60th Anniversary Specials #1:
--- "The Star Beast" by Russell T. Davies

I can no longer take Doctor Who seriously.

Now, that may sound harsh, I still like the show, this episode was good fun but as an actual, mature and interesting TV show that I can get invested in, Doctor Who is no longer what it was. I think Doctor Who is now primarily for a much younger demographic as it feels like more adult themes have disappeared. No longer will we get the fascinating and deep emotional beats of stories like Father's Day, Parting of the Ways and Vincent and the Doctor, we'll just get episodes like the Star Beast, where anything but a happy ending is heresy.

With his old face back, the Doctor finds himself reunited with one Donna Noble and her family as an alien crash landing draws him into the pursuit of the Meep by the villainous Wrarth Warriors. But is everything how it seems?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

First, the positives: it is abundantly clear just how much fun Tennant and Tate were having on set and their energy is infectious. In fact, I think the entire cast and crew seemed to enjoy this admittedly very fast and fun story, so even as their characters fumble through messy dialogue and direction, I still enjoy watching them. I think Beep the Meep, though given cringe-worthy dialogue at points, is such a fun pantomime villain that clearly isn't trying to take itself seriously, it knows its a weird, obscure comic villain and it rolls with it. Also, I do really like Rose even post the brain dead ending, but we'll get to that. Finally, the new TARDIS is great, I think that it has so much potential for fun and interesting visuals, they just need to add a bit of furniture.

Onto the bad, which there is a lot of. First off, this plot is no better than a Chibnall script. A novelty run around with absolutely no urgency, constant dumb and contrived solutions to problems, convenient strokes of luck everywhere and a distinct flatness in the characters and situations they find themselves in. The ending to this episode is perhaps one of the worst I've ever seen: an insulting Deus ex Machina that not only makes absolutely no sense and is pulled from thin air but also undermines the incredibly well written and emotional ending to Journey's End. Could've just taken Donna to any crowd Doctor and she would've been fine, I guess, because you can just offload timelord consciousness at will now. Also, as a cis person, I don't want to speak for a group I am not a part of but why couldn't the trans character just be trans and not have a contrived, space babble reason for their gender identity, I feel it takes away from a great character.

Putting all that aside, a sugar coated happy ending and unrealistic, annoying dialogue make this episode objectively bad in my opinion, if a lot of fun. It's just so sad to me that I can no longer look at my favourite show of all time and truly call it the tour de force of writing it once was.

5/10

Pros:
+ Actors are clearly having a lot of fun
+ Really like the character of Rose, despite the questionable decisions they made with her
+ Fun villain that didn't take itself seriously at all
+ Great new look for the TARDIS
+ Fantastic score from Murray Gold
+ It's the beginning of a new era, I have no idea where it could go and I'm going to stay optimistic despite the leaks, which sound god awful

Cons:
- Chibnallesque dialogue that makes me cringe
- Embarrassing ending that felt like it was catering to five year olds
- A constant stream of Deus ex Machinas that removed all tension
- A plot filled with holes and lacking in any real substance to put it past being a simple novelty
- Inconsistent and rushed pacing
- A baffling exposition heavy opening
- New title sequence that just feels off, I can't really put it into words, it feels too short and like its moving both too fast and too slow at the same time
- Lack any really interesting or deep themes, literally everything could be understood by somebody under ten and that really puts a damper on the show
- No Wilf