The Star Beast

"Why did this face come back?"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25 November 2023

Series: 60th Anniversary Special 01

Featuring: Fourteenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

The Doctor is caught in a fight to the death as a spaceship crash-lands in London. But as the battle wreaks havoc, destiny is converging on the Doctor's old friend, Donna Noble.

Verdict

The Star Beast was an excellent episode to kick off a brand new trio of stories to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary! After shots for this episode were filmed seemingly forever ago back in May 2022 and the hype train has been building ever since then, this one was certainly no let down. It’s always exciting to be getting a new Doctor but it seems that Doctor Who Magazine got the post-regeneration story in the form of Liberation of the Daleks because there was no sign of that usual occurrence here. With only three episodes to play with, it’s not a surprise that this direction was the one they went with and we definitely got a bit of a quirkier Fourteenth Doctor in Destination: Skaro where it was stated only an hour had passed since the end of The Power of the Doctor and the regeneration. That’s very intriguing and it allows us to get stuck right into the mystery of the Fourteenth Doctor and the return of a familiar face. I thought the way the Doctor came face to face with Donna was a hilarious start with her stumbling around with boxes and him helping out before putting them back on the unmanageable pile as he realised who she was. A tremendous moment. As if coming face to face with Donna again wasn’t enough, hearing her yell for Rose made it quite a manic few seconds for the Doctor! It was a glorious moment. I do think after what was said in the likes of Journey’s End and The End of Time that things were stretched slightly concerning Donna’s memory and her fate if she did remember, but it was good fun. The Doctor seemed to be testing those boundaries. A highlight for him was coming face to face with Sylvia once again in an almighty stride to answer the door to him. A slap wasn’t too surprising but it really was an iconic moment. I thought it was good to explore a little more of Shaun Temple and him losing the battle to the surname for Rose or even his wife taking his name was amusing. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Donna though. Discovering that she’d given away all of her lottery money was admirable even if it was a little silly despite the good intentions and her subconscious link of wanting to be like the Doctor. I really enjoyed the way they got around the whole metacrisis element by Donna having a child and that meant a shared inheritance and responsibility. That was very good and the whole tapping into her binary glitch and Rose picking it up as a trans person with non-binary was very clever indeed. The Doctor firmly established as both male and female as well as non-binary. The representation in the episode was great to see with Shirley also playing a big part as a member of UNIT with an incredibly cool wheelchair! The tech she had at her disposal there was fantastic and she had a lovely conversation with the Doctor which set the scene nicely regarding the situation with Donna and his current appearance. The rundown of incarnations between the two with this face was welcomed, although with such heavy UNIT involvement it’s a shame Kate didn’t appear. The concept of her looking after Wilf was lovely though and the somber moment where the Doctor thought he was dead was even more heartfelt considering that Bernard Cribbins has since passed away. He’ll live forever in our hearts and the Doctor proclaiming his love for that man, and even for Donna, was a nice touch and there are definitely going to be differences with this incarnation. It’s not quite the Tenth Doctor rehashed which I like a lot. The threat of the Meep in this episode was very good and it was a fine adaptation from the comic strip of the same name. I liked how faithful it was and we even had a character called Fudge! That was great stuff. The actual plot was a simple one with the Meep hoping to use London as fuel and then it being stopped thanks to the brilliance of the Doctor-Donna. The Wrarth Warriors were decent too and I liked that the Meep was arrested but left a cryptic message about the Boss. I’m assuming that will be the Toymaker, and not the super computer from The Green Death. But who knows! The sonic screwdriver being updated is good although I’m not entirely sure how much of a fan I am of it being a medley of recent designs. But it’s certainly an improvement on the last one. And that TARDIS interior! Absolutely beautiful and a huge step up from the previous era’s atrocity. It’s vast and it’s just stunning. The reaction of the Doctor was also just tremendous. The spilling of coffee to send the TARDIS who knows where was Donna at her best and I now look forward to next week! Overall, a lovely episode to see the show return and celebrate. 

Rating: 9/10