School Reunion
by Toby Whithouse

One of the most annoying things about the new Doctor Who series (last year and this) is the incessant return to Rose’s life on Earth. Russell T. Davies has repeatedly said that he likes to explore the world of those left behind and that it grounds the show in emotional reality for the audience.

Personally, I think it’s a interesting theme, but one that only needed to be explored once. Similarly, and more interesting, is the theme of what happens to a companion when they leave the TARDIS. Over the years, how many have their been? Sometimes they’re left on alien worlds, fall in love, find a new purpose and calling in life, get feed up with the carnage and, yes, sometimes they die.

But how could any life follow the one they led with the Doctor?

And so we come to Miss Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative reporter who once thought she’d identified a mysterious character as a spy and entered into his mysterious Police Box only to find herself in the Middle Ages fighting a Sontaran warrior. Sarah Jane subsequently spent 3 more years traveling with the Doctor spanning the transition between Jon Pertwee’s Doctor to Tom Baker’s. She was the companion in what were arguably the three best years of the series’ history.

Unlike most of the other characters, Sarah Jane did not leave voluntarily. The Doctor received a call to Gallifrey and left her behind, never to return. (Unless you count that time they met up again in The Five Doctors)

In School Reunion, she’s back, looking a lot like the “Ghost of Rose Future” Sad, alone and living a life that has been a letdown since the Doctor left her. For us it’s great to see Sarah Jane again, but for Rose it’s a wake-up call. How long can you live with someone who, for all practical purposes, is immortal? What follows is a lot of soul searching, cat fights, regrets and finally some female bonding.

The estrogen is so high in this episode if it weren’t for the vampires, it would have to be shown on the Lifetime Network.

Vampires? Oh, that’s right, there was an adventure story going on behind the scenes, too.

Seems these alien vampires, who adopt the characteristics of the races they conquer, have taken possession of a school in London. Good old Micky Smith calls Rose and the Doctor back to Earth to investigate. Here they meet Sarah Jane, whose investigative reporter instincts have also led her to the school.

The aliens are using human children brains to unlock a secret formula to allow them to restructure the universe in any form they want. Well, let’s not worry too much about their motivations, they’re nasty and they eat people. I suppose that’s not good enough anymore, they have to threatening the whole fabric of the universe – by using English school children. Like I said, let’s not analyze the motivations too closely.

Oh yeah, and if that wasn’t enough, K9, the tin dog, was in the episode, too. (…and Micky, too, the human tin dog.)

Even though this episode wasn’t written by Russell T. Davies, it still had some real logic clinkers in it. For example:

• If K9 is irreparable, why does Sarah Jane carry him around in the back of the car? What possible use could he be?
• This god formula thing… I’m sorry, why were the aliens here again?
• Why did the writer feel the need to give the aliens the ability to absorb characteristics from other races? It has no bearing on the story whatsoever, yet the Doctor wastes a fair amount of dialogue explaining what they used to look like. Why do we care?
• Vacuum packed rats? Was that just to make Micky scream like a girl?
• Where’s Milo?
• Why did the oil blow up? I suppose if it was flammable that made sense, but it sprayed all over everybody and gave them time for dialog before suddenly igniting. Wouldn’t it have just caused a fire after having been released from the drum?
• Must we be beaten over the head with Torchwood every episode? Advanced publicity is one thing, but surely UNIT is well established in the Doctor Who universe as the alien investigation organization.

Despite all that, I still enjoyed the episode and Tennant’s Doctor goes from strength to strength. Sarah Jane was, in my opinion, the best companion the Doctor ever had and it was good to see her again, even if it was only to say goodbye.

Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith.

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Standard disclaimer: Don’t read if you don’t want to know.

The second “real” episode of David Tennant’s Doctor Who broadcast on the BBC today. This story, Tooth and Claw, like New Earth last week was written by the new series’ mastermind, Russell T. Davies.

The story starts with a well-nigh improbable sequence of bald Scottish warrior monks practicing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style Kung Fu and taking over that we later learn is the Torchwood Estate. While this plot device is necessary to advance this particular script, I couldn’t help immediately feeling like it had been thrown in because either the director/cinematographer wanted to try his hand at Kung Fu, or because they thought it would really grab people’s attention in the series two previews. The shots of the monks, in their bright red robes, suspended in a mid air attack has played heavily in the previews.

Meanwhile the Doctor decides to take Rose to 1979 for a concert. Ever the lefty, Davies manages to waste a line of dialog just to take a needless shot at Margaret Thatcher. Nobody could say that man doesn’t have an axe to grind. True to form, the TARDIS deposits them in Scotland in 1879, right in front of Queen Victoria’s royal carriage. The Doctor presents himself as Doctor James McCrimmon (Who fans will recognize the name Jamie McCrimmon as the second Doctor’s long-time Scottish companion) and talks his way out of the bind he’s in.

Let me digress here for a moment and speak on the subject of Mr. Davies. Undeniably, this man is a fan, and he’s clearly been at the point of creating and helming this successful revival of Doctor Who. Despite that, his scripts are consistently some of the weakest. Often logic is taken out back and shot dead. The viewer may not notice it because it flies by so quicky.

Case and point, the TARDIS lands, the Doctor and Rose get up off the floor (get your minds out of the gutter) walk to the door and step outside. They are already surrounded by the Queens bodyguards, and the Queen’s carriage stands waiting. With his psychic paper, the Doctor talks his way out of it, but no mention whatsoever is made that these people must have either been sitting there when the TARDIS materialized out of thin air or stopped by its appearance right in front of them. Personally, I think if a strange, noisy blue box materialized in the middle of the wilderness near me, I’d at least expect people to talk about it. That; however, would bog down the story considerably, and with the new series format being a paltry 45 minutes (because kids are apparently too impatient or too stupid to sit through a full two-hour story in 4 parts) things often need to move at a remarkable clip to get to the end.

The plot involves these nasty monks who’ve been harboring an alien werewolf (the real deal) and just waiting for the opportunity to trap the Queen at Torchwood on a full moon night so that the Queen can become a werewolf and rule the planet. The rest of the episode mostly comprises the werewolf chasing people and ripping them to pieces. Some of the secondary characters get to prove their mettle through heroics and ingenuity and once again, the Doctor does save the day by reasoning out the trap that’s been laid.

The story is also laying the foundation for the upcoming Torchwood series this fall. One could almost say this episode was clubbing us over the head with it and setting up either a Doctor Who or Torchwood sequel. I only hope that Torchwood references don’t become this year’s bad wolf.

Despite these criticisms, the episode was fun to watch. Tennant’s portrayal is really a solid, classic-style Doctor. He’s got that quirky factor that Eccelston never did. The episode was fast-paced and may not be suitable for children. For the first time, my daughter watched the episode and covered her eyes. We’ll see what tonight brings.

Next week Sarah Jane Smith returns in what promises to be more than a bit of soul-searching for Rose as she’s bound to realize that the end of her time with the Doctor is an inevitability and that someday she’ll have to go back to a normal life and the Doctor will continue on without her and with someone new. (Oh, and K9 will be back. how exciting.)

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Kraft Mac and Cheese has been a favorite of mine for years, and a few years ago when they introduced Easy Mac, I was thrilled. How could I not be? The ability to have a single serving of mac and cheese anytime I wanted as long as there is a nearby microwave, what more could one want?

Of course, that’s not really the case. Easy Mac isn’t quite as good as the regular boxed variety, and you still need to have a bowl and muck around with measuring water. Not difficult tasks to be sure, but it does make it more problematic for taking to the office. Who wants to wash bowls at the office or keep a measuring cup for the water? And so, Easy Mac has remained a home snack.

Imagine my delight when I recently saw that Kraft had released Easy Mac in a self-contained bowl!

The new packaging comes in a styrofoam insulated plastic cup with a marked inner line for the water level. So much for eliminating the bowl and the water measuring! Inside is a (small) portion of macaroni and a cheese sauce packet. Like ordinary Easy Mac, the process is simple: Add water, Microwave, add cheese sauce, stir.

Unlike ordinary Easy Mac, there’s something else in the mix: a strange white powder mixed in with the macaroni. The packaging indicates that the powder is normal and is necessary for proper cooking of the macaroni. Why? No such powder is needed for regular Easy Mac.

I cannot deny, this is the easiest yet of the Easy Mac.

But here’s the $64 question: How does it taste?

Answer: Odd.

With the first bite, I knew something was amiss. There’s an odd chemical, almost plastic flavor to the finished product. Is it the bowl? Is it the mysterious white powder? I cannot say, but it is not as good as the real product.

The new Easy Mac comes in two “flavors”: original and triple cheese. My first taste trial was with original. On my second attempt I tried triple cheese and felt that this was much more like the traditional Easy Mac in flavor. In fact, I could barely taste the plastic at all. Thinking that it might be a taste bud variation from one day to the next, I immediately proceeded to prepare a second original flavor cup to compare. Once again, the plastic flavor was quite strong. Apparently “triple” cheese is needed to overcome the plastic. (You might as well prepare two, these bowls are even smaller than an old-style Easy Mac serving!)

Conclusion: Good to have around the office, stick with the triple cheese. You’re still ingesting some plastic residue of some kind, but at least the flavor is masked.

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