Doctor Who: Star Beast

Doctor Who Star Beast (Russel T Davies)

I was already upset at the end of the last episode. It’s not that Jodie was my favourite Doctor, but between her, ‘The Fam’ and Chibnall, that series was the one that changed the whole show for me. Mum had recently had treatment for breast cancer; Dad was interested in Yasmin Khan and wondered if his granddaughter might be a police officer. During the run, Mum passed away, and my niece,whose’s code name is ‘Sleepy Owl 123 I shall eat you’, is in all likelihood going to be a timelord when she grows up. So Jodie was more than my doctor. I went from watching it in my room after dinner to watching it with my family on a big telly in the living room with dinner on our laps. All of us, for an hour, as a family. I felt cheated when Jodie left, and even more so now.

Star Beast sidesteps everything that has gone in between. Watching Journeys end only earlier this afternoon, it felt like this is classic RTD to the beat. And it’s not that it isn’t enjoyable. In fact, in many ways, it’s delightful. The Amblin sentiment being overplayed in the first act meanst that revealing, but it’s in the craft. 14 is not much different from 10; pitches, squints, and running exist. You remember the running, there’s always running, but he still does that skippy thing when there’s a small debris. 

David Tennant is not phoning it in; he delivers and discusses, and you feel his confusion not about his face but about Donna. And there have been changes here. Great ones that allow a world to evolve.

Catherine Tate brings more nuance, and the role had to be fleshed out; now, a wife and mother, she is still Noble in every way. Everything is there in the family, and the usual domestic escape from soldiers and monsters is still as quirky and absurd as ever. But it charms. He always does do charm. It’s simple enough for a child to follow, and there is the rub.

Off the back of so much, it can’t help but feel regressive to bring back an old doctor, an old family, and yes, monsters that technically are new but still have everything about them rooted in 1980, even the twist.

But it does it all with warmth, and we get the bickering, the mistakes and the gaffs. The self-assurance of everyone he meets has a secret doohicky power; even the sonic has upgraded to abilities that annoyed me more than that time R2D2 suddenly had Robbie rocket legs, an ability that turned up and made me think ‘that would have been bloody useful in so many earlier adventures.

I did have some reservations, not least being that Donna’s end was the closest to real tragedy—New, who has ever touched, indeed at all, since Adric. Shut up. Being annoying doesn’t change the fact he was a kid. 

Undoing that is not so much audacious as unsettling to me. And sits in the difficulty for all the gloss, humour, and slapstick return that RTD does well. But something left me in two hearts by the final act.

Anyone who says a doctor who went woke in this episode is a liar trying to mask bigotry. There’s more representation in the slightest character, but this story is very traditional. They should be happy as the monsters and threats are practically Pertwee, so they lie.

But something was missing in how that was handled. I think there is a lack of heroic trans characters and a lack of courageous wheelchair users in the genre. But their heroism should come from their character, not their demographic, and there was something trite about its presentation. BUT….I’m nearing 50 and must think about those who come after me. If I didn’t feel demographic was necessary, this would not be ‘The Irish Indian Times; bi-cultural reviews for non-binary Times’

And that is where my time travel has to kick in. I’m nearing 50, but approaching 15 as a mixed-race kid in south London in the early 90s.s as someone who always was, is, and states ‘mixed’ when people get angry and tell me I’m white like I’m just being difficult. And then asked about my language skills. And ..and …and. I had a family solid, supportive family and a brother, and we sat and watched doctors together and talked about India and cancer. 

Young people who are transgender don’t always have that, more than likely, a lot of anger towards them in their own homes. That is reality. With massive waiting lists and mounting suicide rates, that is a reality. Is it essential that a sci-fi show gives them more ‘reality than they already have? Or provide that teenager with some respite and a moment, even an hour. Where they can feel

Amazing?

Oh, the new tardis…I don’t like it. But as a funny tour for a quick three-episode trip, I think it’s a nice place to revisit.