Doctor Who and the Star Beast

"Surrender the Meep!"

Writer: Alan Barnes (Adapted from Pat Mills & John Wagner)

Format: Audio

Released: March 2019

Series: Comic Strip Adaptations 1.02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sharon

Synopsis

1980 AD! In Yorkshire, the authorities have dismissed reports than an Unidentified Flying Object was seen plummeting towards the ground... moments before the explosion that destroyed Blackcastle Steel Mills. After all, Blackcastle is the last place on Earth aliens would ever want to visit...

Local teenagers Sharon and Fudge know better. 'Cos they've found an actual space alien hiding in the allotments. He's their alien. Their secret. And his name is... The Meep.

He's not the only alien in Blackcastle, though. His pursuers, the terrible Wrarth Warriors, are on his trail, along with their unwitting accomplice: The Doctor!

Verdict

Doctor Who and the Star Beast was an average conclusion to the first volume of Comic Strip Adaptations from Big Finish. I must admit, I was hoping for a lot more from this boxset but after listening I'm not sure if I'd be wanting to purchase a second series. I think the idea on paper was tremendous and giving voice to the first two comic adventures from Doctor Who Magazine is lovely, but the stories just don't work as well in the performed genre. I think they actually have a tendency to come across as a little silly in some parts which is a big shame. The whole Beep the Meep character works so much better in the comic strips because that just suits it better. When we keep hearing the Meep it doesn't have the same effect as a speech bubble, and the transitions into Meep's thoughts didn't feel smooth here and was just highlighting the difficulty in putting this story into a different format. With all that said, I do enjoy the simplicity of the story with the Wrrth Warriors on the hunt for the deadly Beep the Meep and the Doctor getting caught up in the middle of things. It was a nice deviation from the comic strip to have the Doctor mention Romana, although I definitely think it would have been better to have K9 stick around. I'm also not sure how things fit in with Romana if Sharon stuck around and had journeys in the TARDIS of her own following these events. That felt like a little continuity error. For a debut, this was a solid outing from Sharon as companion and it was nice to get a voice for the character as she had a good run in the comic strips. The contemporary setting of Blackcastle was very good and definitely a highlight of the story, with the idea of aliens never coming to the town a fun dynamic when two different sets showed up. The Wrarth Warriors headed by Zogroth were a little bit rubbish on audio to be honest and they definitely had a feeling of being aimed at a younger audience in the comics. I'm never a massive fan when we have aliens or monsters that sound like they belong on a children's show and that fear was realised very early on here. The Doctor on his own doesn't feel the best use of Tom Baker's talents, but he did at least have a fun relationship with Mrs Higgins. The cliffhanger finish at the end of part two was truly memorable though with the Doctor having a bomb literally inside him and it being set for detonation. It really doesn't get much better than that to be honest and it instantly had me wanting to listen to the next part! I thought the resolution was a little lacking in excitement or big-time feel after such an eventful moment, but that was definitely the highlight for me. Fudge was a pretty good character although I felt his name meant I couldn't quite take him seriously. His relationship with Sharon was nice though and the touching moment at the end with the postcard was great. The Doctor taking Sharon to see the Library of Alexandria and implying he might have had something to do with it was great as well. The fate of Beep the Meep seemed to come a little easy considering his status, and it was good to know for Sharon that he wasn't quite sentenced to death due to the black sun influence. Overall though, this story was better contained to the comic strips where it worked much better. Still, an intriguing and worthwhile listen.

Rating: 6/10