History Recap / DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion

* BuffySpeak: "''Forget'' the shooty dog thing." Said by [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Giles]].

'''Original air date:''' April 29, 2006

'''Production code:''' 2.3

Written by Toby Whithouse.

-->'''Sarah:''' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons THE. LOCH NESS. MONSTER!]]\\

-->'''Mickey:''' Okay, no time to explain, we need to get inside the school. Do you have, like, I don't know, a lock picking device?\\
'''K9:''' We are in a car.

'''Rose:''' Yeah, yeah, he does! I'm like, "Do you two want to be alone?"

* TheGoodOldBritishComp: Deffrey Vale. In a variant, it's not the students who are the problem. As the Doctor notes, none of the students are misbehaving. Literally, none.
* GenreSavvy: Sarah Jane, thanks to having had copious amounts of experience with the Doctor's shenanigans, realises (off-screen) that something is going on and needs to get into the school... which she achieves by doing exactly what the Doctor does: flattering the bad guy's ego.

-->'''Mickey:''' ''[realization dawns]'' I'm the tin dog.

In the kitchen, Rose watches the other kitchen staff, all wearing gloves and face masks, bringing in a large barrel of oil. One of the ladies warns them not to spill a drop. She gets a call from Mickey, who wants to check in to mention that he's uncovered reports of massive UFO activity in the area around the school three months ago. However, his investigations are being blocked by something called Torchwood. Rose, in turn, realizes that lines up with something she's heard: the kitchen staff were all replaced three months ago with new personnel, at the same time Finch showed up. The conversation is put on hold when the barrel slips, spilling the oil on one of the staff, who starts to burn. The rest usher her into a side room and shut the blinds. Rose starts to phone for an ambulance, but is told by the head lady not to worry, she is all right, [[BlatantLies 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.

The one where the new series meets the old series when an old friend makes a comeback.

%%* BerserkButton: Never take the piss out of K9. ''Ever''. You ''will'' set Sarah Jane off.

** Sarah Jane's not exactly a pushover herself — don't forget, she came into this school armed with ''absolutely nothing functional to protect herself'' and came out with not even a scratch.

** When Sarah Jane is given a rebuilt K9, she tells them; "Come on...We've got work to do!", a possible Homage to the final monologue from the Seventh Doctor in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]''.
* CreativeSterility: The Krillitanes are using human children to crack the paradigm because it requires ''imagination''.

* WhamShot: It's not a surprise for the viewers, but Sarah Jane gets one when she sees the TARDIS for the first time in ages.

** Rose, to the Doctor, re. leaving Sarah Jane.

Mr. Finch receives a visit from a journalist, [[Creator/ElisabethSladen Sarah Jane Smith]], who is interested in writing a profile on him. Finch explains that one of the policy changes he has made is free — but compulsory — school dinners. He calls her a "woman of vision"; she replies that she can "see everything, Mr Finch, quite clearly." Unlike many, ''she'' isn't fooled — something is going on and, being the sneaky sneak that she is, Sarah Jane intends to find out.

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"; [[TakingYouWithMe the dog replies, "Affirmative"]] and, for a brief moment, shows just ''who'' built him — Four, the Lord and Master of Snarking! The explosion takes out a large chunk of the school and K9 with it. 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.

* GenreSavvy: Sarah Jane gets ''two'' moments of this, thanks to having had copious amounts of experience with the Doctor's shenanigans. One is when she realises (off-screen) that something is going on and needs to get into the school... which she achieves by doing exactly what the Doctor does: ''flattering the bad guy's ego!'' The second time occurs when the screaming begins; she immediately puts two and two together to come up with Ten: bad stuff and screaming? Who ''else'' is it going to be?

->''"Oh mate, the missus and the ex! Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."''

The one where the old series meets the new series, and vice-versa. Also the one where '''''every single fan ever''''' starts crying in absolute glee.

Here he picks her up off her feet in a hug for the ages, and for a moment, we catch a glimpse of a much younger Sarah Jane Smith ...

[[SandInMyEyes No, whacking the screen is not going to make it less blurry.]]

He vanishes again, but leaves his beloved Sarah with two things: long-awaited closure, and a new K9 model. However, [[Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures this isn't the last we've seen of Sarah Jane]], and she'll return in series 4.

** Sarah referring to the Doctor's companion as his "assistant". When Sarah met the Doctor he was stuck as UNIT's scientific advisor, hence he had lab assistants instead of (travelling) companions. It's also a retro touch on a metafictional level, as "companion" didn't become the borderline-official term for non-Doctor main characters until the 21st century, and up to the 1980s "assistant" was more common, especially among the production crew.
** The Doctor tells Sarah that he couldn't take her to Gallifrey "because back then humans weren't allowed". This handwaves the fact that later episodes had the Doctor bringing his companions to his homeworld without issue.

* FullyAbsorbedFinale: The episode picks up on the partnership between Sarah Jane and K-9 first introduced in the failed {{Pilot}} ''Series/K9AndCompany''. Quite simply, K-9 eventually broke down. (But the Doctor fixed him.)

* ManipulativeBastard: Mr. Finch nearly talks the Doctor into joining him with just a few lines of temptation, and when [[TheHeart Sarah Jane]] steps in, shifts gears at the speed of light and - based off only brief observation and some well informed guesses - almost succeeds in doing the same to her. She, however, snaps out of it and snaps the Doctor out of it too.

* ManipulativeBastard: Mr. Finch nearly talks the Doctor into joining him with just a few lines of temptation, almost succeeding in doing the same to [[TheHeart Sarah Jane]]. She, however, snaps out of it and snaps the Doctor out of it too.

* {{Corpsing}}: To get authentic laughter from Creator/BilliePiper and Creator/ElisabethSladen, Creator/DavidTennant scribbled on his face with a marker when he entered. The laughter from Rose and Sarah Jane is them corpsing over how ridiculous Tennant looked.

* ZeerustCanon: K9's dated look is lampshaded by Rose as "disco" (note that the character was introduced in 1977). The Doctor finds this ''very'' offensive.

* BerserkButton: Never take the piss out of K9. ''Ever''. You ''will'' set Sarah Jane off.

* BadassAdorable: K9, the toy-like robot dog with the lasers.

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. The Doctor agrees with a little prodding, although Rose does not look pleased.

Before she goes, Sarah admits that she wants to stay, but she needs to find a life of her own without waiting for the Doctor. Mickey, though, insists on going along. With a little prodding from Sarah Jane, the Doctor agrees although Rose is less then enthused. Before leaving, Sarah Jane tells Rose she'll be there for her when she needs her. As for the Doctor, Sarah ask only for one thing, one thirty years overdue:

He vanishes again, but leaves his beloved Sarah with two things: badly-needed closure, and a new K9 model. However, [[Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures this isn't the last we've seen of Sarah Jane]], and she'll return in series 4.

* AngerBornOfWorry: Sarah Jane's reaction upon realizing who the Doctor is after her initial joy is "I thought you died! I waited for you and you didn't come back and I thought you must have died!"

* BlatantLies: One of the cafeteria workers gets oil all over herself, and is quickly rushed off into another room. Rose is calmly informed by the head dinner lady that she's quite all right. Immediately, the worker screams and smoke billows out of the room.

'''Rose:''' Yeah, yeah he does! I'm like, "Do you two want to be alone?"

* ClimacticMusic: The relentless, intense chanting that is first heard when Mr. Wagner first has the children plugged in for their computer work, and then during the episode's climax, as the Krillitanes chase the Doctor & Co. through the school.

** Sarah referring to the Doctor's companion as his "assistant". When Sarah met the Doctor he was stuck as UNIT's scientific advisor, hence he had lab assistants instead of (travelling) companions. It's also a retro touch on a metafictional level, as "companion" didn't become the borderline-offical term for non-Doctor main characters until the 21st century, and up to the 1980s "assistant" was more common, especially among the production crew.

* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Sarah and the Doctor's reaction to seeing the other once again. Creator/DavidTennant admitted the reason he's grinning like a madman throughout the episode is because he got to act along side Creator/ElisabethSladen, who he grew up watching on the show.

* MeaningfulName: Mr Finch, an alien capable of developing the traits of other conquered species is named after Darwin's finches. The widely known evidence of evolution due to the differing sizes of their beaks.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: TropeNamer, courtesy of Mickey. Sarah Jane is the Doctor's former companion, Rose is the current one. Both of them are in love with the Doctor, and it's been implied Sarah and the Fourth Doctor were in a degree of romance.

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: AvertedTrope. It's important to remember in the wake of ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' that this ''wasn't'' a PDP for that show. In fact, Sarah Jane's appearance wasn't supposed to lead to a spinoff, but was more to link New ''Who'' with the old show (to prove that it was indeed an continuation of the 1963-1989 series rather than a reboot). The fact that the episode was successful and RTD decided to create a Sarah Jane spinoff was just a very happy accident.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Mr Finch gives the Doctor a sales pitch Mephistopheles would be proud of, and when Sarah Jane intervenes, shifts gears like lightning, pinpointing her own regrets and insecurities and offering her a similar sales pitch as part of the Doctor's.