Probably the first truly great Story in the Tennant Era for me.
Admittedly, the competitive nature with Rose and Sarah is a bit ridiculous, but besides that? Yeah, there is a lot to love seeing Lis Sladen in her iconic Role again is just absolutely lovely, she does give an amazing Performance, no wonder why we got SJA!
As somebody who really isn’t big on 10Rose, it’s great we explore some other sides about it, like in that scene where 10 says that humans die, he regenerates, great Scene!
(I must admit I am surprised about the mixed reception to it, it definitely has its issues, but I feel like the good outweighs the bad for me, definitely not a masterpiece, but a very fun time nonetheless!)
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Before rewatching this I had been expecting to give it an 8 since I remember it as being the first good one this season. Unfortunately it suffers a bit now as the plot is so similar to one of the SJA stories which I had watched more recently. Just replace Raxacoricofallapatorians with Krillitanes (whose appearance I could not remember at all, that’s how much of an impression they made, in fact with a lot of the NuWho monsters I’m like "who were they again, what story were they in?)
Anthony Head would have been much better cast as an incarnation of The Master IMO - he can play that combination of being both charming & sinister.
But OMG what has happened to Rose? I really liked her last season (most of the time anyway) but she now seems to have undergone a total personality transplant - she’s become so obsessed with Ten that she almost seems at risk of turning into a bunny-boiler!
Her bitching at Sarah was just plain rude but her reaction at the end when[spoiler]
the Doctor agreed to let Mickey join the TARDIS crew really shocked me - to say she was Definitely Not Amused would be an understatement. She really didn’t want him there to get in the way & spoil things between her & the Doctor. (Which was probably precisely why the Doctor did it - he was getting afraid of what might happen if left alone with her for much longer!)
Poor Mickey!
[/spoiler]
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Well put, and Rose’s petulant behavior is not something I tend to think about when reminiscing about this episode.
I don’t much issue with the way she reacted to Mickey’s invite. She left him without much hesitation when the Doctor invited her, so clearly she’s no terribly attached to him.
He cattiness towards Sarah Jane does seem out of character, though. I think that’s just there to set up the hysterical exchange where they’re trying to one-up each other about the monsters they’ve seen and things they’ve done. It serves a purpose, but I don’t really think it’s exactly in character.
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I watched Tardisode 2 ahead of this. Featuring Mickey summoning the Doctor and Rose to the school was interesting. Plus we get a mention of Torchwood.
Watching this one and the opening with Anthony Head and the little girl is suitably chilling. Right from his entrance, you know he’s a villain. The school staff is suitably sinister too. And then the phones. I’m about to comment that they look so archaeic, and remember that this was made 20 years ago. When the Doctor and Sarah first meet in the teacher’s lounge, I can’t tell how much of that is actual performance/acting and how much is just David Tennant geeking out over meeting Sarah Jane/Lis Sladen. I actually think the CG monster holds up better in Tooth and Claw than it does here. Also, I love that the “humans with long necks” is now a reference to the Krillitane Relic. What is it about empty swimming pools that make for such tense, sinister showdowns. Between this and Sherlock, I’d almost call it a trope. And what is it about blowing up K9? Between this, Gallifrey, K9 the TV show… I was actually tearing up a little here. How is it that I’m so attached to fiction robot dog? Plus, I quite enjoyed the music in this one.
I don’t know what I think of the conversation in the diner. I don’t like the implication that the Doctor and Sarah were in love, at least not that they were in love in a similar sense to the Doctor and Rose. For one thing, I never got that from the Classic Series and Tom’s Doctor in particular doesn’t seem the romantic type. That they were best friends sure, but actually in love, no. And it’s kinda hinted too at the end that Sarah at least loved the Doctor. I get that RTD is setting up the series arc and Rose’s downfall. But, that said, I’m not sure my feelings on it.
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