Doctor Who The Star Beast Review. Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

So finally here it is; the most anticipated television return of the year with David Tennant returning as Doctor Who along with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble against an enemy first faced by the fourth Doctor in the pages of Doctor Who Weekly. The other big bad has waited a very long time for this rematch. But was it worth the wait or all spectacle and no heart? Was this birthday cake a sickly lemon or a delicious Victoria Sponge? Read on.

We open with a recap narrated by the Doctor and Donna before the new gorgeous title sequence. the recap sets the tone perfectly as the Doctor questions the return of his new face and that he thinks the story has not ended yet.

Straight in and the Doctor meets Donna in the street. he panics but as he later tells her she would only die if she remembers their time together, not merely by seeing his face. We met Rose, Donna’s transgender daughter who runs her own online business making cuddly toys in a shed at the bottom of the garden.

All the elements are there. Donna misses the crashing ship in the middle of a crowded street and she doesn’t carry her husband’s surname as it makes her sound like a ruin. Doing a catch up with Shaun Temple now a taxi driver the Doctor discovers Donna gave away the triple rollover of £166 million that he gave her as a wedding present. Her mother Sylvia now dismisses anything like UFOs as nonsense and Wilf is now in a UNIT run cottage because he can no longer make stairs thanks to Kate lethbridge. Upon laying eyes on the Doctor, Sylvia clobbers him again a throw back to the original series. Donna’s sudden memory loss was put down to a nervous breakdown. Catherine Tate’s delivery of her pain at feeling like she has lost something special is moving. It hurts her also that Wilf stopped talking about aliens and the like on the same day.

Their lives have been to keep Donna safe just in case one of those alien incursions bring the Doctor back into their lives. Donna’s war cry that there are to be no secrets in her house is sadly ironic given the amount of secrets they have. Equally the Doctor sticking to the shadows while UNIT is all around him investigating the crash speaks volumes about his fear of killing Donna having met her, so for now the shadows have to be his cloak. I like the new scientific advisor Shirley Bingham number 56 to his number one. Having been in a wheelchair for the last four months myself, I am glad to see a character living a full life in the same position. Although when the fighting starts I wouldn’t mind a chair like Shirley’s. Brilliantly done and a great inspiration to others.

Be careful what you don’t wish for as they say as the crashed ship dropped something that lands near Donna’s house. The occupant is now hiding in Rose’s shed where she makes her toys having found the Meep in a n alleyway. Something is definitely bringing Donna into all this as the Doctor arrives at the Noble household as do the Wrarth Warriors and possessed soldiers. Everyone seems to be after the Meep and the Doctor has an ingenious way of getting the entire Noble family out of the crossfire thanks to his screwdriver’s new ability to create force fields.

The action sequences are great as the Wrarth battle UNIT soldiers are very well done as are the Wrarth Warriors themselves. But something isn’t right and this Doctor may look like the tenth and technically the eleventh but he does a Tom Baker when he whips a judge’s wig out and puts the Warriors and the Meep on trial as it doesn’t add up. The truth is revealed as the Meep’s true colours are revealed. The change from cuddly to evil is very well executed as the real fight begins.

I have to say the original comic strip plotline is adherred to in almost every detail. As a fan that read it all the way back then this episode is a double joy. It’s not the first time a comic strip has been turned into a episode but the Star Beast is the better of the two. Maybe I am seeing it nostalgic glasses but I think it’s great the new generation get to learn the Star Beast story itself but kids, you should be reading too.

it’s a tale all about judging by appearances which ties in nicely with the Rose character. It is not rammed down our throats but when Rose is called names in the street by a gang of boys and Sylvia having trouble with the change in so far as using the right pronouns are subtle enough to let the audience know that this has not been easy for Rose or her family even though they are good with it. In fact it is the key used to tie up the Doctor Donna very nicely. When the Doctor is forced to make Donna remember to stop the Meep’s ship blasting off because he needs her genius to do it, he is upset. It is like killing her twice over. Donna kicks herself for giving away all her money because subconsciously she was doing what the Doctor would do and now her family live a life that could have been so much better. Donna dies in the Doctor’s arms. However, Donna survives the metacrisis because of her daughter.

When Rose was born she took part of the Time Lord mind from her mother and has been subconsciously influenced by it all her life. The toys she makes are aliens Donna met like Judoon and Ood. Her name she chose herself and the shed was her Tardis. Rose always felt different because a Time Lord is both male and female but as Rose declares she is more. And two minds are better than one as they purge the Doctor’s mind wipe from themselves completely. It is a beautiful tangent where mother saves daughter and daughter saves mother putting them both in a good place filled with hope for the future. Does it take away from the tragedy of the ending of Jpurney’s End? No. In fact it feels like it compliments it and celebratory. The Doctor created it but he doesn’t resolve it.

The Nobles do.

Yasmin Finney does a great job as the troubled teenager who finds her place in the universe thanks to her mother and her alien friend. It is a satisfying resolution to the storyline while facing social topics. It is a reminder that the world is forever changing as is the human species and the Nobles’ world has certainly changed for the better.

As he is taken away by the Wrarth, the Meep warns that he will tell the boss about the creature with two hearts. Donna goes on one more trip despite Sylvia’s warning that something will go wrong. A nice touch is this Doctor does what the other one didn’t. He admits that what he did to Donna killed him and that he really loved her. The other Doctor could never have said that. The new Tardis is amazing combining the past and the future. It even has a coffee machine. Donna spills her cup on the console. It bursts into flames as the Tardis is blasted to who knows where with the two of them aboard totally out of control.

We have hit the 60th ground running with an episode that delivers on every level. But who is the Boss and how involved is he in destiny gathering round Donna once again?