Doctor Who'' was possibly "not for him", so Whithouse had to write a script set in the school in a hurry.
* The [[K9]] prop used at the end of the episode was a refurbished version of the original radio-controlled unit built for ''[[The Invisible Enemy (TV story)|The Invisible Enemy]]'', now in the possession of [[Mat Irvine]].
* This episode marks the final appearance of Rose's Nokia 3200 "[[Superphone]]", last seen in ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'' when [[Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17|Lady Cassandra]] answers it. The next time she uses it, in ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]'', it's been replaced a [[Samsung]] D500 model.
* Finch's unusual turn-of-phrase "Forget the shooty dog thing" (referring to K9) strongly echoes the dialogue patterns used extensively on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (franchise)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. This is perhaps an intentional nod, as the actor who plays Finch, [[Anthony Head]], played [https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Rupert_Giles Rupert Giles] on that series.
* In one scene, Rose and Sarah break up with laughter when the Doctor enters the room, after spending several minutes comparing notes on the Doctor. To get a realistic reaction, [[David Tennant]] wore a fake moustache (unbeknownst to the actresses) as he entered the scene. This is why [[Billie Piper]] points at him in the episode. Their reaction was caught in one take. ([[DCOM]]: ''School Reunion'')
* Although this episode marked the return of [[Elisabeth Sladen]] as [[Sarah Jane Smith]] to ''Doctor Who'' proper, Sladen had been reprising the role for some time in other media. Earlier in the same month ''School Reunion'' was first broadcast, the final episode of [[Big Finish Productions]]' ''[[Sarah Jane Smith (audio series)|Sarah Jane Smith]]'' audio drama series was released, which had been going off-and-on since 2002. Sladen also reprised the role in the 1995 independent film [[HOMEVID]]: ''[[Downtime (home video)|Downtime]]'', in two early-90s [[BBC Radio]] dramas with [[Jon Pertwee]] and had also appeared in the 1993 pastiche, ''[[Dimensions in Time (TV story)|Dimensions in Time]]''.
* Sarah Jane has a {{w|Volkswagen}} car in this episode. By ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', she has switched to a {{w|Nissan Figaro}}.
* [[Phil Collinson]] got to voice [[K9]] as some scenes were recorded, including the one set in the [[Chips|chip]] shop. Only [[John Leeson]]'s voice was heard in the finished production, however. According to [[Julie Gardner]], it was a moment of supreme joy for the [[producer]].
* [[Phil Collinson]] took a week's vacation during the filming of this episode, forcing [[Julie Gardner]] to take over his duties for a week, something she claimed to have adored. ([[DCOM]]: ''School Reunion'') She would later become the effective [[producer]] on ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', when credited producer [[Tracie Simpson]] had to break away from the production unit of the first [[Russell T Davies]] era to work with [[Matt Smith]] and the [[Steven Moffat]] unit. ([[PCOM]]: ''The End of Time, Part Two'')
* Rose complains that the Doctor leaves his companions behind after a while, but in fact, out of thirty-two companions up to this point, only four have been left behind: one ([[Adam Mitchell]]) got kicked out for bad behaviour, another one the Doctor was terrified of ([[Jack Harkness]]), his own [[Susan Foreman|granddaughter]], whom he believed to deserve a better life and Sarah Jane Smith. All the rest died ([[Katarina]], [[Sara Kingdom]], [[Adric]] and [[Kamelion]]), were separated from him due to circumstances beyond his control, had their memories erased or decided to leave on their own. Still other individuals (such as [[Grace Holloway]]) were acquainted with the Doctor only for the course of a single adventure but never travelled with him as companions.
** In ''[[Amy's Choice (TV story)|Amy's Choice]]'', the [[Dream Lord]] mocks the Doctor about how his companions never see him again after they "grow up" and that he never keeps in touch with them.
* Although not indicated on-screen in this episode nor any episode of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', the novelisation of the SJA pilot episode ''[[Invasion of the Bane (novelisation)|Invasion of the Bane]]'' revealed that the Doctor left Sarah Jane a [[sonic lipstick]] and other items in a secret compartment within K9. On-screen, the sonic lipstick debuts in the ''[[Invasion of the Bane (TV story)|Invasion of the Bane]]'' episode, but no explanation is offered as to where it came from. It appeared for the first time on ''Doctor Who'' during ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]''.
* A slow instrumental of [[Song for Ten]] can be heard playing throughout the episode, most notably when the Doctor says goodbye to Sarah Jane.
* The Krillitanes were to be named "Krillians" until the BBC found the name was trademarked by a computer company, and Finch's forename was originally Hector, until the BBC found a real teacher by the same name, and renamed him Lucas.
* In the footage that was cut, the Doctor's questions to Milo actually made him collapse, prompting the Doctor to bring him to the school nurse, who turned out to be another Krillitane. This Krillitane then ate Milo, explaining what Wagner is referring to when he comes up to Melissa and tells her she's being moved up because Milo's failed him.
* Sarah was originally a recovering alcoholic, but [[Elisabeth Sladen]] suggested that this be removed.{{Fact}}
* When originally outlined, the story was not going to feature Mickey as it was going to be after his departure from the TARDIS team. When it was shifted forwards to the third episode of the run - just before Whithouse began his first draft - Davies told Whithouse to include him. <ref>http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006c.html
</ref>
* The confrontation between the Doctor and Finch was originally scripted to happen in the school gymnasium but was moved to the pool, which [[James Hawes]] felt served as a more dynamic setting.
* The concept of Sarah Jane and K9 returning to ''Doctor Who'' was an idea of [[Russell T Davies]] from pitching the show in 2003. Such a use would show what would happen after a companion left the Doctor, without dwelling too much on the classic series. It was Davies' full intention for Sarah Jane to be used for this, and while [[Elisabeth Sladen]] originally declined a request, thinking her role would not be important, she changed her mind when she realised she would be the focal point of the adventure.
* Filming of the cafe scene was delayed due to drunk and disorderly conduct from members of the public.
* [[Toby Whithouse]]'s initial idea concerned an alien race which sought revenge on the Doctor for his actions in the distant past. However, the production team indicated that they favoured storylines in which the Doctor involved himself in events, rather than instigating them.
* [[Toby Whithouse]] initially omitted K9 from the storyline because he felt that the character would be out of place in the modern incarnation. However, he soon found himself reinserting the robot dog at the insistence of the production team.
* [[Russell T Davies]] devised a set piece where Sarah is kidnapped by the Krillitanes, prompting the Doctor to pursue them down a motorway in the TARDIS. It was scrapped because it no longer suited the narrative, but it was later used in ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]].''
* As a boy, [[Russell T Davies]] had imagined the Doctor showing up in class disguised as a teacher, and he had used the setting himself in ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Season Dark Season]''. Despite this, it was originally Sarah, rather than the Doctor, who went undercover as a teacher.
* The appearance of K9 Mark IV at the episode's conclusion was omitted from early drafts. Its inclusion was one of the few requests made by [[Bob Baker]], although [[Russell T Davies]] had already asked Whithouse to add such a scene.
* The Krillitanes' physical appearance also evolved during the story's development, with [[Toby Whithouse]] first envisaging them as more bat-like, with blue fur.
* [[Toby Whithouse]] hoped that Finch could be seen to fly along the school corridors on membranous wings, but the budget could not accommodate such an amalgamation of live action and computer animation.
* The episode was originally planned to be part of season two's second production block. However, it was soon realised that it would need to be brought forward into Block One in order to facilitate recording on school grounds during the summer holidays. In turn, ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]'' was delayed to Block Two, providing time to resolve its scripting issues. This meant that ''School Reunion'' would be directed by [[James Hawes]] alongside ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'' and ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]''. The festive special was Hawes' initial priority, and problems during its production meant that work on ''School Reunion'' started later than anticipated. This left the cast and crew with little time to spare before the teaching staff resumed work at the two schools chosen to represent Deffry Vale High.
* [[Elisabeth Sladen]] suffered a tendon injury after slipping on the gym floor. As a result, third assistant director [[Lynsey Muir]], bedecked in an appropriate wig, stood in as Sarah Jane whenever it was feasible.
* The TARDIS was originally hidden in a supply closet rather than the gymnasium.
* The new K9 prop was constructed by [[Mike Tucker]]'s Model Unit team with reference to an authentic [[1970s]] prop he owned. Unfortunately, K9's tradition of struggling with movement over various surfaces continued into the new century, the tiled kitchen floor posing a particular challenge. Furthermore, during the climactic kitchen sequence, K9's eyepiece was made to flash in time with his dialogue. This was out of keeping with the manner in which he had been portrayed in the past and, when [[Phil Collinson]] learned of it upon his return from a holiday, he indicated that the practice should be abandoned for the remainder of K9's scenes.
* The production block continued to fall behind schedule during the shoot, and it quickly became clear that an additional day at Duffryn High would be needed. The situation was exacerbated when work on the scene of Mickey crashing Sarah's car into the front of the school (actually a false porch constructed by the BBC) was held up by the discovery of asbestos in Duffryn High's roof. As a result, an extra day of filming at the location was arranged. Some sequences were abandoned or simplified, notably a time-lapse shot of the school corridors to bridge the daytime and nighttime material.
* The final scene was originally written to take place in the ruins of Deffry Vale, and the production team had negotiated the use of a partly dismantled British Telecom building for the purpose. At short notice, however, it was learned that the structure had now been completely demolished, and so the shots were instead filmed in Newport's Belle View Park, with the unscripted implication that the Doctor had repositioned the TARDIS.
* The model footage of the Deffry Vale explosion was the final filming ever undertaken by the BBC's Visual Effects Department, which was subsequently disbanded.
* The episode was such a success that [[Russell T Davies]] considered bringing Sarah back annually. Instead, he developed ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''.


* Sarah speaks to the Doctor of events of [[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]''.
=== Ratings ===
* 8.31 million viewers (39.8% of television share; UK final)<ref>[http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&start=100&type=date&order= Doctor Who - consolidated ratings]</ref>


* Rose expresses surprise that the Doctor had travelled with other companions, but in [[The Doctor Dances]] he states that he has "travelled with a lot of people".
=== Filming locations ===
* The primary location for the school filming was Duffryn High School in Newport.
* Fitzalan High School, Leckwith, Cardiff
* Belle Vue car park and DaVinci's coffee shop, Newport
* Studio: Unit Q2, Newport


* Although a well-established piece of information when relating to the original series, this episode marks the first time the revived series clearly recognized on screen that incarnations prior to the Ninth Doctor existed (except for the Ninth Doctors comment in [[Rose]] about his ears, his reference to kissing complete strangers in [[The Long Game]], the Mondasian Cyberman head in [[Dalek]] and refering to it as "an old enemy")  (although the episode stops short of explicitly defining the current Doctor as the Tenth, only that "half a dozen" regenerations had occurred since he and Sarah Jane last met. Although that would make him the Tenth Doctor, as half a dozen plus four is ten.) Up to this episode, there was still lingering doubt in some fan circles as to whether the continuity of the revived series indeed connected with that of the 1963-89 series, and this episode is considered the turning point in establishing the connection (later to be undeniably confirmed by ''[[Time Crash]]'' and ''[[The Next Doctor]]'').
=== Production errors ===
{{Discontinuity}}
* When Mickey takes the plug out, the children's headphones come off by themselves.
* At the start of the episode, the door of the headmaster's office is blue and has a window in it. However, when the Doctor and the others return to the school at night, and investigate the headmaster's office, the door is larger and has no window.
* In the first shot of Sarah Jane being introduced in the staff room, Mr Finch is standing next to her. Having quickly seen the Doctor’s reaction to her, the camera moves back to the same angle as before, but Mr Finch has vanished. The time between this shot and the first would have required Mr Finch to move unnaturally quickly to be out of scene.


*Rose complains that the Doctor leaves his companions behind after a while, but in fact, out of 32 companions, only four have been left behind, one of which got [[Adam_Mitchell|kicked out for bad behavior]], another one the Doctor was [[Jack_Harkness|terrified of]], his own [[Susan_Foreman|granddaughter whom he believed deserved a better life]], and Sarah Jane Smith. All the rest died, had their memories erased, or decided to leave on their own. However as Rose at this point is only familiar with Adam, Jack, and now Sarah Jane, her argument is accurate in this context.
== Continuity ==
* When Sarah and Rose argue they refer to a lot of encounters with aliens. Sarah refers to meeting [[Mummy|mummies]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]'') "lots of [[robot]]s", ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'', ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'', ''[[The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)|The Sontaran Experiment]]'', ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'', ''[[The Android Invasion (TV story)|The Android Invasion]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'') [[Dalek]]s, ([[TV]]: ''[[Death to the Daleks (TV story)|Death to the Daleks]]'', ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'') [[Anti-matter creature|anti-matter monsters]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of Evil (TV story)|Planet of Evil]]'') [[dinosaur]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'') and the [[Loch Ness Monster]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'')
* Rose refers to meeting [[Gelth|ghosts]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Unquiet Dead (TV story)|The Unquiet Dead]]'') [[Slitheen]] in [[Downing Street]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]''/ ''[[World War Three (TV story)|World War Three]]'') the [[Dalek Emperor in the Last Great Time War|Dalek Emperor]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'') [[Empty Child|gas mask zombies]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]'') and a [[werewolf]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]'')
** Sarah Jane would later recall Rose's words when faced with the Slitheen at [[Park Vale Comprehensive School]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Slitheen (TV story)|Revenge of the Slitheen]]'')
* The [[Fourth Doctor]] left Sarah on [[Earth]], thinking he had dropped her home in South [[Croydon]] in [[London]]. Sarah quickly realised at the time that the Doctor had "goofed". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'') She tells him now that he had dropped off in [[Aberdeen]].
* Sarah Jane discusses her departure from the Fourth Doctor in [[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'', and how she was only left behind because of his summons to [[Gallifrey]], back when humans were prohibited from entering the planet.
** Strangely, the discussion seems to ignore the events of ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', which marked the latest meeting between Sarah and the [[Fifth Doctor]], though this could be attributed to the large number of overlapping points in the Doctor's timeline.
** This discussion ignores Sarah's meetings with the [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]] and [[Eighth Doctor]]s in the novels ''[[Bullet Time (novel)|Bullet Time]]'' and ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference- Book One]] and [[Interference - Book Two (novel)|Book Two]]'', but from a continuity perspective this can be explained as it is suggested in later novels ''[[The Ancestor Cell (novel)|The Ancestor Cell]]'' and ''[[Sometime Never... (novel)|Sometime Never...]]'' that certain parties involved in these events are erased from history.
** The Doctor tells Sarah that he has regenerated "half a dozen times since we last met"; this statement also seems to exclude these meetings
*** Considering the later revelation of the existence of the [[War Doctor]], the idea that it has been half a dozen regenerations since the Doctor and Sarah met could be a reference to her meeting with the Fifth Doctor, with the Doctor not referencing his encounters in his seventh and eighth incarnations as they were essentially erased from history.
* At some point after their parting, the Doctor left [[K9 Mark III]] for Sarah. ([[TV]]: ''[[A Girl's Best Friend (TV story)|A Girl's Best Friend]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
* The Doctor says, "Correct-a-mundo", adding, "A phrase I have never used before, and will hopefully never use again." He once used the phrase, "Ace-a-mundo", and makes an almost identical comment on it. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Feast of the Drowned (novel)|The Feast of the Drowned]]'') Similarly, the newly-[[regenerated]] [[Eleventh Doctor]] proclaimed "Who 'da man!?" and was met with blank stares, which made him resolve to never use that phrase again. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour (TV story)|The Eleventh Hour]]'')
* Sarah remembered that "[[Christmas]] just gone" there was a spaceship "overhead" and she thought of the Doctor that day. The Doctor mentions that he and Rose were "right on top of it". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'')
* The [[Ninth Doctor]] had previously mentioned to Rose that he had "travelled with a lot of people". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances (TV story)|The Doctor Dances]]'')
* K9 has been called a tin dog twice before, by the Time Lord [[Drax]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Armageddon Factor (TV story)|The Armageddon Factor]]'') and Lady [[Adrasta]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Creature from the Pit (TV story)|The Creature from the Pit]]'')
* The Doctor tells Sarah that humans previously weren't allowed on Gallifrey. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'', ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'')
* Sarah Jane says that repairing K9 is "not like getting parts for a [[Mini Metro]]", a car she previously had. ([[TV]]: ''[[A Girl's Best Friend (TV story)|A Girl's Best Friend]]'')
* Rose recalls going to the year [[5000000000]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of the World (TV story)|The End of the World]]'')
* Sarah Jane says 'Home' and 'We've got work to do', mirroring the Seventh Doctor and Ace's conversation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'') However, it may have simply been a coincidence, as Sarah is referring to [[13 Bannerman Road]], whereas Ace was referring to the TARDIS.
* The [[Eighth Doctor]] previously revealed the existence of a [[K9 Mark IV]] to Sarah Jane in [[1996]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book Two (novel)|Interference - Book Two]]'')
* [[Rani Chandra]] heard about the events in [[Deffry Vale High School]] in the press. ([[WC]]: ''[[Alien File: The Doctor (webcast)|Alien File: The Doctor]]'')
* The Doctor has previously been offered [[Doomsday Weapon|another great power]] under the guise that it could be used for good, only to turn it down, believing he should not have it. ([[TV]]: ''[[Colony in Space (TV story)|Colony in Space]]'')


*Although not indicated on screen in this episode, nor on screen in any episode of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', the novelisation of the SJA pilot episode ''[[Invasion of the Bane (novelisation)|Invasion of the Bane]]'' revealed that the Doctor left Sarah Jane a [[sonic lipstick]] and other items in a secret compartment within K-9.
== Home video releases ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:The Complete David Tennant Years Region 1 US DVD cover.jpg|The Complete David Tennant Years DVD<br />Region 1 US cover
File:Series-2-boxset.jpg|The Complete [[Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series Two]] DVD box-set
File:Bbcdvd-ns-2-2.jpg|thumb|Series 2 Volume 2 DVD Cover
File:Bbcdvd-series1234.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four'' DVD box-set
File:Bbcdvd-series1234567.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven'' DVD box-set
</gallery>


== DVD Releases ==
* This episode was released as a "vanilla" DVD along with ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]'' and ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]''.
[[Image:Bbcdvd-ns-2-2.jpg|thumb|100px|Series 2 Volume 2 DVD Cover]]
* It was also released as part of the [[Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 2]] DVD boxed set.
*This episode was released as a "vanilla" DVD along with [[Tooth and Claw]] and [[The Girl in the Fireplace]].
* On a single disk by itself, it was given away with the purchase of a newspaper, as part of a promotion by ''The Sun''.
*It was also released as part of the [[Series 2 (Doctor Who)|Series 2]] DVD boxed set
* This was also released with issue 9 of the [[Doctor Who DVD Files]].
*On a single disk by itself as part of ''The Sun'' (newspaper) giveaway.


==External Links==
== Footnotes ==
* [http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_tv14.htm The Doctor Who Reference Guide detailed synopsis of ''School Reunion'']
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.whoniverse.org/discontinuity/9P.php The Whoniverse Discontinuity Guide to ''School Reunion'']


{{Series 2}}
== External links ==
{{dwrefguide|who_tv14.htm|School Reunion}}
* {{whoniverse|s02_03|School Reunion}}


{{Wikipedia|School_Reunion_(Doctor_Who)}}
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[[Category:Tenth Doctor episodes]]
[[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]]
[[Category:Sarah Jane Smith episodes]]
[[Category:Sarah Jane Smith television stories]]
[[Category:2006 television stories]]
[[Category:2006 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
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[[Category:Stories set in 2007]]
[[Category:K-9 episodes]]
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[[Category:Torchwood arc]]
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[[Category:Series 2 (Doctor Who) stories]]

Latest revision as of 20:18, 3 November 2024

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School Reunion was the third episode of series 2 of Doctor Who.

It continued from the prelude established in Tardisode 3, and saw the start of Mickey Smith's travels in the TARDIS. This episode was most notable for marking the return of original series companions Sarah Jane Smith and K9, both having last appeared on-screen in 1983's The Five Doctors. With Sarah Jane's inclusion in this story, it was established the current series was not a reboot, but rather a continuation of the Original Series. K9 Mark III was destroyed and replaced by a newer model at the end of the episode. Months after this episode aired, rumours of a spin-off series with Sarah were confirmed by the BBC and The Sarah Jane Adventures premiered on BBC One on 1 January 2007.

This story is the first to bring up the impact travelling with the Doctor as a companion has on one's life, even providing insight on the Doctor's perspective, notably why he never usually came back for a companion.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Deffry Vale High School is haunted by strange, bat-like creatures at night. When the Tenth Doctor investigates, he finds an old friend, Sarah Jane Smith, already working undercover.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

At Deffry Vale High School, the headmaster, Mr Finch, notices a student waiting outside his office. She has a headache, and cannot simply go home because she lives in a children's home. Mr Finch offers his sympathies that there is no-one to miss her and invites her into his office; it is nearly time for lunch. The door closes, then there is a flap of wings, and the girl screams.

The Doctor, posing as "John Smith", teaches a physics class in the school. He asks a few simple questions, but only an intelligent student called Milo can answer. The Doctor advances to higher levels of knowledge, finally asking how to travel faster than light. Milo answers every question without missing a beat.

Rose Tyler: Dinner lady.

Meanwhile, Rose is working undercover in the cafeteria as a dinner lady. At lunch, she complains to the Doctor about the last two days. He mentions that it was Mickey who alerted them to something odd going on and rightly so: everyone at the school is unusually well-behaved and there is something odd about the chips. Rose eats a few, saying she enjoys them. The school menu has been designed by Mr Finch himself to improve concentration and performance. Another teacher, Mr Wagner, approaches Melissa, one of the students. He tells her Milo has failed him, so she is being moved to the top class. He also summons another student, Luke, but not Kenny, who is overweight and not allowed to eat the chips. The Doctor observes all this, then looks up and sees Mr Finch gazing down on the cafeteria floor, watching everything.

In the kitchen, Rose watches the other kitchen staff, all wearing protective gloves and face masks, bringing in a large barrel. One of the dinner ladies warns them not to spill a drop. Mickey calls Rose on her mobile phone, telling her about the massive UFO activity he has discovered around the area. However, his online investigations are being blocked by something called Torchwood. Rose, in turn, tells him the kitchen staff were all replaced three months ago with new personnel. As they speak, the barrel slips, spilling something on one of the staff, who starts to burn. The others usher her into a side room. Rose starts to phone for an ambulance, but is told not to worry, she is all right, even as Rose hears screams and lots of smoke billows out of the side room. Rose glances down at the barrel, which is leaking a golden, oily substance.

In the maths classroom, Mr Wagner tells the children at their computers to put on their headphones. The screens flicker on. The monitors display a green, rotating cube with rapidly scrolling, alien-looking symbols and text. The children, as if entranced, type on their keyboards with incredible speed. Clearly, something is very wrong.

"John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name".

Mr Finch shows a journalist, Sarah Jane Smith, around the school. Sarah has been assigned to write a profile on him. Finch explains that one of the policy changes he has made is free — but compulsory — school dinners. In the staff room, the Doctor is speaking to Mr Parsons, head of History, who tells him of the extraordinary knowledge of his students since Finch became Headmaster: one of his students gave him the exact height of the walls of Troy in cubits. Also, the day after Finch arrived, seven teachers came down with flu, and were replaced by strange new ones. In the Doctor's case, the former physics teacher he replaced abruptly resigned when she won the lottery, despite the fact that she never played, claiming the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. Mr Finch brings Sarah into the staff room, and the Doctor smiles delightedly at unexpectedly seeing his old friend, but introduces himself as John Smith. Sarah remarks that she once knew a man who went by that name. When she learns "Smith" is a new teacher, she asks if he has noticed anything odd. She has lost none of her inquisitive nature, and the Doctor is elated, although he does not reveal his real identity to her.

As the Doctor wanders the halls in a slight nostalgic haze, Kenny goes into the Maths room. He is shocked to glimpse a bat-like creature under one of the desks. It transforms rapidly into Mr Wagner. Wagner tells Kenny to leave and the boy beats a hasty retreat.

That night, Sarah Jane Smith breaks into the school to explore, even as the Doctor, Rose and Mickey do the same. The Doctor sends Mickey to the maths department and Rose to get a sample of the oil, while he checks the headmaster's office. There are sounds of flapping and the occasional shriek through the school, and winged shadows flit across the walls.

"Hello, Sarah Jane".

Sarah, trying to break into Mr Finch's office, notices she is being watched. She enters a storeroom — where she finds the TARDIS. Stunned at seeing the ship again, she backs out of the room into the gym, where "John Smith", now wearing his long coat, is waiting and says, "Hello, Sarah Jane." Sarah manages to say, "It's you...Doctor! Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it? You've regenerated..."

The Doctor replies that he has done so "half a dozen times since we last met." Sarah remarks he looks "incredible", and he says she does too, but she dismisses it as being true for herself and says she has grown old. She then reveals she had waited for him and thought he had died, and in response, the Doctor speaks to her of the Time War for the first time: "I lived. Everybody else died." Sarah Jane is still in disbelief until they hear a piercing scream and run towards the sound; now she knows this is the Doctor.

Along the way, they run into Rose; the Doctor introduces the two and Sarah comments on Rose's youth. The scream turns out to be Mickey, who opened a cupboard, only to be covered in shrink-wrapped rats. Sarah suggests the rats are for dissection, suggesting cattily that maybe Rose isn't old enough to have gotten to that point in school, but Rose retorts that rat dissection hasn't been performed in schools for years, making a snide dig at Sarah's age. As they head for Finch's office, and Sarah and Rose begin to bicker, Mickey laughs and tells the Doctor, "The missus and the ex — welcome to every man's worst nightmare!"

"Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do".

The Doctor suggests that the rats may be food for something. When he and the others enter Finch's office, they find what that "something" is; large, bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling, asleep. They back out hurriedly, but as the door shuts, one of the creatures wakes and shrieks. Outside, the Doctor tells the others that when Finch arrived at the school he brought twelve staff members with him, so they've got thirteen giant bat people to deal with. He is about to head back inside despite the danger so he can use the TARDIS to analyse the oil sample Rose procured, but Sarah tells the Doctor she may have something that can help him. To the Doctor's excitement, in her car boot is an inactive and rusty K9 Mark III, with one of his side panels missing. Sarah explains that one day the robot dog just stopped working and she could not repair its advanced technology.

Not knowing that they are being trailed by Mr Finch and another bat-creature, the group go in Sarah's car to a nearby café, where the Doctor repairs K9. Mickey teases Rose about her jealousy, while Sarah asks the Doctor if she did something wrong since he never returned for her after his visit home. In an intense moment, the Doctor tries to brush it off, saying that she was getting on with her life. Sarah replies that he was her life: the hardest thing was adjusting back to mundane life after all she had seen. She asks him why he could not have come back. The Doctor looks dour, but does not reply.

K9 comes to life and recognises the Doctor, who smears some of the oil sample on its eye sensor. K9 determines it is Krillitane oil. The creatures are Krillitanes, a composite species who take the best physical parts of other species they conquer. The Doctor did not recognise them because they had looked different when he had last seen them; basically humans with Giraffe necks. He realises that they are doing something to the children.

As they leave the café, Rose is struggling to come to terms with the realisation that she's not the first person the Doctor travelled with. She tells the Doctor how troubled she is that he's never mentioned Sarah despite the two once being as close as they are now, and that she feels like she's seeing her own future and will end up just being left behind like all his other companions. The Doctor promises he will not just leave her, explaining that he did not go back for Sarah because it would have been too hard: "I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay, you wither and you die. You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on, alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords." Hearing the phrase "Time Lords", Mr Finch sends the other Krillitane to swoop over and scare them.

"Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you".

The next day they all return to the school. The Doctor sends Rose and Sarah to discover what is inside the computers, and Mickey to stay in the car with K9 as surveillance — a task Mickey compares to being "sent to the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter". The Doctor himself confronts Mr Finch at the swimming pool, where Finch confirms he is a Krillitane named Brother Lassar and the wings are a recent addition to their form: what the Doctor sees as human is merely a morphic illusion. Surprised to see a Time Lord, Lassar calls them a race of pompous, dusty senators, afraid of change and chaos and now all but extinct. He can sense that the Doctor is different but still refuses to reveal his plans, challenging him to work it out. The Doctor quietly replies that he had much more mercy when he was younger, and that this is his only warning. Lassar replies they are not even enemies and smugly promises that the next time they meet, the Doctor will join with him.

Working on the computers with the sonic screwdriver, Sarah and Rose get into an argument about who has had more experience time travelling, yelling the names of the different monsters they have met. Sarah settles it when she mentions the Loch Ness Monster, but both women soon realise the argument is pointless and begin to bond by comparing notes on the Doctor (Sarah is very amused to hear from Rose that the Doctor still strokes parts of the TARDIS). When the Doctor himself enters, they burst into laughter, much to his confusion.

Lassar tells the other Krillitanes that they are moving to the final phase: the school will be sealed and they will become gods. Even though it is break time, the intercom calls all pupils to class and the staff to the staff room. All the pupils appear strangely happy that the break has ended early, except Kenny, who hesitates, but eventually follows the others inside. The Krillitanes begin by devouring the rest of the staff.

In the maths room, the Doctor finds the computers fixed with a deadlock seal which the sonic screwdriver cannot breach. Lassar seals all of the school's exits while Mr Wagner activates the computer program which the children begin working on again. Kenny cannot get out of the school, but he manages to attract Mickey's attention. Mickey tries to reactivate K9 but he doesn't respond so Mickey hits it in frustration which makes it come to life. Mickey asks K9 if it has some way to get through the locked doors in the school and it reminds him they are in a car. Mickey is initially confused by this answer but then realises what the dog means and shouts for Kenny to get out of the way.

"Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends".

Rose, Sarah and the Doctor watch the symbols flash on a large screen. The Doctor works out that the Krillitanes are trying to solve the Skasis Paradigm. He explains that the Paradigm is the God-Maker, the Universal Theory; whoever solves it can control the building blocks of the universe — all of time, space and matter. The Krillitanes are using the children as a giant processing device and are boosting their intelligence using the oil. Rose points out that oil is on the chips which she has been eating. The Doctor then gives her a complex sum which she instantly answers correctly, much to her shock. Sarah asks why the Krillitanes are using children instead of adults and the Doctor replies that the God-Maker needs imagination to be solved and adds "they're not just using the children's brains to break the code. They're using their souls." At this point, Lassar reveals himself and asks the Doctor to join them, tempting him with the ability to change the universe, to save everyone, even restore the Time Lords. He offers Sarah and Rose the chance to travel with the Doctor forever, never growing old. The Doctor appears tempted, but Sarah reminds him that pain and loss define them as much as happiness or love: everything has its time and everything ends, whether a world or a relationship. The Doctor picks up a chair and hurls it at the screen, smashing it. He, Rose and Sarah flee the room.

Mickey crashes the car through the front doors of the school, and he and Kenny rush back inside. Lassar shrieks, summoning the other Krillitanes, who transform into their bat-forms. Mickey and Kenny meet up with the others and run into the cafeteria, pursued by the bat creatures. Lassar tells them he wants the Doctor alive, but to eat the others.

As the Krillitanes attack, one of them is shot down by a laser and K9 appears in the doorway, blaster at the ready. The Doctor tells K9 to hold them off while they retreat. However, K9's battery is failing and Lassar tells the Krillitanes to ignore "the shooty dog thing" and get the others. In the physics lab, the Doctor realises the solution is the oil: the Krillitanes have changed their physiology so often that even their own oil is toxic to them now. As the Krillitanes start bashing down the door, the Doctor tells Mickey to get the children unplugged and evacuated. Kenny triggers the fire alarm, the high-pitched sound hurting the bat-like ears of the Krillitanes and stunning them long enough for the Doctor and the others to get past to the kitchens. However, this doesn't work for long; Lassar simply punches through the wall and rips out the power lead to the alarm.

"Goodbye, Master".

Mickey runs into the computer room and yells for the children to leave but none of them respond. After a few moments, he unplugs the computers which snaps the children out of their trances and they begin to evacuate. In the kitchens, the Doctor finds the barrels of oil are deadlock sealed. He gets the others out while he and K9 stay behind. K9 tells the Doctor that the barrels will not withstand a direct hit from his laser, but as his batteries are weak, he has to remain. The Doctor protests, knowing that K9 will be caught in the explosion, but the dog replies there is no alternative. Sadly, the Doctor bids his old friend goodbye, calls him a good dog and exits the building. The Doctor takes Sarah's hand and while she asks about K9, drags her away from the school.

Brother Lassar and his brethren enter the kitchen in human form, searching for the Doctor. Lassar mocks K9 when he sees him, but K9 shoots a barrel, spilling the toxic oil over the aliens. Lassar snarls to K9, "You bad dog"; the dog replies, "Affirmative." The explosion takes out a large chunk of the school. The pupils cheer the school's destruction and hail Kenny as the hero who did it. Sarah weeps over K9's sacrifice as the Doctor comforts her.

Later, Sarah enters the TARDIS in a park. The Doctor suggests that Sarah join them, but Sarah declines, saying it is time she found a life of her own. Mickey asks if he may join them in the TARDIS; he wants more than just to be their 'tin dog' and is ready to see the universe. Sarah says they need a Smith aboard the TARDIS, and the Doctor agrees, although Rose does not look pleased.

"Goodbye. My Sarah Jane".

Before Sarah goes, Rose asks her what to do and wonders if she should stay with the Doctor. Sarah reassures her that some things are worth getting your heart broken for and adds that if someday, Rose needs to, she should find her. Outside, Sarah thanks the Doctor for her time with him. The Doctor asks if there has been anyone special. In jest, Sarah tells him that there was one man whom she travelled with for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. She asks the Doctor to say goodbye properly this time — and he complies, saying, "Goodbye...my Sarah Jane!" He smiles at her and they hug tightly, with Sarah looking to be on the verge of tears. Sarah then watches the TARDIS disappear, but as it does so, a brand new K9 is revealed. K9 explains that the Doctor rebuilt and improved him. Happily, Sarah orders K9 home: They have work to do...

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

Though not credited in any way, Mat Irvine did help considerably with the operation of K9 for this episode. In the DVD commentary, Phil Collinson acknowledges Irvine as the "operator of the original K9 prop", as seen in the very last scene of the episode, and admitting that the original prop had been stored in Irvine's garage and was found especially for this scene.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

British locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Science[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Diseases and illnesses[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Nina was suffering from a headache.
  • After Mr Finch arrived at the school, half the staff seemingly got flu.

Mathematics[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Mr Parsons tells the Doctor that he had a student who told him the height of the walls of Troy in cubits.

Newspapers[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor thought the students would be happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones.
  • The teacher the Doctor replaced won the lottery without playing, having the winning ticket posted through her door.
  • As a derogatory comment on her age, Rose suggests Sarah Jane is from the Dark Ages.
  • Rose talks about her friend Shareen.
  • Rose considers K9's appearance to be "so disco", implying she thinks K9 is a dated relic from the seventies. The Doctor bristles at the remark and tells her "In the year 5000 this was cutting edge".

Vehicles[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Rose phones for an ambulance.
  • Mickey drives a car through the school doors (after K9 repeatedly tells him, "We are in a car").
  • Sarah Jane says getting parts to fix K9 isn't like getting parts for a Mini Metro.

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Krillitanes invaded Bessan.

Civilisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Influences[[edit] | [edit source]]

Songs from the Real World[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This episode notably confirms the fact that the revival series was a direct continuation of the series's original 1963-1989 run and not a reboot, a topic which was then under minimal debate in fandom.
    • This is the first appearance of a classic series companion in the revival series.
    • This episode marks the first time the revived series clearly recognised on screen that incarnations prior to the Ninth Doctor existed. There had earlier been hints, such as the Ninth Doctor's comment in Rose about his ears, his reference to kissing complete strangers in The Long Game and his reference to the Cyberman head in Dalek as "an old enemy". This episode stops short of explicitly calling the current Doctor the Tenth, hinting only that "half a dozen" regenerations had occurred since he and Sarah Jane last met, in keeping with the fact that it was the Fourth Doctor who left Sarah Jane on Earth. However, The Five Doctors indicates the last Doctor that saw Sarah Jane was actually the Fifth Doctor, though the later inclusion of the War Doctor amends this error.
      • This does not take into account Sarah's meetings with the Seventh and Eighth Doctors in the BBC novels (Bullet Time and Interference- Book One and Book Two respectively), but these can be reconciled on the assumption that later events erased these meetings from history from Sarah's perspective.
  • Mickey Smith joins the Doctor on his travels at the end of the episode.
  • According to an interview with the writer Toby Whithouse in Doctor Who Magazine #367, this episode had the working title Black Ops. The original storyline submission for the episode involved the Doctor meeting Sarah Jane while investigating events at an army base near an isolated village, where the townsfolk were developing advanced scientific knowledge and engineering a sophisticated bomb. The change of location to a school was suggested by Russell T Davies. Whithouse later clarified in the DVD commentary that the original specification for the script, given to an unnamed writer, had been for a school; the writer had instead submitted an episode set in an army base and admitted that writing for Doctor Who was possibly "not for him", so Whithouse had to write a script set in the school in a hurry.
  • The K9 prop used at the end of the episode was a refurbished version of the original radio-controlled unit built for The Invisible Enemy, now in the possession of Mat Irvine.
  • This episode marks the final appearance of Rose's Nokia 3200 "Superphone", last seen in New Earth when Lady Cassandra answers it. The next time she uses it, in Rise of the Cybermen, it's been replaced a Samsung D500 model.
  • Finch's unusual turn-of-phrase "Forget the shooty dog thing" (referring to K9) strongly echoes the dialogue patterns used extensively on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is perhaps an intentional nod, as the actor who plays Finch, Anthony Head, played Rupert Giles on that series.
  • In one scene, Rose and Sarah break up with laughter when the Doctor enters the room, after spending several minutes comparing notes on the Doctor. To get a realistic reaction, David Tennant wore a fake moustache (unbeknownst to the actresses) as he entered the scene. This is why Billie Piper points at him in the episode. Their reaction was caught in one take. (DCOM: School Reunion)
  • Although this episode marked the return of Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith to Doctor Who proper, Sladen had been reprising the role for some time in other media. Earlier in the same month School Reunion was first broadcast, the final episode of Big Finish Productions' Sarah Jane Smith audio drama series was released, which had been going off-and-on since 2002. Sladen also reprised the role in the 1995 independent film HOMEVID: Downtime, in two early-90s BBC Radio dramas with Jon Pertwee and had also appeared in the 1993 pastiche, Dimensions in Time.
  • Sarah Jane has a Volkswagen car in this episode. By The Sarah Jane Adventures, she has switched to a Nissan Figaro.
  • Phil Collinson got to voice K9 as some scenes were recorded, including the one set in the chip shop. Only John Leeson's voice was heard in the finished production, however. According to Julie Gardner, it was a moment of supreme joy for the producer.
  • Phil Collinson took a week's vacation during the filming of this episode, forcing Julie Gardner to take over his duties for a week, something she claimed to have adored. (DCOM: School Reunion) She would later become the effective producer on The End of Time, when credited producer Tracie Simpson had to break away from the production unit of the first Russell T Davies era to work with Matt Smith and the Steven Moffat unit. (PCOM: The End of Time, Part Two)
  • Rose complains that the Doctor leaves his companions behind after a while, but in fact, out of thirty-two companions up to this point, only four have been left behind: one (Adam Mitchell) got kicked out for bad behaviour, another one the Doctor was terrified of (Jack Harkness), his own granddaughter, whom he believed to deserve a better life and Sarah Jane Smith. All the rest died (Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric and Kamelion), were separated from him due to circumstances beyond his control, had their memories erased or decided to leave on their own. Still other individuals (such as Grace Holloway) were acquainted with the Doctor only for the course of a single adventure but never travelled with him as companions.
    • In Amy's Choice, the Dream Lord mocks the Doctor about how his companions never see him again after they "grow up" and that he never keeps in touch with them.
  • Although not indicated on-screen in this episode nor any episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the novelisation of the SJA pilot episode Invasion of the Bane revealed that the Doctor left Sarah Jane a sonic lipstick and other items in a secret compartment within K9. On-screen, the sonic lipstick debuts in the Invasion of the Bane episode, but no explanation is offered as to where it came from. It appeared for the first time on Doctor Who during Journey's End.
  • A slow instrumental of Song for Ten can be heard playing throughout the episode, most notably when the Doctor says goodbye to Sarah Jane.
  • The Krillitanes were to be named "Krillians" until the BBC found the name was trademarked by a computer company, and Finch's forename was originally Hector, until the BBC found a real teacher by the same name, and renamed him Lucas.
  • In the footage that was cut, the Doctor's questions to Milo actually made him collapse, prompting the Doctor to bring him to the school nurse, who turned out to be another Krillitane. This Krillitane then ate Milo, explaining what Wagner is referring to when he comes up to Melissa and tells her she's being moved up because Milo's failed him.
  • Sarah was originally a recovering alcoholic, but Elisabeth Sladen suggested that this be removed.[source needed]
  • When originally outlined, the story was not going to feature Mickey as it was going to be after his departure from the TARDIS team. When it was shifted forwards to the third episode of the run - just before Whithouse began his first draft - Davies told Whithouse to include him. [2]
  • The confrontation between the Doctor and Finch was originally scripted to happen in the school gymnasium but was moved to the pool, which James Hawes felt served as a more dynamic setting.
  • The concept of Sarah Jane and K9 returning to Doctor Who was an idea of Russell T Davies from pitching the show in 2003. Such a use would show what would happen after a companion left the Doctor, without dwelling too much on the classic series. It was Davies' full intention for Sarah Jane to be used for this, and while Elisabeth Sladen originally declined a request, thinking her role would not be important, she changed her mind when she realised she would be the focal point of the adventure.
  • Filming of the cafe scene was delayed due to drunk and disorderly conduct from members of the public.
  • Toby Whithouse's initial idea concerned an alien race which sought revenge on the Doctor for his actions in the distant past. However, the production team indicated that they favoured storylines in which the Doctor involved himself in events, rather than instigating them.
  • Toby Whithouse initially omitted K9 from the storyline because he felt that the character would be out of place in the modern incarnation. However, he soon found himself reinserting the robot dog at the insistence of the production team.
  • Russell T Davies devised a set piece where Sarah is kidnapped by the Krillitanes, prompting the Doctor to pursue them down a motorway in the TARDIS. It was scrapped because it no longer suited the narrative, but it was later used in The Runaway Bride.
  • As a boy, Russell T Davies had imagined the Doctor showing up in class disguised as a teacher, and he had used the setting himself in Dark Season. Despite this, it was originally Sarah, rather than the Doctor, who went undercover as a teacher.
  • The appearance of K9 Mark IV at the episode's conclusion was omitted from early drafts. Its inclusion was one of the few requests made by Bob Baker, although Russell T Davies had already asked Whithouse to add such a scene.
  • The Krillitanes' physical appearance also evolved during the story's development, with Toby Whithouse first envisaging them as more bat-like, with blue fur.
  • Toby Whithouse hoped that Finch could be seen to fly along the school corridors on membranous wings, but the budget could not accommodate such an amalgamation of live action and computer animation.
  • The episode was originally planned to be part of season two's second production block. However, it was soon realised that it would need to be brought forward into Block One in order to facilitate recording on school grounds during the summer holidays. In turn, Tooth and Claw was delayed to Block Two, providing time to resolve its scripting issues. This meant that School Reunion would be directed by James Hawes alongside The Christmas Invasion and New Earth. The festive special was Hawes' initial priority, and problems during its production meant that work on School Reunion started later than anticipated. This left the cast and crew with little time to spare before the teaching staff resumed work at the two schools chosen to represent Deffry Vale High.
  • Elisabeth Sladen suffered a tendon injury after slipping on the gym floor. As a result, third assistant director Lynsey Muir, bedecked in an appropriate wig, stood in as Sarah Jane whenever it was feasible.
  • The TARDIS was originally hidden in a supply closet rather than the gymnasium.
  • The new K9 prop was constructed by Mike Tucker's Model Unit team with reference to an authentic 1970s prop he owned. Unfortunately, K9's tradition of struggling with movement over various surfaces continued into the new century, the tiled kitchen floor posing a particular challenge. Furthermore, during the climactic kitchen sequence, K9's eyepiece was made to flash in time with his dialogue. This was out of keeping with the manner in which he had been portrayed in the past and, when Phil Collinson learned of it upon his return from a holiday, he indicated that the practice should be abandoned for the remainder of K9's scenes.
  • The production block continued to fall behind schedule during the shoot, and it quickly became clear that an additional day at Duffryn High would be needed. The situation was exacerbated when work on the scene of Mickey crashing Sarah's car into the front of the school (actually a false porch constructed by the BBC) was held up by the discovery of asbestos in Duffryn High's roof. As a result, an extra day of filming at the location was arranged. Some sequences were abandoned or simplified, notably a time-lapse shot of the school corridors to bridge the daytime and nighttime material.
  • The final scene was originally written to take place in the ruins of Deffry Vale, and the production team had negotiated the use of a partly dismantled British Telecom building for the purpose. At short notice, however, it was learned that the structure had now been completely demolished, and so the shots were instead filmed in Newport's Belle View Park, with the unscripted implication that the Doctor had repositioned the TARDIS.
  • The model footage of the Deffry Vale explosion was the final filming ever undertaken by the BBC's Visual Effects Department, which was subsequently disbanded.
  • The episode was such a success that Russell T Davies considered bringing Sarah back annually. Instead, he developed The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 8.31 million viewers (39.8% of television share; UK final)[3]

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The primary location for the school filming was Duffryn High School in Newport.
  • Fitzalan High School, Leckwith, Cardiff
  • Belle Vue car park and DaVinci's coffee shop, Newport
  • Studio: Unit Q2, Newport

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • When Mickey takes the plug out, the children's headphones come off by themselves.
  • At the start of the episode, the door of the headmaster's office is blue and has a window in it. However, when the Doctor and the others return to the school at night, and investigate the headmaster's office, the door is larger and has no window.
  • In the first shot of Sarah Jane being introduced in the staff room, Mr Finch is standing next to her. Having quickly seen the Doctor’s reaction to her, the camera moves back to the same angle as before, but Mr Finch has vanished. The time between this shot and the first would have required Mr Finch to move unnaturally quickly to be out of scene.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Complete David Tennant Years DVD Region 1 US cover

    The Complete David Tennant Years DVD
    Region 1 US cover

  • The Complete Series Two DVD box-set

    The Complete Series Two DVD box-set

  • Series 2 Volume 2 DVD Cover

    Series 2 Volume 2 DVD Cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

  • This episode was released as a "vanilla" DVD along with Tooth and Claw and The Girl in the Fireplace.
  • It was also released as part of the Series 2 DVD boxed set.
  • On a single disk by itself, it was given away with the purchase of a newspaper, as part of a promotion by The Sun.
  • This was also released with issue 9 of the Doctor Who DVD Files.

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Leeson plays two different versions of K9 in School Reunion: Mark III and, briefly, Mark IV.
  2. ↑ http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006c.html
  3. ↑ Doctor Who - consolidated ratings

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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