Catherine Tate reveals which Doctor Who co-star threatened to “upstage” her
BBCDoctor Who’s Catherine Tate recently joked that a certain cast member is likely to overshadow the other performers in the show’s first 60th anniversary special, “The Star Beast.”
Tate returns as the Doctor’s companion Donna Noble in “The Star Beast,” reprising the role for the first time since 2010’s “The End of Time (Part 2).” She’ll also appear as Donna in the two other 60th anniversary specials, “Wild Blue Yonder” and “The Giggle.”
Joining her will be David Tennant, who starred opposite Tate during his stint headlining Doctor Who as the Tenth Doctor. However, unlike Tate, Tennant will portray a new character in the 60th anniversary specials: the newly regenerated Fourteenth Doctor.
Unsurprisingly, the Tennant / Tate reunion is one of the most talked about developments in recent Doctor Who history. But according to Tate, fans may finish “The Star Beast” fixated on another actor entirely.
Catherine Tate reveals which Doctor Who co-star threatened to “upstage” her
That “actor” is none other than the Meep: a furry alien puppet that plays a major part in “The Star Beast.” Tate praised the Meep’s design in a recent interview with Doctor Who Magazine, quipping that the cute creature is likely to outshine the special’s flesh-and-blood cast members. “What a star! Have you seen it? It’ll be upstaging all of us,” she said. “Isn’t it – awww.”
Tennant, who was also on-hand for the interview, concurred with Tate, describing the Meep puppet as “beautiful.” The Scottish actor also touched on the Meep’s original appearance in a Doctor Who Magazine comic strip also titled “The Star Beast,” which he recalled thumbing through as a child.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Tennant said. “I must show [Tate] the original drawings. I read the comic when I was a kid, so I remember the Meep from when I was eight. Our one’s so like it.”
BBC releases two new Doctor Who 60th anniversary special stills
Fans can judge for themselves how well Doctor Who’s creative team translated the Meep into live-action thanks to a new “Star Beast” still that features the creature prominently. Tennant and Tate are in the photo as well, alongside Karl Collins, Yasmin Finney, and Jacqueline King as Donna Noble’s husband Shaun, daughter Rose, and mother Sylvia, respectively.
The Doctor Who fanbase shouldn’t take the Meep’s inclusion in “The Star Beast” as a sign that the 60th anniversary specials are focused solely on nostalgia, though. On the contrary, Tennant recently insisted that these bumper-sized episodes will break new ground for the franchise – singling out “Wild Blue Yonder” in particular as being “unlike any Doctor Who episode ever.”
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