- You may wish to consult
Star Beast (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The Star Beast was the first of three Target novelisations based upon the 2023 specials of Doctor Who,[1] published on 30 November 2023[2] by Target Books and written by Gary Russell.[1][3]
Publisher's summary[]
to be added
Chapter titles[]
- The Hunt
- The Star Beast
- The Psychedelic Sun
- Hour of the Beast
- Revenge of the Wrarth
- Countdown to Apocalypse
- Here We Go Again
Deviations from televised story[]
- The opening sequence of the Doctor and Donna breaking the fourth wall is omitted.
- The Doctor implies that the TARDIS kicked him out.
- The milkman who appeared in The Stolen Earth [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)., here named as Stew Ferguson, is given a central role in the story.
- The exact state of Donna's memories after having everything related to the Doctor removed is expanded on;
- From Donna's perspective, Lance Bennett simply disappeared on their wedding day, and her family removed all mention of him from her social media.
- Sylvia, Shaun and Wilf banned all mention of science fiction to prevent Donna being at risk of remembering the Doctor.
- When Donna was two-years-old, she would come into her parents' bedroom every morning for a hug. One night, she woke up at 11pm and, not realising it wasn't morning, wandered into her parents' room and began traumatically sobbing when she found they weren't there, believing she had been abandoned. The sound she made caused her parents to run frantically upstairs, terrified at what could have happened to cause her "primal howling".
- When Donna was ten, she left Sylvia in Tesco to help a small boy who had lost his own mother. After reuniting the boy with his mum, Donna got a special award from the manager, and got her photograph in The Herald's Little Heroes section.
- The ringleader of the lads who harass Rose is given the full name Callum Wingate.
- Fudge and Rose mention their friend Sharon Allen.
- Fudge notes the Wrath Warriors he encountered came out of Mrs Higgins' garden.
- There is more of Fudge providing a running commentary on events to Sharon over the phone.
- The novelisation includes a female UNIT sergeant named Vaughan, who acts as Colonel Chan's aide and is the one who comes to the Nobles' front door in this version.
- The sleeping man the Doctor and company pass is named as Billy MacPherson, a friend of Stew who has a tendency to sleep through alien incidents.
- Instead of them being cut off, Rose insists her family go back to help and join up with Shirley.
- Shaun and Sylvia witness Rose becoming part of the metacrisis earlier than it is revealed on screen.
- It is mentioned that the Wrarth Warriors are working under the authority of Judge Scraggs.
- Fudge is stated to be working towards a new controller for his PlayStation.
- The Doctor directs UNIT to take the Meep into custody shortly before the second group of Wrath Warriors arrive to take over.
- The leader of the second group of Wrath Warriors is named as Captain Zagran.
- There are a number of fictional documents between the chapters, such as an exchange between Rose and her customer and a Wikipedia-esque article on Meepkind.
- The Doctor pretends to be about to hug Sylvia near the climax.
- Sylvia, Shaun and Rose's reaction to the TARDIS going out of control is omitted.
Characters[]
to be added
Worldbuilding[]
- The Nobles' home address is 23 Bachelor Road.
Notes[]
- The trilogy of novelisations was announced on 14 July 2023.[1]
- The novelisation was released as an eBook on 30 November 2023,[2] and as a paperback on 11 January 2024.[3]
- This novelisation will be released as an audiobook on 1 February 2024,[4] complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Jacqueline King. However, according to Penguin Books' website, the audiobook will be released alongside the paperback on 11 January.[5]
- The novel ends with a dedication to every single person to write a Doctor Who book to have passed away.
- A BBC Books spokesperson told Doctor Who Magazine about the excitement of being able to publish ebooks so close to a television event such as the 2023 specials.[2]
Continuity[]
- Stew remembers the events of The Stolen Earth [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)./Journey's End [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)., mentioning "that time all them planets appeared in the sky".
- Stew recalls that his grandfather was a police officer after the war; evidently PC Ferguson from The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith [+]Gareth Roberts, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 2 (CBBC, 2008)..
- The Doctor sees Megabyte City, the shop that Rose Tyler saw being looted in The Stolen Earth [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)., which has long since gone out of business and remains boarded up.
- Wilf has since thrown away his copy of Joshua Naismith's Fighting the Future, the book Donna gave him for Christmas in The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010)..
Gallery[]
The pre-artwork cover
The finalised cover
A promo picture of the unfinished covers for The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle
A promo picture of the final covers for The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle
The pre-artwork audiobook cover
The artwork audiobook cover
External links[]
- Official The Star Beast page at Penguin Books
Footnotes[]
Notes[]
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials to be novelised for the Target range on doctorwho.tv
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 DWM 597 - Gallifrey Guardian, Page 4
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Doctor Who: The Star Beast (Target Collection) on penguin.co.uk
- ↑ DWM 598 - Gallifrey Guardian, Page 7
- ↑ Doctor Who: The Star Beast on penguin.co.uk
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