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| The Doctor reunites with the Nobles to deal with a new alien: a living Furby calling itself "The Meep." |
1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 58 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. From the comic strip story by Pat Mills and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Directed by: Paul Bernard. Produced by: Vicki Delow.
THE PLOT:
The Doctor is confused. Somehow, the last regeneration has left him with a face he left behind a long time ago. Then the TARDIS lands him in London... which is not unusual, except that he immediately runs into the one old friend who must absolutely never remember him: Donna Noble, whose memory he wiped in order to save her life after she absorbed the power of the Time Lords.
Though this seems unlikely to be coincidence, he isn't given time to ponder it. No sooner has he arrived than an alien spaceship crashes in a steelworks facility outside London. Cute and fuzzy alien Beep the Meep (voice of Miriam Margolyes) is on the run from heavily armed interstellar warriors - and that pursuit leads straight to Donna.
According to the Meep, it is running for its life. Donna's transgender daughter, Rose (Yasmin Finney), is instantly determined to protect it. But the Doctor isn't so sure that the situation is exactly as it appears...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: His mind hasn't fully caught up with the change back to male. When he first brandishes his psychic paper, his credentials identify him as "Mistress." He spends the first part of the episode trying to avoid Donna to keep her from remembering him, but he can't resist finding out about her life over the past fifteen years. He strongly suspects that his regeneration (degeneration?) to the very face he left Donna with cannot be coincidence... but this is Doctor Who, so chaos unleashes itself before he gets any real time to ponder this mystery.
Donna: She gave away the lottery money the Doctor arranged for her, which is one of several signs that losing her memories of him didn't wipe away the personal growth she experienced. She adores her daughter, and after Rose endures some catcalls on the street, she tells her: "I would burn down the world for you, darling. Anyone has a go, I will be there and I will descend." Her protectiveness of Rose becomes her primary motivator at the climax, when she declares her child's life to be more important to her than her own.
Sylvia: I don't remember particularly enjoying the character of Donna's mother back in Series Four. Maybe my tastes have changed, or maybe the character writing was just better here, but I loved Sylvia in this episode. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with her trying to shield Donna from any hint of an extraterrestrial presence. It makes emotional sense; if Donna remembers, she'll die. But it also reaches peak comedic absurdity as she stands in her kitchen while the living Furby that is the Meep clutches to Donna's leg while the Doctor barges. As all this erupts around her, she helplessly cries: "(The Doctor)'s not there, you can't see him, and there's no monster... None of this is real!" It's very funny and emotionally resonant all at the same moment, and it marks this episode's single best moment.
Rose Noble: Given how big a part of the episode Rose is, I really want to say more about her... but there isn't very much to say. She's transgender and is fortunate enough to have a family that accepts her. She makes stuffed toys to sell online to help her parents. She's instantly protective of the cute and frightened little Meep. And... that's pretty much it. Once the action kicks in at the midpoint, what little personality has been established disappears as she's reduced to a Living Plot Device. If Yasmin Finney recurs, which I suspect is likely, I hope future scripts will serve her better - but in The Star Beast, she's pretty much just "there."
Beep the Meep: The cute and fuzzy alien first appeared opposite the Fourth Doctor in the Doctor Who Magazine comic story, Doctor Who and the Star Beast. Both that and the Meep's appearance opposite the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish's Doctor Who Magazine audio special, The Ratings War are overwritten here, as it is absolutely clear that this is the first time the Doctor has met the Meep. The translation of the character to live action is a success, with the fuzzy Muppet cute and expressive. The Meep is suitably pitiful while relating his backstory to the Doctor and the Nobles, and the sight of him trundling down a hallway during an escape while exclaiming, "Meep Meep," is highly amusing.
THOUGHTS:
I think I'm one of the few Doctor Who fans who was not overjoyed when Russell T. Davies' return was announced. His version of Doctor Who was never my favorite take on either series or character. None of which is to deny that his 2005 revival struck a chord with viewers: Its success eclipsed any reasonable expectation. It should also be noted that overall reaction to the 2023 specials indicates that Davies hasn't lost his popular touch. It just wasn't a version of the show that consistently resonated with me.
The Star Beast shows off many of Davies' best tendencies. He handles large groups of actors well (I actually mostly enjoyed the Chibnall era, but I will not miss watching the cast sometimes literally line up to be spoon-fed exposition). He brings in enormous amounts of energy, and he's adept at juggling action, comedy, and emotion. The sequence involving the invasion of the Nobles' house, first by the Meep, then by the Doctor, and then by still more visitors, is a sustained moment of brilliance that seems to effortlessly mix all of that at the same time.
Davies has also never been one to shy away from courting controversy. His script tries hard to mix ideas about gender into and around the story: the transgender Rose, the Doctor's recent regeneration/gender-swap, and even the Meep identifying his personal pronoun simply as "the Meep." It doesn't always work, with the Meep's story not particularly connected to that theme. But the gender issues are well-used when dealing with the Doctor's regeneration or with the lingering thread of Series Four's metacrisis. I also have to give Davies credit even for trying to address this subject in the current politically charged climate.
Unfortunately, the story also features some of his worst tendencies. The sonic screwdriver being ludicrously overpowered is a given... but now it can literally make force fields out of thin air. Yes, Tennant sliding those forcefields into place is like a scene out of Looney Tunes in the best possible way, but this takes away any pretense of the tool being anything other than a magic wand.
I also think it falls apart in the final Act. The main story devolves into nonsensical activity, with the crisis being resolved by flipping a bunch of switches while Murray Gold's score plays too loudly in an attempt to convince me that this is exciting. This is followed by a moment of nauseating smugness as Donna and Rose explain to the Doctor what "a male-presenting Time Lord will never understand." At which point I think my eyes rolled so far back in my head that I was actually peering at my own brain.
That final Act ends up damaging my overall opinion of the episode - which is a shame, because I had been enjoying it until the last twenty minutes.
OVERALL:
In the end, The Star Beast feels... a lot like a Series Four episode, and not just because Tennant and Tate are back. I liked Series Four well enough at the time... but this felt like warmed up leftovers when I really would have preferred a fresh take. Hopefully that will come with the arrival of Ncuti Gatwa.
Oh, and the new TARDIS looks beautiful. My favorite New Series console room is still the Capaldi version, which I doubt will be bettered - but I like this design, and I think there's room to build on it in future episodes.
Overall Rating: 5/10. But it was on its way to a solid "7" until the final third.
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