After over a year away from our screens, Doctor Who has come back to BBC One (and now Disney+) with a bang. The Star Beast – adapted from the 1980 comic strip by Pat Mills, John Wagner and Dave Gibbons – marks the start of a brand-new era for the show, as well as the first in a trilogy of 60th Anniversary Specials.

It’s perhaps not the six-decade celebration fans may have expected, especially given that the 50th Anniversary gave us every Doctor teaming up in The Day of the Doctor, but considering that last year’s BBC Centenary Special The Power of the Doctor gave us a fitting combination of Who‘s past, present and future, perhaps it’s as well that The Star Beast works as a standalone special to set the stage for the next 60 years.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is the most comic book-y Doctor Who adventure ever brought to screen. The Meep, the Wrarth Warriors and the spaceships feel like they’ve jumped out of a comic illustration, while the overall approach feels larger than life in a way rarely seen in the Doctor’s TV adventures. The story may not have universal scope, but the production values are top-notch: the street battle between U.N.I.T and the Wrarth and the spaceship take-off sequence are brilliantly realised thanks to Rachel Talalay‘s energetic direction and some spectacular visual effects work. Special kudos also has to be given to the team who brought the monsters to life on screen, balancing great costume design with CGI in a way that really helps to make the Meep and the Wrarth feel like actual, believable characters.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate slip into back into their roles as the Doctor and Donna like they’ve never been away from the programme (despite last being in Who nearly 14 years ago), and I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops over the next couple of weeks. Yasmin Finney‘s Rose is a welcome inclusion to the Noble household, and helps to bring out a new side to Donna that we haven’t seen before, while Karl Collins and Jacqueline King bring some down-to-earth humour as Shaun and Sylvia respectively.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the excellent Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham either. But of course, the real standout was the great Miriam Margolyes as the Meep, starting off as a cute and cuddly alternative to Star Wars‘ Baby Yoda before revealing its true intentions as a delightfully evil villain. Margolyes handles this character shift like a pro, aided by the excellent physical performance and effects work.

The Star Beast rattles along at a breakneck pace with returning showrunner Russell T Davies‘ script bouncing between humour, heart and action almost effortlessly, although this does result in the story as a whole feeling slightly rushed. Some character beats don’t quite get the time they need to land, and it felt as though an extra 5 minutes may have helped to give the narrative a bit more breathing room. Davies also employs his familiar Deus ex machina approach to the specials’ denouement in a way that feels simultaneously like cheating whilst also giving the audience the ending they want.

It’s a balancing act that has divided fans with past adventures, and no doubt will for years to come. Nevertheless, The Star Beast has all the fun and energy of previous Davies episodes, not unlike Donna’s Christmas debut The Runaway Bride. It might not be among his finest Who scripts but as an audience reintroduction to the series, and with two more anniversary specials left to impress, it’s difficult not to think that the best is yet to come.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One next Saturday at 6.30pm

Join us for our series blog review next week!