Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials
“The Star Beast”
Posted by Sage
In “The Star Beast,” the first of three specials marking the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, there’s a scene in which the Fourteenth Doctor descends on the new TARDIS console, pulling levers, flicking switches, and bounding around the controls with complete confidence. Sure, the TARDIS explodes about 60 seconds later, but it still gave me the overwhelming feeling that we’re in safe hands. It’s been a long time since Doctor Who has felt so sure of itself and proud to be exactly what it is. In other words…
We are so back.
When it was announced that David Tennant and Catherine Tate would be returning, it was quite clear that these specials would be in conversation with the past. After all, Donna Noble had one of the most hotly debated and tragic companion departures of them all – yet one that always seemed as though it could be easily fixed with a little bit of sci-fi flair, if one were so inclined. Well, the one who was so inclined turned out to be Russell T. Davies, who was responsible for Donna’s memory wipe in the first place. This is not a drag: I’m all for growth and for atonement via fix-it fic that’s filmed on a Disney budget.
But for as much as “The Star Beast” revolves around the return of the DoctorDonna and the reunion of The Two Best Friends That Anyone Could Have, this special very much exists in and is made for all of us right here in 2023. There’s a psychotic, carnivorous villain who uses their (its? Sorry, The Meep, that pronoun explanation didn’t cover all possible sentence structures!) harmless appearance to great advantage; a branch of militarized law enforcement that’s corrupted into mindless violence; and a seemingly threatening group of strangers who are actually only trying to enact justice and protect as many lives as they can. It’s Yasmin Finney’s character, however, who defines what RTD is out to accomplish in his second go-round. Not only does Rose Temple-Noble save her mother by simply existing as her truest self, she’s also filled her life in the absence of the Doctor. Donna was always a big-hearted character, but being Rose’s mum has only made her more so, and it was lovely to see a family not only so protective of their trans daughter (“I would burn down the world for you, darling.”) but so grateful for her as well. When emerging identities are often portrayed as a crisis and/or a painful transition for loved ones, “How lucky am I?” is the radically loving reaction we need to see on our screens. Even Sylvia is softer!
Emotions in general are flying around like psychedelic sun beams in this special, and thank god for that. I wonder whether we’ll ever get any sort of explanation for why this Doctor face decided to stop repressing every feeling he’s ever had, but for now, I’ll just enjoy that Fourteen is able to tell people that he loves them – and admit that to himself in the first place. (IT DOES NEED SAYING, DOCTOR. It always did!) There’s no point in bringing characters back to the show if they’re going to behave exactly as they did the first time, and David and Catherine bounce back and forth from earned maturity to their innermost goofball selves with grace and humor.
I don’t want to harp on the past several years, but if you were here through my sweaty attempt at making any sense of “Flux,” then I think you’ll agree that I’ve earned just a brief moment of comparison. As I said above, this special is unapologetic, pulling-out-all-the-stops, CLASSIC Doctor Who, and what a balm after a period in which the show seemed to be trying to be anything but. “The Star Beast” offers that homey mix of domesticity and galaxy-traversing bombast that has always been RTD’s signature –and something that neither Steven Moffat nor Chris Chibnall were ever quite able to nail. (Remember when Clara was a nanny for five minutes?) And David’s performance is dialed-up-to-11 Doctor-ish, flailing limbs, scaling walls, and hearty line readings all included. On top of that, the story flows, and the exposition is deftly handled. Putting The Meep on impromptu trial is just one clever way the script loads us up with information without making it feel like homework. The wig and its callback to the Fourth Doctor is just a bonus.
This adventure also shines when it comes to its guest characters, old and new alike. We all want the best for Donna, and how satisfying is it that she got exactly that with Shaun? Shaun, who happily drives a taxi every night because his wife felt compelled to give away their fortune, thinks she’s just as fabulous as the Doctor does, and has so much goodwill inside him that he’s even a little fond of Nerys. I hope we’ll be seeing more of Ruth Madeley’s Shirley Anne Bingham, the anti-Osgood, who brushes off the Doctor’s suggestion that she’s “waited [her] whole life” to meet him with a “you wish.” RTD made it clear with that BTS featurette for the Children in Need special that disability representation is a priority for this era, and Shirley Anne’s souped-up wheelchair is a really fun, in-universe way of highlighting her abilities. Also, this gives me faith that all confusion about the state of UNIT is now cleared up after years of not knowing whether it still existed or to what degree. (I have given up on trying to figure out whether half of the universe was destroyed.)
As for our otherworldly players, I mean…all hail The Meep. The combination of that gorgeous animatronic and CGI effects is pretty stunning, and Miriam Margolyes is brilliant voice casting. I almost wish I hadn’t spoiled myself on The Meep’s comic strip history, because, like Rose, I’m such a sucker for cute, cuddly things that I never would have seen that turn coming. The consummate professionalism of the Wrarth Warriors vs. The Meep’s aww-inducing deception is a charming contrast that says so much about both of those races in so little time. Did we need to know the names of Sergeant Zogroth and Constable Zreeg? Of course not. But it builds the world, makes the danger The Meep poses real, and most importantly, further engages us. Because that’s what stories are supposed to do.
I can’t speak with any authority on what the conclusion of the episode has to say about gender, but I don’t think that it’s perfect. People who aren’t men have also hoarded whatever power they feel they can claim, often to their own detriment – just look the voting records of most white women. And character-wise, I don’t buy that Thirteen would have been any more wise to Rose and Donna’s ability to simply release the metacrisis than Fourteen is. (She was incredibly insular and often ignorant of others’ feelings.) If Rose identifies as nonbinary, that’s great, but there’s no evidence of that beyond the reference back to Donna’s burnout in “Journey’s End.” I lean more to the interpretation that they’re all talking about the Doctor there, but I do fear that it’s confusing. All that aside, I absolutely shed a tear at “The Doctor’s male…” “And female…” “And neither. And more.”
“The Star Beast” is about a lot of things: how appearances can be deceiving, how living your life honestly empowers you and others, how generosity is always, in some way, repaid. But, let’s be honest. It’s mostly about friendship. The Doctor is still wondering why this face came back, and I’m sure we’ll get a more plot-specific answer over the next two weeks. Personally, I believe it’s because he couldn’t stand that Donna didn’t remember how much he loved her, and maybe never even knew. Theirs is a platonic relationship that’s treated like a romance, because that’s how life-defining it is for both of them. So much of the sadness around Donna’s end in Series 4 had to do with her losing the memory that she saved the world and that she was anything but just a temp. When we pick back up with her post-Series 13, Donna knows very well that’s she’s special and valued, even though she’s unemployed and has her mother still hovering over her, because the people around her know her worth and give her life meaning. What’s missing for Donna isn’t what she became because of the Doctor – it’s the Doctor himself and who she was when she was with him. She misses him as a person, not an idea. He’s missed her the same way, with the added guilt he carries over being the cause of what’s happened to her.
But Donna won’t have that. The Doctor wiped her memory as she was begging him not to, and in this episode, she gets her agency back. Donna signs on to sacrifice herself for her daughter and nine million other Londoners without a moment’s hesitation and in spite of the Doctor’s regret, and as much as it hurts the Doctor to put her back in danger, the script allows for that moment to be exhilarating for the both of them. She’s herself again, even if it’s only for 55 seconds. And Doctor Who says that everyone deserves to be themselves.
Both David and Catherine calibrate their performances so beautifully. They’re acting together before they can really act together as these two characters who know each other so well, even as conversations they have prior to Donna regaining her memory echo conversations they had back in the late aughts. (“He’s not dead.”) The way the Doctor beams when Shaun tells him Donna wouldn’t think of changing her name because of course he knew she wouldn’t. The look Donna gets on her face when the Doctor hands her the sonic. We get to see them arrive back at a shared understanding from two different places — it’s very Last Five Years, though hopefully with a happier ending.
Even if that’s not in the cards though, it’s such a joy to see these space besties together again, squee-ing over the TARDIS’ opulent new interior like they’re having their first sleepover. All of time and space is not ready.
Timey Wimey Observations
- Shout out to the absolute dream team of Murray Gold and Rachel Talalay for making this special look and sound so good. We’re so blessed to have both of them back.
- I’m dying to know when they decided they needed that screensaver-esque recap at the top of the episode. Who is Donna supposed to be talking to? Why is everyone so serious?
- Will RTD ever stop terrorizing the Doctor with the memory of Rose Tyler? Doing it to him twice in the first five minutes of the show was very mean. (I loved it.)
- Donna, you shut your mouth. David Tennant can continue wearing tight suits until the day he dies.
- “She’s fine…she’s not fine…she’s been fined.”
- Would purchase Rose’s Beast plush or scrunchie Ood.
- The most Donna thing she does in the whole episode is infer to Rose that her bully’s mom was slutty in high school.
- After the Doctor wraps The Meep’s paw and hears about Kate caring for Wilf, UNIT knocks on the door and David, who is sitting criss-cross-applesauce, GETS UP from the ground to standing without using his hands. I noticed this in my second watch, paused the episode, and immediately got on my floor to try it. It is impossible. He should donate his body to science.
- The new sonic screwdriver fucks.
- (The glasses also fuck.)
- Props to Jacqueline King for her entire performance, which is so fun and silly and full of love for Donna, but especially for her delivery of “tuna madras.”
- Love that Shaun is counting The Meep as a child when he yells “we’ve got children in here” to the possessed UNIT soldiers.
- Making The Meep transphobic = RTD saying “this you” to TERFs.
- I know it was a very tense and serious moment but it tickles me that the DoctorDonna gets activated like the Winter Soldier.
- Give Catherine the BAFTA for flipping the bangs out of her face before Donna lays into the Doctor.
- Both of them giving Sylvia the “pleaseeeee, mom” face outside of the TARDIS.
- I am going to be a shell when we finally see Bernard Cribbins.
What did you think of “The Star Beast” and the return of the DoctorDonna? Let us know in the comments!
Featured Image Source: BBC
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