Arriving in Blackcastle, the Doctor finds that a spaceship has just crashed into the town. But something’s off, if school children are finding aliens in allyways, then what is following the Doctor in the darkness? Which alien race is evil and which is good, the Meep or the Wrath?
This was first published in Doctor Who Weekly #19-26.
Rate and review below:
I think that this story is great and I love all adaptations of it. This is what I wrote about the comic when I wrote about it in Star Beast vs. Star Beast vs. Star Beast
This is the second best version of this story for me, the audio adaption from Big Finish is really good!
The TV version is really well directed and has Miriam Margolyes as the Meep 
but all the RTD added bits overshadowed the narrative for the worse.
But I totally get why this story has been adapted several times, it’s a good one. And the “twist” that the cute cuddly fluffy creature is the baddie with the “monstrous” Wrarth Warriors being the goodies is well done.
A 4/5 
from me 
He’s just a little guy small little guy meep meep
This is my favourite version of this story that I’ve done (I still need to do the audio version)
I think the RTD penned version has too much going on that overshadows the core plot, which is actually pretty solid
The comic version was actually the third iteration that I got to. I listened to the Big Finish version in prep for the TV version, then it was the TV version, and then I finally got around to this one much later during my DWM binge. I’ll admit that I prefer the BF version (the TV version, I mostly like for the Doctor/Donna drama, so that feels beside the point discussing it here), but the comic is still pretty good. Really like Dave Gibbons’ artwork for the Meeps; even with my familiarity with the story by that point, Beep still looks hecking adorable… for a time, at least.
I will say, though, that after how eldritch the audio made the Black Sun out to be (in my head, at least), the Seven Dwarves reference here was… jarring. Then again, coming from 2000AD alumni, I’d be lying if I said I expected anything less.
It’s a very simple Story, probably the most typical Doctor Who Story of this entire Collection, if I am being honest, but it still quite an effective one. While, I wish certain Things were fleshed out a bit more, in particular in regard to the Meep or even the Wrath Warriors, I do think what you have is a lot of fun. Sharon is solid, it’s probably her best Story of this entire Collection. As it is, it’s very fun, but gets hold back by certain weird decisions.
The Art is great as ever, can’t go wrong with Gibbons and while I am not hugely fond of the TV Version, I am really happy that both Mills & Gibbons get some prominent credit for the original story, a no-brainer really, but crediting comic creator/artists seems to be a real struggle with many onscreen Adaptions, so I thought I’d point that out.
I’m not a huge fan, but I think it’s OK. Far better than the TV version.
Read this over the last two nights. It’s been a long time since I read it last but it still holds up as a great comic story. The idea behind the Meep and why it’s evil is good fun and I like how the Wrarth are used in the story. The Doctor is on form and Sharon is instantly likeable. I like the Grange Hill and late 70s vibe so famiiar from British TV at the time. I also liked the fact UNIT are involved because once they disappeared from TV they tended to get forgotten about until the 90s when fans became more involved in telling stories beyond the TV series.
It’s also prompted me to listen to the Comic Adaptations from Big Finish now I’ve re-read both this and Iron Legion so it will be interesting to see how they translate to audio.
Copying my review from when I read it:
If I could give this a 6.5, I definitely would.
Comparing this to the TV story that adapts it is a real struggle, I think the plot itself is better here, but because of the format it does lose out on some of the charm, and this is the first of the Doctor Who Magazine comics where I feel the art is really working against the story rather than adding to it.
The Meep looks as cute as he can with the art style, but I can’t help but wonder if a different style would be able to create an even better contrast between him and the Wrath Warriors or even just both sides of him.
I also think the Doctor Who comics are at their best when telling stories you can’t imagine being done on screen (or at least not at the scale they’re done on the page), and nothing here particularly stands out as impressive for me on that front here, I could definitely see this being a story they tell on TV, not only because of the obvious, but even just, I can imagine them telling this story on TV back with Tom Baker.
Overall, this is a strong 6/10, but it doesn’t do enough for me personally to push it over to a 7/10
Ended up being rather disappointed by this one. Maybe its the reputation this story has after the 60th, but since that The Star Beast was kinda meh I think its just the story. The Meep really doesnt work in the comic format, and I think I prefer the TV version because of it (weird Donna stuff and all).
I’ve got a lot of love for this comic. The art by Dave Gibbons is fantastic and overall it’s just a fun and weird little adventure. Meep reminds me of the characters from the Bone a little bit. Solid 9/10 for me.
Just a very fun adventure. The Meep is a great monster and it’s very amusing how comically violent it is despite its cute exterior.
The original version & great fun, a good example of UK comic strips from the era. Pat Mills & John Wagner got joint writing credits but they alternated scripting for the most part on their Doccy Who comics. Mills wrote this one with of course that fantastic artwork by Dave Gibbons - much better in the original b&w than later colourised editions. I love how Mills grounds this in the everyday, the setting, the banter between the two kids, & breaks new ground here with the first recurring black working class companion for the Doctor. We wouldn’t get a black companion on tv for another 27 years(!) Well 26 if you count Mickey. Also the idea of kids finding an alien & wanting to keep it a secret predates Spielberg’s ET. I wonder if there was some influence from Bryan Forbes’ movie Whistle Down the Wind in which young schoolkids find a man on the run in a barn & mistake him for Jesus?
If you enjoyed this I’d recommend Skizz by Alan Moore & Jim Baikie which deliberately homages E.T. But this is set in Birmingham & has a nice slice of social critique of Thatcher’s Britain.
When the episode The Star Beast came out, I had gone to read this story. I just reread it to see how it compares and I still enjoy it. The Meep was definitely an interesting villain, and I enjoyed watching the Meep and Four
Just skimmed the Wikipedia article. What a bonkers idea for a story!
And then transplanted to the US for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version.
Its a great movie, I went to a screening with Hayley Mills attending for a Q & A.
Actually it was pretty good. Having people believe someone is Jesus sort of fits with the mentality of where in the US it was set.
Oh I misread your earlier post I thought you meant it was performed in the US. So a musical version set in USA. Not for me I’m afraid. Although interesting that the location was already changed from the book to movie (Kent to Lancashire) & there was an earlier musical before the ALW one.
