Anthony Head

Doctor Who

7:20pm - 8:05pm

BBC1 London & South East

VIDEO Plus+: 810320

Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described

Episode written by Toby Whithouse 3/13 - School Reunion

Any die-hard Doctor Who fan will doubtless go all misty eyed at this episode, which includes the reappearance of two of the Doc’s best-loved sidekicks. Former assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and tin dog K-9 bump into the Time Lord in a modern-day comprehensive school, where a reported alien visitation months previously led to some remarkable staff changes. The head teacher (a lip-smacking performance by Anthony Head) is a man of strange appetites, while the sinister dinner ladies are harbouring something in the kitchen that’s considerably more frightening than turkey twizzlers. The kids, too, have changed, into suspiciously well-behaved and compliant youngsters rather too keen on computer studies. It’s up to the Doctor (David Tennant) to find out why. It’s a smart and funny episode, considerably enlivened by the initial jealousy and mistrust between Sarah Jane and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). There’s emotional depth, too, when we learn that Sarah Jane still carries a torch for the man who left her so long ago, and never returned. Thus, the final scene between the Doctor and his erstwhile assistant is a great big "aaaaah" moment.