Trivia / Doctor Who S28 E3 "School Reunion"

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• Cast the Runner-Up: Anthony Head was once in the running to play the Eighth Doctor.
• Corpsing: To get authentic laughter from Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen, David Tennant 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.
• Deleted Scene: Several moments were trimmed or excised in editing.
  • Banter between Kenny, Melissa, Luke and Faisal prior to the Doctor entering the classroom in the teaser — which would have fleshed out the children's characters — was cut.
  • The Krillitanes eating the hermetically-sealed rats was removed, and instead replaced by a voiceover explanation by the Doctor. Another voiceover was used to truncate the scene. The cut footage also had Mr. Wagner mention that they'd killed an OFSTED inspector who investigated the school to keep him from finding out the truth.
• Enforced Method Acting: To get Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen to laugh uncontrollably, David Tennant drew a ridiculous moustache on his face with a marker pen. That's why the shots of Rose and Sarah Jane laughing are distinctly different shots from those of the Doctor's befuddled reaction.
• Fandom Nod: A reference to the fandom debate over whether those who travel with the Doctor are "assistants" or "companions" (both of which were used in the classic series). Outside media largely used "assistant" during the classic series, although, since the revival, this is hardly heard any more.
  Sarah Jane: I can tell it's been a long time, your assistants are getting younger.
  Rose: I'm not his assistant!
• Prop Recycling: The K9 prop used at the end of the episode is one of the original props from the 1970s.
• Role Reprise: Welcome back, Sarah Jane Smith. It was way too long since we last saw you.
  • John Leeson also returns as the voice of K9, over two decades after his last appearance as the character in "The Five Doctors".
• Spared by the Cut: What exactly happened to Milo between the Doctor's class and the scene at lunch? In the footage that was cut, the Doctor's questions to Milo actually made him collapse, prompting the Doctor to bring him to the school nurse, who turned out to be another Krillitane. This Krillitane then ate Milo, explaining what Wagner is referring to when he comes up to Melissa and tells her she's being moved up because Milo's failed him.
• Wag the Director: Sarah was originally a recovering alcoholic, but Elisabeth Sladen suggested that this be removed.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original storyline submission for the episode was entitled "Black Ops", and it involved the Doctor meeting Sarah while investigating events at an army base neighbouring an isolated village.
  • The Buffy Speak example listed on the main page? Originally the line was just "Get the shooty dog thing". A quick bit of editing changed it. Note how the camera changes to Finch as he's on the "get" part.
  • Mickey originally didn't appear in the episode.
  • The confrontation between the Doctor and Finch was originally scripted to happen in the school gymnasium but was moved to the pool, which James Hawes felt served as a more dynamic setting.
  • The Krillitanes' physical appearance changed greatly during the episode's development — originally they were all winged but otherwise human.
  • The Krillitanes were going to be called "Krillians" until The BBC found the name was trademarked.
  • Finch's forename was originally Hector, until the BBC found out a real teacher had the same name, and renamed him to Lucas.
• Working Title: "Old Friends".
• You Look Familiar: Anthony Head played warlord Grayvorn in the Big Finish Doctor Who "Excelis" Story Arc, meeting the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors (as well as Iris Wildthyme and Bernice Summerfield).

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