Up with this I will not put.

DOCTOR WHO, S02E03 School Reunion

↳ Third Doctor Era

If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.

If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.

“It’s a real nostalgia hit,” says David, when we grab a chat while K9 is being mended. “This is the third episode that I’ve shot, so to suddenly be playing the Doctor, and then be joined by Sarah Jane and K9, it’s all a bit of reality check. John Leeson [the voice of K9] isn’t on set with us: he’s recording his stuff afterwards, which is a shame, cos that would have completed the picture. But it’s great to have K9 here. He still had his moments of, um… er… I don’t know what the word would be… he doesn’t work, basically!  Not all the time. He’s bumping into quite a few walls, and I don’t think he’ll ever manage anything in one take. Having said that, I will forgive him a great deal, because it’s K9,” he beams, “and that’s kind of special.”

And what’s Elisabeth Sladen - aka Sarah Jane Smith - like to work with?

“She doesn’t bump into the furniture. She’s better at following the stage directions.”

She was a bit of a childhood hero of yours, wasn’t she?

“It’s her voice, I think, that particularly takes me back,” says David. “She hasn’t aged much at all - she looks just about exactly the same - but there’s something, even when I was a kid, that just enchanted me about her voice. And it’s still there: that slight breathy quality. Everything’s very in the moment with her, very near the surface, and very real, and I think that’s all in her voice.  At the read-through, as soon as she opened her mouth, I got shivers, and I’ve still got shivers here on set.”

The sandwiches and cakes arrive - refreshments for the cast and crew - just as David is called away. Oh, what a shame! “Don’t eat the cream horns,” he orders, “cos I want a cream horn: I don’t want a Danish.”

“See, it’s gone to his head,” sniffs Steve from make-up. “He wasn’t like this on Casanova.”

“I don’t even like cream horns,” nods David.

In between takes, David Tennant chats happily with the pupils, who are volunteers - and wannabe TV stars - from local schools. “Have you broken it?” he exclaims, when one girl snaps her watchstrap. “Ooh dear, the whole show will collapse now! We’re gonna have to cancel cos you’ve broken your watch.”

Students, students, going to and fro, students, students, students.  In the middle of the throng are the Doctor, Sarah Jane, Rose, and Mickey. “It’s time I had a word with Mr. Finch,” the Doctor tells them, and heads into the school foyer.

“CUT” says James [Hawes, director], and then turns to Jon [Older, assistant director]. “The kids are walking in too fast. It needs to be five times as slow.”

“I’ve never seen anybody so keen to get to school,” agrees Elisabeth.

And then Noel thumps K9′s head so hard that one of his ears snaps off. “Is it broken?” asks the producer, Phil Collinson. “How long will it take to fix?”

It’ll take 10 minutes to fix, because the ear was linked to a servo.  K9′s side panel is removed once again, and out comes the screwdriver to fix it. “No twisting the ear this time,” says James.

“Can I pretend to twist it, though?” asks Noel.

“No! Be nice to the doggie!” replies Phil firmly.