Star Beast vs. Star Beast vs. Star Beast

The Star Beast is a kind of unique story scene it has been done three times in three different mediums. What are your favorite?

  • Comic
  • Audio
  • Television
0 voters
7 Likes

I read the comic and listened to the BF audio before The Star Beast premiered. The comic was okay and the audio adaptation was fine, but a bit fogettable. I like the TV story, though, but perhaps that’s beacuse it has Tennant & Tate instead of T. Baker.

9 Likes

I thought of this topic before I listened to the audio and read the comic and now that I have I am having a really hard time of deciding. I think all of them are good!

Comic
The original story. I think this creates a wonderful story with new interesting characters and a fun villain and twist. I am usually not the biggest fan of these older styles of comics where there is a cliffhanger every 3 or 4 pages but I think that it works here. The design of both the Meep and the Wrath Warriors is amazing. I gave this 4/5

Audio
While this is a good audio it does not add that much new stuff to the story and I think this story is better suited for a visual medium where you can see the cuteness of the Meep. I gave this 3.5/5

TV
This story adds the Doctor/Donna stuff to the story but it is also more faithful to the original story than I thought it would be. The design of the Meep is so good and I think the whole story is such a good match for 14 (10) and Donna. Rose is also a fantastic replacement for Sharon Davies (I love Rose). I gave this 4/5

My winner is: TV (But I am a Tennant fan after all)

11 Likes

I haven’t heard the audio version so I can’t comment on that. But I do prefer the original comic version to the TV version.
Probably because the comic version is a more “pure” version of the story whereas the TV version constantly gets slowed down by addressing the DoctorDonna situation, the pacing just feels off. I rate this the lowest of the 60th Specials. But it is beautifully directed by Rachel Talalay with stunning visuals and Miriam Margolyes is fantastic as the Meep.

It did give us Shirley Ann Bingham who is great, but kind of feels a bit too similar to Osgood which begs the question, why wasn’t she brought back instead?

Also the part where the meta-crisis gets resolved by “letting it go” that apparently men are incapable of doing? Come on, be better than that.

(I also find it funny that RTD in an interview insisted that the sonic wasn’t a magic wand when it never has been used more like a wand when making those bulletproof barriers)

9 Likes

Probably because RTD wanted to create a cool new character with a disability to counterbalance the fact that there are a lot of disfigured villains in wheelchairs in popular culture.

8 Likes

Yeah that’s what I gathered as well, and that is really great. I love Shirley and I love Osgood, but character-wise and personality-wise I just think there should have been a greater differentiation - it’s really the same template used.

6 Likes

Only the comic and TV versions for me although the audio is on my ‘to listen’ pile.

I think the main thing I miss from the comic version is Sharon who I’ve always thought was a great companion and pretty significant in the grand scheme of things.

6 Likes

Here are the scores on the site:

Comic : 78%
Audio: 84%
TV: 70%

5 Likes

I feel like it has to be the comic or the audio. I don’t like the TV adaption, especially not as an adaption. Beep’s facade is dropped entirely too soon, the push and pull of Beep trying to keep the leads on-side until the right moment is gone, that relationship with Sharon (or in the show’s case Rose) isn’t there because the character is completely sidelined for the DoctorDonna story. I think as an adaption, The Star Beast (2023) is a total failure.

With the audio I feel I’m biased to the medium, and one of my favourite parts of that adaption is the music, I absolutely love that Beep’s motif throughout the story is the “Beep and Friends” theme from The Ratings War, and the way the music goes from a gentle music box to a little more sinister sounding as Beep’s facade slips.

The comic, as it is, is a simple “don’t judge a book by its cover” story executed very well, and it’s no wonder that it’s so well remembered.

14 Likes

I haven’t listened to the audio but I have no idea which I prefer

I think the comic’s plot is cleaner than the TV episode, especially everything with the Wrath Warriors, but the acting of the TV story brings it up a fair bit, and I’m also not the biggest fan of the art style of the comic for this particular story.

I think the art works wonders for The Iron Legion and City of the Damned, but it almost feels like it’s working against what the comic is going for.

I also have to completely disagree with this, I think it’s done a lot better in the TV show, in the comic the actual reveal is like, a random thought bubble from The Meep in the middle of a page, it’s not even the last page of that part. Sure the facade may be dropped sooner in the show, but I think it’s also dropped a lot better in the show too.

9 Likes

Now I have heard the audio version :slightly_smiling_face:
That audio adaptation is a great version of the Star Beast, it is my favourite of the three different versions here (four if we count the novelisation)

Yup. I agree with past me here :wink:

8 Likes

Love the title of this thread, but really, how can you do the poll without the novelization? :wink:

6 Likes

Having finally read the Comic, I can finally join into this Conversation (I have not read the Target Novel of the 60th Episode, so that stays away (for now..)):tada:
I think I prefer the Comic the most. Dave Gibbons is just one of the best Comic Artists, I think, his Artwork is just really nice to look at it and I think he nails the Baker Likeness so well. The Story is quite simple but does give us Sharon, who is a blast of a Companion. Very simple but effective Story.
I enjoy the Audio and having read the Comic now, I am quite surprised how well they pulled it off making it into a 4-Parter, not everything works here, but it’s a delight to hear Tom interact with Meep, even if it’s just on Audio. I also think it does a much better Job as an Adaption, but then again I also think Visuals are a Selling Point for that Story, so while I enjoyed it, I don’t think it can beat the Original.

Now to the 60th Story.. oh boi what can I say besides that I am not a big Fan of it, there are some great Moments or great Ideas in it, but I feel like as an Adaption it does fail, since it’s a bit too crammed. While yes the Original Story is very simple, having to deal with the DoctorDonna in this one gives this Story not enough Room to breath, like @CrashedOnDido already mentioned a bit. And that part, I must admit, I don’t think was handled particularly well. I will say how the Wrath Warriors and the Meep look is just amazing. Easily the best Part of that Episode when it comes to the Star Beast Plot of it.

I will say I am glad to see that others took much more Enjoyment out of that Episode, but for me, both as its own Episode, as well as an Adaption, it doesn’t much. Although the Idea to adapt a Comic is a lovely one, and I hope we don’t see the last of it!

8 Likes