Trivia / Doctor Who 60th AS "The Star Beast"

• Approval of God: Both Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons, the respective writer and artist of the original Doctor Who Magazine story this episode is based on, have praised how the episode adapted their original story. The fact that they were not only credited as the original creators in the opening credits, but also invited on-set to see their work brought to life certainly doesn't hurt, either.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: Miriam Margolyes provides the voice of the Meep.
• Channel Hop: In every country outside the UK and Ireland, this was the first episode to stream on Disney+.
• Dawson Casting: Rose does not look under-15; not surprising since actress Yasmin Finney was 18 at the time of filming. RTD even provided an explanation for her age.
  Russell T Davies: We slightly fudged the years with Donna but you mustn't forget, uh, that time cloud that descended on Camden in 2017 and dislocated everyone by exactly eight months and three days. We'll tell that story one day. I will come to that in Series 7. So if you want to question Rose's age, fear not, I will take care of it.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Shirley Bingham is played by Ruth Madeley, who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair in real life.
• Meaningful Release Date: This episode aired two days after the 60th anniversary of the series' debut.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Like her character Rose, actress Yasmin Finney is also trans.
• Recursive Adaptation: A TV episode based on one of the first stories from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip.
• Role Reprise: Catherine Tate, Jacqueline King and Karl Collins return as Donna, Sylvia and Shaun respectively, having last appeared onscreen in "The End of Time" back in 2010.
• Throw It In!: Fourteen running around the new TARDIS interior wasn't in the original teleplay. Episode Director Rachel Talalay proposed the idea on set and David Tennant literally ran with it.
• What Could Have Been: The first draft of the script had the Meep revealed as the villain much earlier in the story.
• You Look Familiar: Or sound familiar; prior to "The Star Beast", Ruth Madeley first joined the Doctor Who world in Big Finish audio dramas as the Sixth Doctor's companion Hebe Harrison. While certainly not the first Who actor to start off in such a way (as David Tennant himself can attest to), her role as Hebe is a prominent one that only recently began in 2022, with great importance to recent Sixth Doctor story arcs and Ruth's face featuring prominently on their cover art. She also worked with Russell T. Davies previously in his other show Years and Years (2019).

---