The Doctor is back again now on Disney+ in the first of Russell Davies’ helmed specials, ‘The Star Beast’, which reunites Davies, Tennant (the 10th Doctor who is now also the 14th Doctor), Catherine Tate’s beloved character Donna Nobles, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple, and Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble.
Recap of ‘The Star Beast’ (Spoiler Free):
‘The Star Beast’ immediately follows ‘The Power of the Doctor’, Jodie Whittaker’s last episode as the 13th doctor which saw the surprise transformation back to Tennant’s Doctor. After arriving on what appears to be Earth, Tennant immediately runs into Donna Nobles, which would be a happy reunion if not for the fact that to save the world Donna had to take within her the power of the Time Lords, which required wiping her mind of such events for her protection. The Doctor has little time to deal with this, or the fact Donna now has a daughter named Rose, played by Yasmin Finney, as a spaceship appears to crash landing before their eyes (well the Doctor’s and Rose’s eyes.)
As The Doctor seeks to understand what happens by finding the ship’s landing site, teaming with members of UNIT a familiar organization from Tennant’s time as a Doctor, Rose happens upon a cute looking creature called The Meep. Rose tries to hide The Meep which is running for its life from the Wrath Warriors. Very quickly The Doctor, Rose, Donna, and the rest of the family are wrapped up in the fight for The Meep, which quickly becomes more complex and dangerous than any of them would have predicted.
Review of ‘The Star Beast’ (Spoiler Free):
Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), The Meep and Rose (Yasmin Finney) (Source: Disney+)
Tennant was my 2nd Doctor, and has since been one of my favorites. This is a pretty popular view in the Who fandom, thus its unsurprising that when they Davies sought to reprise a Doctor it’d be Tennant to return. Likewise Donna was many a fan’s favorite companion, and to say that Donna’s original ending felt emotional, but also perhaps tragically cut short, it was such a delight for many of us to see she’d be returning. That feeling stayed true as we see in the episode Tennant and Donna begin to work together progressively more so as the episode goes on. Equally exciting was the introduction, and re-introduction, of Donna’s family. Rose in particular was a welcome addition, and much of the episode centers on her in a way that felt novel yet satisfying.
I was also incredibly excited to see the introduction of The Meep, who I was unfamiliar with but was a Doctor Who comic book character first and has now transitioned to the screen. I’ve always been a fan of Doctor Who’s creatures, and so to have a ‘monster’ like The Meep in the episode made it feel like a classic monster episode from Tennant’s run. Though there were some elements of the episode I saw coming (which may just mean I have watched too much Doctor Who or TV in general), it all ultimately worked for me and I found the ending more than satisfying. I’m curious to see where it goes from here with the forthcoming two specials!
Spoiler Discussion of ‘The Star Beast’:
I alluded to some elements that I saw coming, and that was perhaps unsurprisingly the turn of The Meep. (Never trust cuteness in the world of Doctor Who.) What surprised me more, pleasantly, was the centering of Rose’s chosen gender identity. I am curious how an LGBTQ audience might react to their identity becoming essentially a power in of itself, but as someone who has queer friends and relatives I appreciate their inclusion in stories especially in a beloved show like Doctor Who, which though a sci-fi series has been somewhat slow in developing its progressivity.
