The Star Beast

"Strands of the cosmos, drawing together a lonely Time Lord and an amazing woman..."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Novel

Released: November 2023

Series: Target 178

Featuring: Fourteenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

A life-changing encounter. A fugitive from the stars. Wrathful warriors in pursuit. 

Landing on Earth, the Doctor finds a stranded alien in need of protection – and is dragged headlong into the life of his old friend Donna Noble, knowing that if she ever remembers their time together, she will die...

Verdict

The Star Beast was an outstanding novelisation of the first televised special to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary! I was a big fan of the story we saw on television but I think this novelisation was even better. It was just sublime from start to finish. Gary Russell did a tremendous job of engaging the reader right from the off and this was a perfect example of how to expand on what we saw on screen in the books. I just was not expecting the milkman from The Stolen Earth to feature so prominently in the adventure, but I absolutely loved it. It worked so well to have him now employed as a cleaner at the steelworks where the Meep's ship crashed and he almost became a central character. It was rather impressive! I liked how the book seemed to spend more time touching upon the Doctor dealing with his new (but old) face and he constantly questioned why it had come back. The little reference to The End of Time and him not wanting to go when last in this body was good, and then of course he encounters Donna almost immediately! That meeting is just glorious, as is the first reunion with Sylvia. Both moments were written fantastically. I like how in the book it does seem a little less obvious that the Meep would turn and its twist when the Doctor summons court is a fine moment. I liked the description of the Wrarth Warriors in prose and they seemed more threatening here than they looked on screen in my opinion. I think the book also does a strong job in introducing Rose Noble to the fray as a semi regular character as Donna's daughter, and the way Donna's lines of repeating binary three times from Journey's End were inserted throughout the book as a reminder or hint of what's to come later was fantastic. It kept things going very nicely and by the end saw everything tie together quite spectacularly. Shaun Temple was just a nice guy and even in the book you can feel how much he loves his girls. Sylvia's sequence of understanding Rose's transition is good but not anything like overbearing which is exactly what it should be. A simple conversation is all that's needed. I think it's fun to include Fudge talking with Sharon in the story given the origins of this adventure in Doctor Who and the Star Beast. It really is quite baffling that this is a novelisation of a televised episode which in itself was based off a comic strip, which has already been adapted for audio! That is quite something and is the beauty of Doctor Who. Four different versions of essentially the same story. I love it. I thought the chapters were pretty long in the book with it only having seven in total which is quite small, but I like that as the writing was perfect and the pace absolutely flew by. Beep the Meep's wikipedia page entry (well, the intergalactic version) was fun and I really enjoyed getting little inserts like a text exchange or UNIT memo after each chapter. It brought a good sense of newness to a story experienced not that long ago at all. Shirley is introduced here very nicely and the discussion she has with the Doctor regarding his different faces and what's to come was terrific. Why would this face come back? That was a big theme of the book. The end sequence to prevent the Meep wiping out London to charge his ship was incredible and the emotion that comes with the Doctor not wanting to sacrifice Donna was sublime. Of course, she won't perish when she remembers the Doctor because of the shared meta crisis now she's given birth. The non-binary element of the Doctor was probably played down a little more in the novelisation, but as a whole it's a nice way of returning Donna's memories. And then there she goes back into the TARDIS for a new adventure. I thought the TARDIS having kicked the Doctor out whilst it changed to a brilliant white interior upgrade was a nice addition too. Overall, a pretty perfect novelisation of an excellent episode! A thoroughly enjoyable read. 

Rating: 10/10