Doctor Who: A Character Introduced in the Comics is Coming to the Silver Scree

Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary features an important alien from the comics that could have considerable implications for the series' future.

The new trailer for the who doctor 2023 Television Specials features several qumick images and moments of the adventure that's to come. This included the Fourteenth Doctor David Tennant, the return of fan-favorite companion Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate, Neil Patrick Harris as the (rumored) Celestial Toymaker (once played by Michael Gough), and a variety of aliens. But one, in particular, might be foreshadowing the direction the next series will be headed.

Beep the Meep, an alien that was originally introduced in the comic serial "Doctor Who and the Star Beast" (by Pat Mills, John Wagner, and Dave Gibbond) published in Doctor Who Weekly #19-26 by the UK extension of Marvel Comics, has a brief appearance in the trailer. But who is this deceptively adorable-looking alien, and what is his connection to the Doctor?

Beep originally was a traveling companion of the Fourth Doctor during his comic adventures. The Doctor Who comic strip, later reprinted in comic book format in 1980s Doctor Who #1-2 from Marvel, had the fuzzy creature joining the Doctor and his comic-only companion Sharron while being chased by a vicious insectoid race called the Wrarth, who also make an appearance in the trailer. During the course of the tale, the cute, blue little Meep is revealed to be a bloodthirsty, mind-controlling dictator. The story reveals that the Meeps were an advanced, peaceful, and adorable race living happily in harmony until their planet's orbit took them past a Black Sun which emitted radiation that radically altered their personalities.

The Meeps began to mercilessly subjugate other planets and a fluffy reign of terror blazed across the universe. Eventually, a ruling entity called the Star Council genetically created the insect-like Wrarth Warriors as interstellar law enforcers to subdue the Meeps. At the end of this costly war, Beep, the Meeps' ruler, escaped and was pursued to Earth where he encountered the Fourth Doctor. Although initially fooled by the tiny alien, once Beep's true nature became apparent, the Doctor aided the Wrarth in apprehending Beep.

The wide-eyed creature returned numerous times in the pages of comics to vex the Seventh and Eighth Doctors and has even been brought to life audibly in a Big Finish audio adventure battling the Sixth Doctor. His character traits have never changed from his initial appearance, constantly plotting and fuming at not being taken seriously because of his small stature and fuzzy appearance. While Beep has been quite popular with much of the hardcore fandom, this leap to the big screen hints at so much more than just a fan-service deep-cut character appearance.Much of the rights to many comic Doctor Who characters reside with Marvel Comics, which is now owned by Disney. As Disney Plus is about to become the preferred streaming service for Doctor Who outside of England, this suggests that many of these characters could now appear in the live-action series. There are dozens of comic-only creations that could soon see the light of day and homicidal, would-be world-conquering fluffball Beep the Meep is only the beginning.

Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary Was Made Possible by a Pinball 

With Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary next year, it might be surprising to know that a forgotten pinball machine set the stage years ago.

In 2023, the British science fiction phenomenon Doctor Who will celebrate its 60th Anniversary. Over the decades, the show has reached a level of cultural significance, but even though the current version of the show is still going strong, there was a dark period at the start of the 90s when it almost vanished. Magazines, comics, and novels kept the series relevant with fans, but the Doctor's adventures and popularity were continued in arcades through a pinball machine.
Pinball can trace its origins back to the late 18th Century in France and is credited with starting the tabletop gaming wave of the 20th century. This year celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Doctor Who Pinball Machine released by Midway (under the Bally brand name) in September 1992, designed by Bill Pfutzenreuter (Pfutz) and Barry Oursler a duo who created over three dozen pinball machines between them including ones based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Dirty Harry.