The now-classic story for the first new series of Doctor Who, “Dalek”, was loosely based on writer Robert Shearman’s Big Finish audio, “Jubilee”. “Rise of the Cybermen” and “Age of Steel” credits the Marc Platt play “Spare Parts” (a much better and creepier Cyberman origin story). Even the legendary “Blink” was based on Steven Moffat’s short story for the Doctor Who Annual, “What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow”.
For the most part, however, comics have been left out, bar a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer among a list of mugshots in the episode “Time Heist”, and UNIT officer Muriel Frost, who appeared in several comics and audios before being unceremoniously bumped off at the cliffhanger to “Aliens of London”.
But we’re not just talking about sly references to or even an indirect sequel to the events of the comic strip. The opening credits of the story credit the comics lead writer Pat Mills, and artist Dave Gibbons, right alongside Russell T Davies himself.
Doctor Who’s First Proper Comics-to-TV Adaptation
The Star Beast comic strip was written by John Wagner and Patt Mills, known to British comics fans for their work on the likes of 2000AD, Dan Dare and Roy of the Rovers. Wagner also co-wrote the graphic novel on which David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence is based.
The art of the comic, meanwhile, comes from none other than the legendary Dave Gibbons, the artist who drew Alan Moore’s Watchmen. In short, it’s harder to imagine a team that better encapsulated the grittiness of 1980s British comics.
Gibbons’ designs for the Meep spaceship and the Wrarth Warriors were faithfully recreated in the TV adventure, and during the May 2022 filming, both Gibbons and Pat Mills visited the set of the London steelworks (actually Uskmouth Power Station in Newport, Wales) where the Meep’s ship crashed. Tennant confessed on the in-episode commentary for “The Star Beast” that he was shameless in getting both to sign memorabilia.