The Story of Sarah Jane Smith

This past week brought a surprise treat for Doctor Who fans in the form of a new, 13 minute story written by Russell T. Davies, performed on YouTube by several Who and Sarah Jane Adventures actors. Sort of a radio show with visuals, featuring actors in quarantine, the short film observes the anniversary of Elisabeth Sladen's death by finally providing (presumably) canon closure for her character, Sarah Jane Smith. The video is below and it is very sweet:

Interesting there's not one hint of a reference to the newest Doctor Who episodes.

Watching the video prompted me to go back and watch "School Reunion", the Russell T. Davies era episode--actually written by Toby Whithouse--that marked Sarah Jane's first appearance in the revived series.

I'm always amazed when going back to Ninth and Tenth Doctor episodes by how adult the show was. It was kind of an exciting time for grown ups and Doctor Who, both in terms of the show and the Big Finish audios, which were both exploring more adult themes at the time. I suppose the theory was that all the Doctor Who fans were grown up now and the show should follow them into adulthood. Now maybe it's skewed more towards a new audience of kids, though it still manages to feel more infantilised than episodes from the 70s that were ostensibly for kids. "School Reunion" tackles subjects that kids would likely find difficult, boring, or impenetrable. Many of those things are also things adult programming isn't generally allowed to be about anymore, particularly the episode's central source of dramatic tension--the fact that Sarah Jane's age has changed her and that the Doctor (David Tennant) clearly prefers to travel with young, beautiful women like Rose (Billie Piper).

It was really refreshing that the show, in the early Davies era, had the guts to acknowledge and admit what was perfectly clear. From Liz Shaw onward, the Doctor's always had a young, extraordinarily beautiful woman with him, barring a few very brief interludes like The Deadly Assassin. It's silly not to acknowledge it means something. The Eleventh Doctor era kept it up a little while but then things took a turn with the Twelfth Doctor which I wonder now if it wasn't a reaction to a speech Ten has in "School Reunion".

When Rose confronts the Doctor on his evident predilection for picking up young women and abandoning them, he makes a really moving speech about how Rose can spend the rest of her life with him but he can't spend the rest of his life with her--if he stays with any companion, he'll be forced to watch them, as he says, "wither and die." Not so the Twelfth Doctor, with his running gag about being unable to tell how old people are. And this culminated with the Christmas episode that was originally supposed to be Clara's last, when he met her old and on her death bed and, of course, to him, she looked as young as she always had. It's a sweet moment, possibly sweeter if you consider whether Steven Moffat was saying the Doctor subconsciously rewrote his own perceptions so he wouldn't have to face the problem he talks about in "School Reunion."

Of course, needing young people doesn't explain why he needs beautiful young people. But that really shouldn't require explanation, should it?

Twitter Sonnet #1348

A broken step disturbs the spiral case.
Ascending dancers rectify the ghost.
A pilot placed a pillow 'neath the base.
The crackers claimed a flavour like the host.
Neglected hose abandoned mail for night.
Acquired helms contract the head for plays.
Decisive gloves constrict the fingers tight.
Demanding boots can stomp the grass for days.
In craving bread the yeast reserved rewards.
The open store contained a can of Coke.
Behind a shuttered eye were sight accords.
The twisted arm an ancient record broke.
When silver dogs return the bats invade.
In plastic coins are hazard debts repaid.

Just the Doctor and Companion

A peculiarly deserted English village greets the Doctor and Sarah Jane in The Android Invasion. From 1975, the thirteenth season, this serial is from the period where Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen's chemistry had reached perfection. When stony faced android replicants of the villagers do show up, Doctor and companion react in ways to effectively provoke amusement and suspense in equal measure.

Oaks only grow on Earth, apparently, as the Doctor remarks when Sarah initially questions whether they could be on Earth. The pub is deserted, the till has only new minted money. When a blankly staring publican arrives, the Doctor orders ginger pop, which Sarah Jane can't stand.

I love how the android Sarah later loves ginger pop but the Doctor reveals it's the android's scarf that gave her away--and he uses the scarf from the real Sarah like a matador's cape to distract the android so he can knock her gun away with his hat. It's a nice, rapid string of misdirection for the discerning viewer. I love how Four found practical uses for his costume.

This is my favourite of Four's hats--you may notice later, when he fights his own duplicate, he accidentally picks its hat up but then tosses it away in disgust to take his own, apparently identical fedora.

And Elisabeth Sladen's so cute in this. She gets to rescue the Doctor twice--the second time he's tied to a pole. He asks her to take the knife out of his pocket to cut his bindings--of course he has a knife, only an idiot wouldn't carry one--but the tough vines can only be melted with the sonic screwdriver. Otherwise, in its few appearances in the serial, the sonic is very much a highly specialised screwdriver. The Doctor uses it to remove some bolts from a floor panel at one point.

This is a lovely one, better than I remembered. I could watch Baker and Sladen playing off each other all day.

Twitter Sonnet #1340

Connecting signs perspective lanes appear.
Converging tracks were one along the time.
A thousand reasons filled the glass of beer.
The grey and silent figures start to climb.
The channels changed between the screens at night.
A hotter room recedes behind the chill.
Contented cubes became a meal of pallid light.
A dream of oats dissolved in breakfast meal.
With sleepy logic arms invade the sleeves.
The proven touch removes offending gloves.
A kindly phone replaced the healthy sheaves.
The door was black but nothing proveas.
A coat of teeth protects the spring catch.
The wand'ring dog can play the longer fetch.