The Star Beast

Adapting the 4th Doctor comic of the same name was a bold choice to kickstart Russell T Davies' new era of Doctor Who, it beings back that feeling of child-like imagination and wonder that makes the future of the Whoniverse look brighter than ever before.

The Doctor is caught in a fight to the death as a spaceship crash-lands in London. But as the battle wreaks havoc, destiny is converging on the Doctor's old friend, Donna...

After the past 5 years, getting a coherent and beautifully directed episode feels like a godsend. Bringing back Rachel Talalay was a stroke of genius on Russell's behalf, she cooked here, bringing to life the art of Dave Gibbons. The episode wastes no time getting stuck into the action, just when you think it's going to be a quiet little character building start, a spaceship crash-lands and it's all business as usual.

Tennant and Tate slip effortlessly back into their old routine, mile-a-minute chatter and wounding one-liners matching each other all the way. Tennant absolutely steals the show but Tate isn't very far behind, their enthusiasm and chemistry never wavers leaving me with a goofy smile I couldn't wipe from my face.

Granted there's a really badly timed joke on behalf of the late Bernard Cribbins but he gets a loving little tribute and cameo by journey's end which really made me well up with happiness. On the other hand though, Yasmin Finney's Rose adds nothing to the story that couldn't have been filled by Sharon in the original source material, but then again we wouldn't have gotten to experience such extremely lukewarm acting from Finney... Beep the Meep, however, is brilliantly realised. The genocidal fluffball has always been a fan favourite and he's done a great service by Miriam Margolyes' understated brilliance.

Murray Gold's return left me with mixed feelings but he brings back many of his classic themes from his last tenure while adding something new giving the story the dramatic weight it needed.

Despite my misgivings, with plenty of narrative hand-waving, goofy dialogue and telegraphed twists you can spot a mile off, The Star Beast is real return to form that we deserved. Silly, sincere and jam-packed with plenty of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey shenanigans that lays loving tribute to 60 years of Doctor Who whilst teasing a tantalising new era for the show... and the best part? It feels like the best is left to come. Allons-y!

South Park's Memberberries basically sum up this brand new episode to bring in Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary. While it's nice to see RTD running the show again with David Tennant and Catherine Tate back to guest star, I can't help but think this is merely a nostalgia trip to get viewers back on board for the Gatwa era, which is certainly what I, and I'm sure many others are excited for.

Yes, David Tennant is the modern era's Tom Baker popularity-wise, but he's not quite as interesting and intriguing as his two successors (predecessors now too?) Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi, who's portrayals match Baker's more alien nature, and in my opinion have aged better than Tennant's.

I'm more excited for Gatwa, bring him on! Also, new TARDIS is pretty sterile looking to be honest, doesn't hold a candle to the Smith/Capaldi era TARDIS's, heck, even Whittaker's had more atmosphere.

7/10. Not bad, but it's certainly no more than a nostalgia trip.

I never finished the last few seasons of Doctor Who, but I know this is better. It's definitely not perfect, but it's the start of something better. The beginning was a little rushed and weirdly done. There were a couple scenes that were VERY on the nose with the gender aspects, but I think that'll get toned down as the episodes go on as it was an introduction (hopefully..). I did love the new theme song, it feels very fitting for the new era. For me the standouts of the episode were Donna and her mom. There was a nice buildup of Donna getting her memories back. Obviously there are definitely some tweaks that should be made, to make the viewing experience nicer (and a little less cringy), but I'm happy with the shows return.

Was it perfect? Of course not. But it was a breath of fresh air after the previous era, carried heavily by the chemistry between David and Catherine. Tennant fits back into the doctor as if he never left, ultimately a really great and fun episode.

On another note I'd like to praise the production quality, you can clearly see where the budget went. In recent seasons the CGI was becoming very jarring, there's still some iffy stuff in keeping with what we love but it ties everything together so nicely. I especially enjoyed the cinematic framing of the episode, it's doctor who as we've never seen it before.

Doctor Who has always been a big part of my life, ever since it returned to screens when I was a wee nipper. I've since watched the original show and delved into the world of the novels and audio dramas and despite loving (almost) every second of it, I've always held Russell's era very closely to my hearts. I was both extremely excited and extremely worried about this fresh run of things: would it be able to capture the charm and atmosphere that made the Davies' era so wonderful? Would it feel like a soulless nostalgia grab? So many questions! But I'm glad to report that I LOVED this first episode. It was everything I had hoped for and more! Brilliant effects, wonderful performances, a tight script, music that hits all the right notes... I could go on. I'm not going to spoil it because it's got more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing but you should go and watch it right now! I imagine that I'll be seeing you back here this time next week, so until then, allons-y!