Doctor Who: The Star Beast ★★★★

“Once upon a time, once upon a Time Lord, I had a best friend and her name was Donna Noble. A Time Lord and a human. And we travelled the stars together” – the Doctor

Storyline
Newly regenerated but with an earlier face, the Doctor returns to Earth where he is swiftly reunited with Donna Noble. Her life has moved on – with husband Shaun and teenage daughter Rose – and her past adventures in the Tardis lie forgotten. She will die if she remembers the Doctor. A furry alien called the Meep crash-lands on Earth and takes refuges with the Nobles as it is hunted down by fearsome Wrarth Warriors. But the Meep is far from meek and benign, and when it reveals its true nature, the planet is once again in danger…

First UK broadcast
Saturday 25 November 2023

Cast
The Doctor – David Tennant
Donna Noble – Catherine Tate
Voice of the Meep – Miriam Margolyes
Rose Noble – Yasmin Finney
Shaun Temple – Karl Collins
Colonel Chan – Jamie Cho
Shirley Bingham – Ruth Madeley
Sylvia Noble – Jacqueline King
Fudge Merchandani – Dara Lall
Major Singh – Ronak Patani
Sergeant – Archie Backhouse
BBC reporter – Matt Green
Soldier – Isabella Carey
Chief technician – Anna Martine Freeman
Voice of Zogroth – Ned Porteous
Voice of Zreeg – John Hopkinson
Lads – Harley McEvilly, Max Fincham
The Meep – Cecily Fay
Wrarth Warriors — Robert Strange, Stephen Love, Jordan Benjamin, Vassili Psaltopoulos

Crew
Writer – Russell T Davies
Director – Rachel Talalay
Music – Murray Gold
Producer – Vicki Delow
Executive producers – Russell T Davies, Phil Collinson, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter

RT review by Patrick Mulkern

Who-oosh… and they’re back! I don’t just mean David Tennant and Catherine Tate, who are reunited as the Doctor and Donna after 15 years – time having barely changed them a whisker. Russell T Davies – showrunner and, for many, Saviour of Doctor Who – is at the controls again, along with many of his old guard: fellow executives Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson; and composer Murray Gold lifting us aloft with his exhilarating score.

With this A Team reassembled, the familiar package of energy, humour and pizzazz fizz from the screen, albeit with even more heart than we’ve seen before (“I absolutely love her,” says the Doctor. “Oh, do I say things like that now?”), which is odd for an alien blessed with two hearts. The good Doctor has rediscovered his mojo.

The newly regenerated 14th incarnation bears Tennant’s features once more (for reasons yet to be explained) but while it’s great to have him back, I’d have found it interesting had Tennant presented a completely different characterisation. But I’m sure I’m missing the point and will be a lone voice there.

Doctor 14 crosses timelines with Donna Noble (Tate), whose death was foretold, should they ever meet again. Brash, gobby and funny as ever, she is going about her life, oblivious of alien incursions, while her expanding family is ever protective. Grandad Wilf (Bernard Cribbins in his last role, who was papped while filming) is mentioned but has yet to be seen.

The Star Beast has the momentum of a bank-holiday movie for all the family, and if it feels cartoonish, that is just right, because the furball Meep, the Wrarth Warriors and aspects of the plot originated in a comic strip in Doctor Who Weekly (now Magazine) back in 1980. It bears striking similarities with ET – the Extra Terrestrial too, though it must be said that the Spielberg film came out two years after the DWW strip. The Meep is a cute design, even when it finally bares its fangs, and is a lovely voicing job by Miriam Margolyes.

New characters include Donna’s daughter Rose, played by Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney (a trans woman), and Ruth Madeley as Unit’s 56th scientific advisor Shirley Bingham, who comes with a very well-equipped wheelchair. Modern Doctor Who is rightly inclusive, and it’s typical and deft of Davies to make their inclusion key to the resolution.

The Star Beast is diverting fun to kick-start the 60th anniversary, with two more specials to come, paving the way for a Christmas reset with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor.

Catch up on past episodes in the Radio Times Doctor Who Story Guide