Doctor Who: The Star Beast – Is The Reboot Worth The Watch?

Alright, so I’m going to start out by saying that my family is a diehard fan of Doctor Who. David Tennant’s doctor is a rewatch all the time in my household and the show is a family favorite. We love to watch the Christmas specials, we love the new episodes, and it’s a family event for us. 

Let’s talk Tennant

Seeing David Tennant come back to life in The Power of the Doctor was one of those moments that was exciting but also a little concerning. He did such an amazing job that I almost thought that it would ruin his reputation as the Doctor and everything that entailed. Out of the many reboot Doctor’s, Tennant’s (as agreed by my brother and I), did the best job at representing the character. He was able to show the good of the time lord while also a little of the alien in him. He held nothing back and his episodes are our absolute favorite to rewatch. 

The Star Beast shows Tennant become the Doctor again, but he almost seems unsurprised by the fact that his face is back – which is something that the audience is definitely wondering about. It’s mentioned that he possibly came back to “say goodbye” to Donna Noble, one of his previous companions, but (and this is a minor spoiler), it doesn’t seem like that’s the case? 

This face seems to be brought back as a way to get the old audiences of Doctor Who back into the show. It seems like a way for the producers to entice the fans that fell off after Tennant left. A lot of fans do argue that the show became a little harder to watch and less accurate from the older lore and stopped watching, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Tennant was brought back as a way to get fans back into the show and watching again. 

DoctorDonna

Bringing back a fan favorite companion is exciting. This hasn’t really happened super often in Doctor Who history. We’ve also got Donna’s daughter – Rose (coincidence? Nope.). It’s interesting to see the way that new fans are able to understand what’s going on with the whole DoctorDonna situation, but they’re also bringing back fan favorite phrases and things that only fans of the show would know. 

Donna as a character is exactly the same. I think the funniest part of the show is when she channels her Doctor energy and it’s like her subconscious is working against her and turning her into the Doctor. 

The storyline

I can’t say that I enjoyed the storyline. I think it was one of the worst stories that the show has ever put out. I’m sorry, but it seemed like it was meant for children to enjoy – which is something that my family and I were questioning throughout the episode – is it turning into a kids show now that it’s on Disney+? The story was so predictable and too easy to understand. Where’s the Doctor Who mystery? Where’s the questions and the exciting running? Where’s the story?! All I got from this episode is that DoctorDonna is back together and that for some reason he has the same face, and that Donna’s kid is called Rose and all three of them are pretty cool. There was nothing to take out of this story, no underlying message, no excitement for the next time. It was too predictable. 

Is it worth the watch?

Listen, I’ve seen the trailers, you’ve seen the trailers. It looks like it gets better and I am really hoping that it does. While it leaves you questioning something small like “why is the Doctor’s face back to the same old him?”, it also is the same question we’ve been asking for a year now and it’s seeming pointless to find out. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m curious. I’m going to keep watching. But does this episode give you anything except a few references to the older seasons and a small look into Donna Noble and her life so far without the Doctor? No, it doesn’t. 

Overall

It’s good to have Tennant back in the role again. It’s a good way to get fans back into the show and into the new reboot. It seems like they’ve gone to a lot of trouble to try and make the show different, but, it also was one of the most predictable episodes I’ve ever seen and was very much made out to be a children’s show. I’m not sure if that’s the route that the series is taking, but I’m fairly certain that I won’t be the only disappointed fan if that’s the case. 

Rating: 2/5⭐