Time doctor old version serial#
Time doctor old version tv#

The audio version (which you can find on Audible and more recently on a newly reissued vinyl record) is also narrated by Peter Purves, who also plays Steven. Today, “The Celestial Toymaker” can only be experienced two ways: As a novelized version by Gerry Davis and Alison Bingeman, or as a pretty well-constructed audio version. Much of 2nd Doctor’s Patrick Troughton era is missing, and like Hartnell’s, many have been recreated with animation combined with recovered audio tracks. This is one of several early Doctor Who episodes that were lost because of the fact that the BBC simply didn’t save all the old film reels back in the day. However, if you wanted to hit up Tubi or Britbox and watch “The Celestial Toymaker” from 1966, you can’t.

It’s a bit like a slower version of the Deep Space Nine episode “Move Along Home,” fused with something the Joker might throw at Adam West in a 1960s Batman episode, but considerably slower-paced. Eventually, the Doctor and his allies defeat the Toymaker at a “Trilogic Game,” and other challenges. The Toymaker himself is someone the Doctor already knows in this very first black-and-white adventure and warns his companions - Steven and Dodo - to beware of the Toymaker’s power saying: “He’s a power for evil, he manipulates people and makes them into his playthings.”Īt the beginning of the original story, the Doctor is briefly rendered both intangible and invisible, which was the real-life result of William Hartnell not being able to film in person at the time.

Time doctor old version serial#

This character comes from an April 1966 Doctor Who serial - “The Celestial Toymaker” - which aired toward the end of the William Hartnell 1st Doctor era. BBC/Disney+Īnd the old-school references keep coming! In at least one of the new specials, Neil Patrick Harris has been confirmed as a new version of a very old Who nemesis named The Celestial Toymaker. Neil Patrick Harris as the Celestial Toymaker. Or 2019!) but one thing is for sure the Meep will finally appear in all of its furry glory, giving longtime Who fans at least one quirky present for the 60th anniversary. The result is hilarious and brilliant, and if you’re looking for a Tom Baker adventure you’ve never experienced, this one is not the worst place to start.Īs of this writing, it’s not been revealed how much “The Star Beast” in 2023 borrows from “The Star Beast” in 1980 (or 1984.

Time doctor old version tv#

The original version of “The Star Beast” was conceived as a possible TV episode by writers Pat Mills and John Wagner, and so, for the audio version, writer Alan Barnes basically adapted the story to play out like a 4th Doctor-era TV serial. Outside of comic book/comic strip form, perhaps the best way to experience “classic” Beep the Meep is in the 2019 audio version “Doctor Who and the Star Beast,” which features Tom Baker as the voice of the 4th Doctor, in an updated adaptation of the comic story.

Marvel comics in 1984 (with the Meep) has a weird sideways parallel to the new David Tennant throwbacks of today. So, the fact that a previous Doctor was “debuting” in the U.S. Interestingly by 1984, Tom Baker was no longer the incumbent Doctor on TV in fact, both Peter Davison and Colin Baker played the Doctor that year, though Tom Baker was a long-time fan favorite. The legacy of this comic lives on, because recent promotional art for the new “Star Beast” echoes the cover art of the Tom Baker comic book Meep. the Meep.īeep the Meep was only a black-and-white creation in the comic strip until 1984, when, at that time, some Doctor Who comic strips were reprinted in color by Marvel Comics in the U.S.

It featured the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) landing on Earth, and with the help of new companions Sharon and Fudge, dealing with the Wrarth Warriors, and the mysterious, and seemingly adorable. And that’s because the Meep derives from a 1980 comic-strip story (also titled “The Star Beast”) first published and serialized in the magazine Doctor Who: Weekly, the original story of the Meep ran for eight issues. For longtime Doctor Who fans, Beep the Meep is a known character, just not one who has appeared in a single filmed TV episode, ever. Without getting into spoilers for the first Doctor Who 2023 special, “The Star Beast,” the episode does feature a cuddly, furry creature called “the Meep.” As has been widely reported in the press, the Meep is voiced by Miriam Margolyes. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her daughter Rose (Yasmin Finney) meet the Meep in 2023’s “The Star Beast.” BBC/Disney+