BBC Doctor Who - The Stories BBC
QuickNav to a Season: 
QuickNav to a Story: 
 
The Previous Story
The Star Beast
 The Previous Story
The Previous Story
(The Power of The Doctor)
 The Next Story
(Wild Blue Yonder)
Season
Details
SynopsisGeneral
Information
The
Episodes
Audience
Appreciation
ArchivesNotesFirst and LastThe PlotQuote of
the Story
Release
Information
In PrintPhoto
Gallery
 

David Tennant
The Star Beast
Fourteenth Doctor Logo


Synopsis


The Meep
The Meep
 The Doctor finds himself with an old face and something is very wrong.

 How can his former travelling companion Donna remember him and why has he got one of his old faces back?

 When a spaceship crash-lands in London, The Doctor is caught in a fight between UNIT, a cute looking alien called The Meep and a squadron of Wrarth Warriors.

 As the battle wreaks havoc, destiny is converging on The Doctor’s old friend, Donna and her family must face facts: Donna's past is catching up to her.



General Information

Season: Forty (60th Anniversary Specials)
Production Code: 60th-1
Story Number: 301 (New Series: 145)
Episode Number:872 (New Series: 176)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Working Titles:"The Bridge"
Production Dates: May - July 2022
Broadcast Date: 25 November 2023
Colour Status: HD Colour
Studio: Wolf Studios (Cardiff, Wales)
Location:
Writer:Russell T Davies
Director:Rachel Talalay
Producer:Vicki Delow
Executive Producers:Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Russell T Davies
Production Executive for BBC Studios:John Hamer
Executive Producer for the BBC:Rebecca Ferguson
Commissioning Editor for the BBC:Lindsay Salt
Co-Producer:Ellen Marsh
Director's Assistant:Daniella Wilson
Script Supervisor:Lucy Dews
Script Editor:Scott Handcock
Editors:Will Oswald, Emily Lawrence (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant), Lucy Harris (Assistant) and Matt Nathan (VFX)
Colourist:Gareth Spensley
Head of Production:Alex Protherough
Production Executive:Steffan Morris
Production Manager:Delmi Thomas
Post Production Producer:Ceres Doyle
Post Production Supervisor:Liv Duffin
Location Managers:Daniel Wellstead, Darren Pratt and Hollie Voice
Supervising Location Manager:Iwan Roberts
Studio Manager:Richard Balshaw
Unit Managers:Kyle Yates and Paul Milligan
Production Designer:Phil Sims
Director of Photography:Matt Gray BSC
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Online Editors:Christine Kelly and Geriant Pari Huws
Line Producer:Mark Devlin
Costume Designer:Pam Downe
Hair & Make-Up Designer:Claire Williams
Cameramen:Martin Stephens (Operator) and Elesha Pederson (Trainee)
Construction:4Wood
Visual Effects:Untold Studios
VFX Producer:Will Cohen
VFX Supervisors:Dan May and Tom Raynor
Special Effects:Real SFX
Creature Design:Painting Practice
Creature FX:Millenium FX
Creature FX Designer:Neill Gorton
Stunt Co-ordinator:Derek Lea
Stunt Performers:Ben Ashley, Elizabeth Donker Curtius, Gary Grundy, Gary Hoptrough, George Harris, George Surrey, Jack Jagodka, Jake Osborn, James Grogan, Joel Conlan, Kim McGarrity, Marlow Warrington-Mattei, Matt Sherren, Paul Bailey, Renato Gjini, Rob Jarman, Ross Upton, Sarah Lochlan, Steve Whitley and Tom Hatt
Creature Choreographer:Paul Kasey
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Sound Designer:Rob Ireland
Sound Recordist:Alex Thompson
Dubbing Mixer:Paul McFadden
Music Orchestrated By:Alastair King
Music Conducted By:Alastair King
Music Performed By:BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Music Mixed By:Jake Jackson
Title Sequence:Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
The Meep and The Wrarth Created By: Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: David Tennant (The Fourteenth Doctor) (Newly Regenerated)
Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) (Rejoins) Guest Cast: Jacqueline King (Sylvia Noble), Miriam Margolyes (Voice of the Meep) Additional Cast: Yasmin Finney (Rose Noble), Karl Collins (Shaun Temple), Matt Green (BBC Reporter), Jamie Cho (Colonel Chan), Ruth Madeley (Shirley Bingham), Harley McEvilly (Lad 1), Max Fincham (Lad 2), Dara Lall (Fudge Merchandani), Cecily Fay (The Meep), Brian Herring (Meep Animatronics), Phil Woodfine (Meep Animatronics), Robert Strange (Wrarth Warrior 1), Stephen Love (Wrarth Warrior 2), Jordan Benjamin (Wrarth Warrior 3), Vassili Psaltopoulos (Wrarth Warrior 4), Isabella Carey (Soldier), Ronak Patani (Major Singh), Ned Porteous (Voice of Zogroth), John Hopkinson (Voice of Zreeg), Anna Martine Freeman (Chief Technician), Archie Backhouse (Sergeant)Setting: London (2023) Villain:The Meep

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
872The Star Beast25 November 202357'08"7.6Yes

Total Duration 57 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.6


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



Return to the top of this page
 


Notes


"The Star Beast" is the first of three hour-long special stories forming part of the celebrations of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. This story was written by returning head writer and showrunner Russell T Davies and was directed by Rachel Talalay.

This is the first full onscreen adventure for David Tennant, as the Fourteenth Doctor, the return of Catherine Tate, as Donna Noble, and the first story of Russell T Davies's second stint as showrunner.

This story is an adaptation of the comic strip story ‘Doctor Who and the Star Beast’ by Pat Mills and John Wagner, which featured the Fourth Doctor meeting Sharon Davies after she had been tricked by Beep the Meep. It was illustrated by Dave Gibbons and appeared in 6 parts, in issues 19 to 26 of Doctor Who Weekly, from February to April 1980. The full comic strip was also included with issue 598 of the Doctor Who Magazine. The original story was also adapted by Alan Barnes for a Big Finish Productions Fourth Doctor audio story in 2019.

Though this story is not the first television story to be adapted from other media, most other adaptations were written by the same person as the original source material, such as "Dalek" (adapted from the Big Finish Productions audio story "Jubilee" written by Robert Shearman), "Human Nature/The Family of Blood" (adapted from the Virgin Books' The New Adventures novel "Human Nature" written by Paul Cornell) and "The Lodger" (adapted from the comic story published in Issue 368 of the Doctor Who Magazine written by Gareth Roberts).

This story comes a year after the introduction of David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor in "The Power of The Doctor", and follows on from his first adventure in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "Liberation of the Daleks" and his first onscreen appearance in the 2023 Children in Need special mini-story "Destination: Skaro".

This story serves as the reintroduction of David Tennant and Catherine Tate, with David Tennant making his first regular appearance as the Fourteenth Doctor, having previously played the Tenth Doctor during Russell T Davies' original tenure as showrunner, as well as in the 50th anniversary special "The Day of The Doctor" in 2013, while Catherine Tate reprises her role as companion Donna Noble. This story also sees the return of Jacqueline King (as Sylvia Noble) and Karl Collins (as Shaun Temple), with newcomer Yasmin Finney (as Rose Noble) and guest stars Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the alien Meep.

This story focuses on the newly-regenerated Doctor being drawn back to the life of former travelling companion Donna Noble, whose memory he was forced to wipe after her human mind became overwhelmed by the Time Lord knowledge in the 2008 story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End". Upon his arriving in modern-day London, he is caught in a fight to the death when a spaceship crash-lands, with an alien army of Wrarth Warriors pursuing a small furry creature known as The Meep.

This story is the first Doctor Who story to be led by Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner since the two-part 2009 Christmas special "The End of Time" and marks the return of former producer Phil Collinson, who left the programme after the conclusion of Season Thirty (New Series 4), as an Executive Producer. Composer Murray Gold also returned to the show for the first time since the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time". Jane Tranter also returned to the show as an Executive Producer, alongside newcomer Joel Collins.

Director Rachel Talalay previously directed every season finale for the Twelfth Doctor, as well as the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time".

On the 25th December 2022, it was announced that Jacqueline King and Karl Collins were set to return - both of whom last appeared in the final Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time" in 2009/2010, and that Ruth Madeley would appear as Shirley Bingham. Yasmin Finney joined the cast to portray a character named Rose. The BBC later confirmed that Rose’s surname would be Noble, so revealing that this character was going to be the daughter of Donna and Shaun. On the 14th September 2023, Miriam Margolyes was announced as providing the voice of The Meep.

This story begins the fourth era of production in the revived series, following Russell T Davies' first tenure as Executive Producer from 2005 to 2010, Steven Moffat's from 2010 to 2017 and Chris Chibnall's from 2018 to 2022.

In July 2021, the BBC announced that Chris Chibnall, who had served as Executive Producer and showrunner of Doctor Who since 2018, would leave the show after a run of specials in 2022, alongside Thirteenth Doctor star Jodie Whittaker. The future of the programme was first teased by Controller of BBC Drama, Piers Wenger, on the 25th August 2021, when he revealed an upcoming change for Doctor Who would be ‘radical’.

On the 24th September 2021, it was then announced that Russell T Davies would return to Doctor Who as its showrunner, after having acted as showrunner for the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor, succeeding Chris Chibnall for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023 and beyond. Russell T Davies was joined by the Bad Wolf production company, which was founded by fellow former Doctor Who Executive Producer Julie Gardner and former BBC head of drama Jane Tranter, with Bad Wolf taking over creative control of Doctor Who beginning with this special.

Russell T Davies confirmed in March 2022 that pre-production had begun at Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff. Filming for this story then commenced in May 2022 and was completed in July the same year.

This story features the Fourteenth Doctor meeting Rose Noble during a reunion with Donna Noble that involves Rose being tricked by The Meep. In this story The Doctor begins to have doubts over his own identity after his recent regeneration gave him the Tenth Doctor's face and body again. This phenomenon, wrapped in questions and mystery, becomes a major part of the Fourteenth Doctor's character throughout the three stories that make up this season.

Shirley Bingham briefly mistakes the Fourteenth Doctor for the Tenth Doctor, referencing his involvement with UNIT in the 2007/2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky". The Doctor likewise recalls that he was UNIT's first scientific advisor, as seen in the 1970 Third Doctor story "Spearhead From Space".

Although not mentioned in this story, the Fourteenth Doctor has a new sonic-screwdriver because of the events of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story ‘Liberation of the Daleks’, in which, his old device was destroyed.

The Doctor uses his sonic-screwdriver to resonates the mortar to dislodge bricks and create holes in the walls between the attics of several houses. He is heard claiming that it is very good at resonating concrete. He mentioned this before in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances". However, the Sonic Screwdriver is still useless against a Deadlock seal. This was first revealed in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways".

The Doctor is seen using his psychic paper, as first seen in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World". However, it seems that it takes time to properly reflect The Doctor's gender in titles, as it refers to him as a ‘Mistress’, having not updated itself since his recent regeneration.

The Doctor mentions ‘wearing a bowtie’, being ‘a Scotsman’, and ‘a woman’ in his previous three incarnations.

The Doctor it seems carries a barrister's wig and conducts a trial like the Fourth Doctor did in the 1978 story "The Stones of Blood".

The Doctor is heard again shouting ‘Allons-y’ when encountering Shaun Temple in his taxi, a common catchphrase from his tenth incarnation.

The Doctor and Shirley mention Jammy Dodger biscuits. It was a favourite food of the Eleventh Doctor as seen in the 2010 story "Victory of the Daleks" and the 2013 story "The Bells of Saint John".

The Doctor is seen throwing his coat off again when he enters the TARDIS, similar to the Tenth Doctor in the 2006 story "New Earth".

The Doctor's Theme is briefly heard when The Doctor uses his screwdriver. Likewise, a variation of the Eleventh Doctor’s theme song ‘I Am The Doctor’ is heard in this story.

Catherine Tate’s last regular appearance as a travelling companion Donna Noble was, fifteen years previously in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" and thirteen years after her last actual appearance in the 2009/2010 Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time".

This story resolved what had happened to Donna following her last adventure with the Tenth Doctor, with it being revealed that a portion of the Human-Time Lord metacrisis that had led to the creation of the DoctorDonna had transferred from Donna to her child. The story not only saw Donna fully regaining her memories of The Doctor, but the end of the DoctorDonna and the release of the metacrisis, now shared between two brains instead of only one.

Donna continues her habit of managing to miss alien events, as first noted in the 2006 story "The Runaway Bride". In this story it is while she is focussing on sorting her shopping rather than paying attention to a falling spaceship.

The last three words that The Doctor uses to reactivate the DoctorDonna are ‘Binary, Binary, Binary’. This is a reference to the first word Donna fumbled over in "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".

Wilfred Mott (played by the late Bernard Cribbins), who was last seen in the 2009/2010 Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time", is mentioned. Now, due to being 94-years-old and unable to use the stairs in their home, he is staying in a cottage as ‘sheltered accommodation’ with UNIT covering most of the expenses, as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart said she would look after the ‘old soldier’.

The Doctor Who Official Annual 2024 contained several works of fiction which teased some of the characters in this story. Namely the short story ‘We Are Family’ hinted towards the reunion of the Noble family and The Doctor, with Rose meeting The Meep.

Rose Noble named herself after The Doctor’s former companion Rose Tyler due to the subconscious memories that she got from the DoctorDonna.

Donna is heard sarcastically calling Shaun ‘Bob the Builder’ after he corrects The Doctor on the brick wall being made with mortar and not concrete.

The Wrarth Warriors and The Meep make their first onscreen appearance.

Rose Noble points out that The Doctor assumes The Meep's pronouns, bringing up gender identity.

The Meep threatens to explode the engines of his spaceship to ‘rupture Earth and damn everyone to Hell’.

Donna snidely refers to The Meep as ‘Mad Paddington’.

The TARDIS surprises The Doctor with a new console room, which it had previously done in 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Eleventh Hour" and 2018 Thirteenth Doctor story "The Ghost Monument".

The Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS also had a coffee machine similar to the one in the Fourteenth's, as mentioned in the 2020 story "Orphan 55". The Thirteenth Doctor's however, was not built into the console, but her console did have a biscuit dispenser.

When Donna spills her coffee on the TARDIS console it produces a similar reaction to when Iris Wildthyme spilt gin on her TARDIS console in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Iris Wildthyme: The Panda Invasion".

This story starts with an opening monologue by the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna. The Doctor starts off by saying ‘Once Upon a Time Lord’. Before this story, there has been a graphic novel and a comic strip story using this as their title.

The notable differences between the televised story and the original comic strip story are:

 
  • "The Star Beast" is set in London rather than Blackcastle.
  •  
  • Fudge has a much smaller role in this story than his comic counterpart Fudge Higgins, who in the comic story finds Beep along with Sharon Davies.
  •  
  • The Meep speaks English from his initial meeting with Rose Noble, whereas in the comic story Beep only starts speaking English once the Fourth Doctor arrives. (However, as the TARDIS is already in the general vicinity when The Meep arrives in the television story, the TARDIS might have already started translating).
  •  
  • In this story The Meep has an injured paw, whereas Beep is found bleeding by Sharon Davies and Fudge in the comic story.
  •  
  • The Doctor’s initial capture by the Wrarth Warriors and them implanting a bomb in his stomach in the belief he is Beep’s accomplice is not included.
  •  
  • K9 is included in the comic strip but is not present in the television story.
  •  
  • In this story The Doctor gets The Meep away from the Wrarth Warriors in Shaun’s taxi rather than using a local bus.
  •  
  • Rather than over a cup of tea at a kitchen table, in the television story the Wrarth Warriors explain The Meep's villainous nature in a mock trial in a car park.
  •  
  • The cause of The Meeps’ turn to evil in this story is stated to be their sentient sun turning psychedelic, whereas in the comic story it was due to the radiation of the Black Sun.
  •  
  • In this story Zreeg and Zogroth are killed by The Meep. In the original comic, different Wrarth Warriors are shot at but they survive to take Beep into custody.
  •  
  • In this story The Beep’s spaceship uses a dagger drive for propulsion whereas in the comic story it uses a Black Sun drive, which Beep intends to use for a star jump that would create a black hole on Earth.
  •  
  • In this story Donna and Rose reverse the dagger drive entirely, stranding The Beep on Earth, whereas in the comic story The Doctor lets Beep initiate the star jump but sabotages it so the action does not destroy Earth and only moves the spaceship into Earth’s orbit.
  •  
  • In this story The Meep is sentenced to 10,000 years rather than 3,000.
  •  
  • In this story The Meep taunts The Doctor as they are taken into custody, rather than trying to beg for mercy and promising to be good as Beep does to Sharon.
  •  
  • In this story The Meep cryptically tells The Doctor they will tell ‘The Boss’ about him, as a creature with two hearts.


  • When The Doctor tells The Meep he has two hearts, Sylvia tries to convince Donna that he means it metaphorically.

    The Doctor creates a holographic screen to analyse data about The Meep's spaceship. He adjusts the dials at the base of his sonic-screwdriver to begin the scan.

    The Doctor creates mobile force fields to protect himself, The Meep and the Noble family from both energy and projectile weapon fire. These appear as two-dimensional rectangles which resemble holographic screens, which he creates in the air, using his sonic-screwdriver.

    The Doctor is heard mentioning The Shadow Proclamation, invoking ‘Protocols 15, P and 6’.

    Rose Noble's toy designs are based on Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Ood, Lupari and the Adipose.

    According to Rose Noble, London has a population of nine million people.

    UNIT has a new headquarters located near the Gherkin, in the City of London. This skyscraper towers above the buildings in the immediate area and has a helipad.

    The titles for this story include a credit for Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons as the writers of the comic story this story is based on.

    This story contains a number of errors. Namely: in the shot of the UNIT Headquarters, the Leadenhall Building can be seen, despite this being the site of the UNIT Headquarters in "Power of The Doctor". The onscreen geography also places the new UNIT Headquarters in the middle of Leadenhall Street.

    This story had its press release and premiere on the 6th November 2023 at the Battersea Power Station in London. It also had a special screening, as part of the anniversary celebrations, on the 23rd November 2023 at the Royal Television Society in Cardiff.

    This story aired one year, one month, and two days after the previous story "The Power of The Doctor" was broadcast - making this the longest gap between two consecutive stories since the show's return in 2005.

    This is the first regular story to be broadcast on a Saturday since the 2017 Twelfth Doctor story "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls".

    With this story it is the first time that the Executive Producers have been credited straight after the title sequence.

    This is the first story to air on Disney+ internationally. The Disney logo also appears in the end titles.

    A novelisation of this story, written by Gary Russell, is due to be published in paperback in January 2024, and then on audio in February 2024, as part of the BBC Target Collection.



    First and Last

    The Firsts:

     The first of three stories celebrating the show's 60th Anniversary

     David Tennant’s first full story as the Fourteenth Doctor.

     Catherine Tate’s first appearance as companion Donna Noble since "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".

     Russell T Davies' first involvement in the show during his second stint as Executive Producer.

     Julie Gardner's first involvement in the show during her seconf stint as Executive Producer.

     First time Murray Gold's version of the signature tune, sound and music is heard during his second stint in the show.


    Return to the top of this page
     


    The Plot

    WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
    The Doctor
    The Doctor

    Having recently regenerated The Doctor is confused as to why he has taken on the body and face of one of his previous incarnations - the Tenth Doctor. He recaps the adventures he once had with his former travelling companion Donna Noble. He notes that after she gained his memories and intelligence, during their last adventure together, he was forced to completely wipe her mind of their adventures and knowledge of The Doctor himself so as to save her life, as his memories put her in danger. But this in itself does not explain why has he regenerated back into a body identical to his tenth incarnation. The Doctor guesses that it must be something to do with Donna, and that maybe the last time they were together wasn't the end of their time together. Meanwhile, on Earth, Donna can't shake off the feeling that deep down something is missing in her life.

    The TARDIS takes The Doctor to Camden Market in London. On exiting he wanders into a bustle of people before seeing a woman holding a large pile of boxes, which he tries to help with. He is shocked to discover that this is Donna, but thankfully she does not remember him. The Doctor also gets to meet Donna's teenage daughter, Rose.

    While trying to elude Donna recognising him a spaceship streaks overhead and apparently crashes nearby. This event is noticed by all except Donna. As Donna and Rose head off this enables The Doctor to flag down a cab, so that he can reach the crash site. But he is surprised to discover that the taxi driver is Donna’s husband, Shaun Temple.

    Donna Noble
    Donna Noble

    Shaun drives The Doctor to an industrial area in north London where The Doctor discovers that UNIT has arrived before him. Gaining access to a large building undetected The Doctor begins to analyse the data from the spaceship but is soon discovered by UNIT scientist Shirley Bingham. Recognising The Doctor she offers him her readings on the site. As he looks at them The Doctor explains to her his confusion as to why he resembles his tenth incarnation and his re-entry into Donna's life, believing the two events are connected. UNIT soldiers then arrive and inform Shirley that they have found an escape pod nearby and are sending a team after it, prompting The Doctor to leave with them. After The Doctor leaves, the UNIT soldiers manage to unlock the spaceship and Shirley sends them to secure whatever's inside. As the door opens, tendrils of light flow out into the eyes of the soldiers, leaving them aglow as they turn and walk away.

    Meanwhile a friend of Rose tells her of an escape pod from the spaceship landing near her home and soon afterwards, amongst some rubbish bins in an alleyway, she encounters a small, cute looking furry creature. The creature names itself The Meep and tells Rose that it is being pursued by other creatures that The Meep describes as ‘monsters’. Rose hides The Meep in the shed in the garden where she lives. This is where she keeps her homemade stuffed toys that she makes for an online business, but Donna arrives and despite Rose’s attempts to prevent Donna discovering the alien creature Donna, thinking that The Meep is just another of Rose’s toys inadvertently pokes The Meep in one of its eyes and is shocked to discover that it is alive.

    Rose Noble
    Rose Noble

    The Meep tries to calm Donna down and when Sylvia discovers the commotion tries to convince Donna that the entire thing is just a hallucination and that The Meep doesn't exist. The Doctor then arrives at Donna’s house, after UNIT stops nearby and he realises that something must be happening at Donna’s house. Using his sonic-screwdriver he enters the house and is confronted by an angry Sylvia before he then discovers The Meep. Shaun's return home defuses the situation and together they learn of The Meep's history who reveals that it has two hearts, just like The Doctor, and claims that the Wrarth Warriors used to hunt Meeps for their fur and, when the rest of the galaxy put a stop to the practice, they decided to kill all The Meeps and it is the last of its species.

    UNIT soldiers then arrive at the front of the house and at the same time two Wrarth Warriors arrive at the back and a battle between them through the house occurs with The Doctor, The Meep and the Nobles caught in the middle. The Doctor manages to get The Meep and Donna's family away from danger by escaping through the attics and out onto the street by using the sonic-screwdriver to weaken the brick walls between the houses. But outside they discover that a huge battle is taking place between the possessed UNIT soldiers and the Wrarth Warriors. The Doctor though discovers that strangely the Wrarth Warriors are not using lethal force. They manage to drive off in Shaun's taxi and The Doctor directs Shaun to take them to a nearby multi-story car park.

    There The Doctor dons a wig and holds a trial with The Meep and two Wrarth Warriors (called Zogroth and Zreeg) that he uses his sonic-screwdriver to summon. The Doctor notes how he witnessed that the fallen UNIT soldiers weren't killed, merely rendered unconscious. The Wrarth Warriors confirm that their weapons do not kill - merely apply an anaesthetic. The Wrarth Warrior reveal that they are not trying to kill The Meep. They consider the tale of The Meep to be tragic, a species whose sun turned psychedelic and turned them into vicious beings bent on conquest of the whole universe. The Wrarth Warriors were summoned to stop their conquest. But as they all fight to the death, only this last one remains, their leader, who is the worst of them all. With the truth revealed The Meep drops its cute façade, pulls out a weapon and kills the two Wrarth Warriors just as the possessed UNIT soldiers arrive. Finding themselves surrounded by The Meep and the possessed UNIT soldiers The Meep threatens to kill The Doctor and Donna's family, but The Doctor manages to convince The Meep that they are more useful as hostages than dead.

    Rose Discovers The Meep
    Rose Discovers The Meep

    The Meep takes the group back to the steelworks and shows off the spaceship present there. The Meep reveals that it plans to escape Earth, with the possessed UNIT soldiers. But this horrifies The Doctor who reveals that the spaceship has a dagger drive which gets its power for propulsion by stabbing downwards. This would result in the whole of London being incinerated for fuel. The Meep laughs and orders the group taken aboard the spaceship but The Doctor and Donna's family are rescued by Shirley. Rather than escaping The Doctor and Donna, the latter of whom is starting to remember her past, return to the spaceship to stop The Meep.

    Donna enters the spaceship after The Doctor and watches him as he darts around, flipping switches and buttons trying to prevent the spaceship taking off. The Meep though traps them inside and lowers a screen from above, splitting the room in two and separating Donna from The Doctor. But despite The Doctor’s best efforts time runs out as The Meep activates the dagger drive. Having run out of other options The Doctor is forced to reawaken Donna's memories by removing the mental block she has in her head and regeneration energy spills out of her. But to The Doctor's surprise, Donna does not die as it would appear that with Rose's birth, Donna had passed down part of the meta-crisis into her daughter, awakening some memories of The Doctor within Rose, which is why her shed is full of stuffed toys that are unconscious imitations of the TARDIS and the aliens that her mother had encountered during her past travels with The Doctor. Now with all her memories of The Doctor restored the two of them are able to shut down The Meep's spaceship. In doing so the possessed UNIT soldiers return to normal.

    The Wrarth Warriors then show up to arrest The Meep which they imprison for ten thousand years. But just before they depart The Meep gives The Doctor a cryptic warning about two hearted species being very rare and that someone called ‘The Boss’ will be told about him. The Doctor is initially put off by this but brushes it aside as The Doctor is more concerned about the effect on Donna and Rose of having too much knowledge for any human to cope with. But Donna and Rose decide together to expel the rest of the meta-crisis from their bodies.

    Sometime later, back outside the TARDIS, The Doctor suggests that Donna joins him on one last trip to visit Wilfred Mott so that he will no longer need to worry about all the secrets he has had to keep. Donna readily accepts this invite. However, when they enter The Doctor discovers that the TARDIS has rebuilt itself including, to his delight, a coffee machine as part of the console. He pours Donna a coffee but as they discuss things Donna accidentally spills her coffee over the TARDIS console causing it to go haywire as the console bursts into flames. As the TARDIS begins to dematerialise The Doctor remarks that they could end up anywhere in time and space.

     
    The Meep
    The Meep
    Sylvia Noble and Shaun Temple
    Sylvia Noble and Shaun Temple
    Wrarth Warriors
    Wrarth Warriors
    Shirley Bingham
    Shirley Bingham
     
    UNIT Soldier
    UNIT Soldier
    The Doctor
    The Doctor
    The Revamped TARDIS
    The Revamped TARDIS
    The TARDIS On Fire
    The TARDIS On Fire




    Quote of the Story


     'You've been given a second chance. You can do things different this time! So why don't you do something completely new… and have some friends?'

    Donna Noble



    Return to the top of this page
     


    Release Information

    FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
    Video
    DVD
    60th Anniversary SpecialsDecember 2023BBCDVD 4563Photo-montageDVD containing the 3 special 60th Anniversary stories.
    Video
    Blu-Ray
    60th Anniversary SpecialsDecember 2023BBCBD 0579Photo-montageBlu-Ray containing the 3 special 60th Anniversary stories.
    Video
    Blu-Ray
    60th Anniversary SpecialsDecember 2023BBCBD 0581Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing the 3 special 60th Anniversary stories.


    In Print

    FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
    Novel
    Novel
    The Star BeastJanuary 2024BBC BooksGary RussellAnthony DryTarget Collection. ISBN: 978-1-78594-845-9
    CD
    CD
    The Star BeastFebruary 2024BBC AudioGary RussellAnthony DryAudio version of the BBC Books Target Novel read by Jacqueline King.
    Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 597 (Released: December 2023)

    Return to the top of this page
     


    Photo Gallery


    The Doctor and Companion

     
    David Tennant
    The Fourteenth Doctor

       

     
    Catherine Tate
    Donna Noble
     
       




    On Release

    DVD Cover
    DVD Cover

    BBC
    VIDEO
    Blu-Ray Cover
    Blu-Ray Cover

    BBC
    VIDEO
    Blu-Ray Steelbook Cover
    Blu-Ray Steelbook Cover

    BBC
    VIDEO
       


    In Print

    BBC Books Target Collection Cover
    BBC Books Target Collection Cover

    BBC
    NOVEL
     
    BBC Audio CD Cover
    BBC Audio CD Cover

    BBC
    CD
       


    Magazines

     
    Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 597
    Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 597

    Marvel Comics
     
       

    Return to the top of this page
     
     
    Who's Who
    KJ Software
    Who Me
    Episodes of the
    Fourteenth Doctor


    Season 40 (60th Anniversary Specials) Press to go back to the previous visited page References
     
     
    Doctor Who is the copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation. No infringements intended. This site is not endorsed by the BBC or any representatives thereof.