November 09, 2023
Catherine Tate talks exclusively to Doctor Who Magazine - with input from David Tennant - about what it was like to film with the real star of 'The Star Beast'...
The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) is on sale from Thursday 9th November. It is available to order as a subscription, either physical or digital, here.
Read on for an exclusive excerpt from the full interview.
“Never mind Shakespeare, this is what made drama school worthwhile,” says Catherine Tate. “Look at me chasing a space rat around a kitchen!”
This is the Meep, a gentle, furry alien who fell from the stars and found its way into Donna’s backyard just in time for Special 1, The Star Beast.
“What a star! Have you seen it? It’ll be upstaging all of us,” Catherine says of the Meep. “Isn’t it – awww.”
It’s adorable, right?
“It’s beautiful,” agrees David Tennant. “I can’t quite believe it. I must show you the original drawings,” he tells Catherine, referring the DWM comic strip from 1980 on which this TV version is based. “I read the comic when I was a kid –”
“Of course you did.”
“– so I remember the Meep from when I was eight. Our one’s so like it.”
But working with the Meep pales in comparison to being reunited with each other. “It is wonderful to be with David again,” Catherine says. “He’s fantastic. He’s magnificent. Oh, he’s looking me in the eye now. He’s eyeballing me…”
Highlights include:
- Previews of the new Doctor Who Specials The Star Beast and Wild Blue Yonder.
- Tête-à-Tate – Catherine Tate is interviewed (with interruptions from David Tennant!)
- A preview of The Daleks in colour.
- Madness in the Air – an extensive set report from the recording of The Star Beast, with contributions from cast and crew.
- 60th-Anniversary poll results – the top 10 revealed.
- Neil Patrick Harris is the Toymaker – the man behind the returning villain.
- Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies on the Great Seismic Shifts in Doctor Who.
- Production Diary – script editor Scott Handcock files his latest report, direct from Doctor Who’s HQ.
- Taster Before the Feast – a look forward to Tales of the TARDIS.
- Liberation of the Daleks Part Fourteen – the adventures of the Fourteenth Doctor conclude in the epic comic-strip adventure written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
- The Fact of Fiction unlocks the secrets of the acclaimed Twelfth Doctor episode Heaven Sent.
- 60 Objects, 60 Years – the final instalment of the series that tells the story of one object from every year of Doctor Who’s history.
- Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest official news.
- Other Worlds – the essential guide to new stories in Doctor Who’s expanded universe.
- Previews, reviews, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser and more.
The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) is on sale from Thursday 9th November. It is available to order as a subscription, either physical or digital, here.
