Doctor Who monster creator thrilled by new episode

Dave Gibbons (centre) and Pat Mills (right) signed a comic for David Tennant in Doctor Who: Unleashed on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer

A comic book artist said he cheered when his name appeared in the opening credits of Saturday’s Doctor Who.

Hertfordshire-born Dave Gibbons worked with writer Pat Mills to create Beep the Meep for Doctor Who Weekly in 1980.

The duo were invited to the set of the BBC show as crews adapted their comic, Doctor Who and the Star Beast, into a new episode starring David Tennant.

The artist reviewed the finished episode, describing it as a “real classic”.

“It sticks in all the things people love about The Doctor – the humour and the scariness, and the integration of everyday people with this Timelord,” he said.

Dave Gibbons said the way he had been treated by the Doctor Who production team had been “a peak experience”

Mr Gibbons, who is also known for drawing art for comics Watchmen and Kingsman, praised the production team for how they treated the original comic creators.

He said in addition to a set visit, they were invited to the premiere screening in London, where he met showrunner and writer Russell T Davies.

“I think it’s very enlightened how they dealt with me and Pat. It surpasses every experience we’ve had elsewhere,” said Mr Gibbons.

“They paid us too – they didn’t have to do that, but they paid us.”

On Saturday night, while hosting a dinner party, Mr Gibbons and his wife Helen turned on the TV to catch his name in the opening credits, which led to a loud cheer.

In scenes shown on Doctor Who: Unleashed, Dave Gibbons and Pat Mills met The Meep based on their comic book creation

Doctor Who and the Star Beast was a comic strip published in Doctor Who Weekly in February and April 1980. In the US, the story was published by Marvel Comics.

The comic strip stories were written by writing partners Pat Mills and John Wagner, who had worked together on British comic 2000 AD.

Mr Gibbons explained the duo would write alternate Doctor Who stories, meaning Star Beast was written solely by Pat Mills with Dave Gibbons providing the art.

In the original story, Beep the Meep crashed his spaceship into a small Yorkshire town, where he was hidden in a shed by two schoolchildren while being hunted by imposing Wrath Warriors.

The TV adaptation kept many of the original plot elements intact, including the twist and the designs for aliens and spaceships drawn by Mr Gibbons.

Miriam Margolyes provided the voice for The Meep for the TV adaptation

The two creatives got emotional as they met the animatronic version of Beep, now known as The Meep, during their set visit, which can be seen in behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who: Unleashed.

“It was kind of creepy, it’s a wonderful piece of animatronics,” he said.

Although he was unaware of future plans for the character, he was hopeful it would terrify screens again soon.

“I think The Meep is going go down as one of the great TV villains… It almost begs for a sequel.”

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