Before Barbie’s Ncuti Gatwa takes over leading Doctor Who as the Fifteenth Doctor, we’ll be spending some quality time with David Tennant again for the show’s 60th anniversary. Following Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor surprisingly regenerating into the Fourteenth Doctor, Tenntant’s new incarnation will lead three special episodes this fall, and among the aliens he’ll come into contact with is The Meep. It’s now been revealed that Harry Potter alum Miriam Margolyes has been tapped to voice this weird role, which makes for a delightful collision of fandoms.
This casting was officially announced earlier today, and follows nearly a year after The Meep was heard speaking in the first full trailer for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in two of the Harry Potter movies, said the following about lending her vocal talents to the popular sci-fi series (via BBC):
I’m relieved I got to work on Doctor Who before I died. With sci-fi you never know. Thank you for making an old woman very happy.
In addition to bringing Professor Sprout to life in The Chamber of Secrets and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Miriam Margolyes’ other major on-camera credits include The Age of Innocence (for which she won a BAFTA Award), Little Shop of Horrors and Romeo + Juliet, while previous voice acting experience includes James and the Giant Peach, Babe and Mulan. At 81 years old, I understand why the actress is so pleased to finally be performing in Doctor Who. Appearing in the show is like a rite of passage for UK-based actors, and now she’s finally a part of that club.
Although the 60th anniversary will be The Meep’s first time appearing onscreen, this alien species goes way back with Doctor Who thanks to the printed page. Introduced in the Doctor Who and the Star Beast comic strip that kicked off in 1980’s Doctor Who Weekly #19, Beep the Meep was depicted as a creature who looked cute and cuddly on the outside, but, like other Meeps, was actually aggressive ands malevolent. In addition to dealing with the Fourth Doctor in this story, Beep also had to contend with the Wrarth Warriors, an insectoid race of law enforcers that will also appear in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. Beep the Meep was later voiced by Toby Longworth in the Big Finish audio play The Ratings War, which saw him clashing with the Sixth Doctor.
Given that the first Doctor Who 60th anniversary episodes is called “The Star Beast,” it doesn’t seem foolish to assume that this is where we’ll see The Meep and the Wrarth Warriors. And while it hasn’t been officially clarified yet, if Margoyles’ Meep character is hiding sinister intentions like Beep the Meep, then it stands to reason that the Wrarth Warriors will come to Earth to apprehend it, but will be mistaken as a threat to Earth at first. We also know The Meep will come into contact with Donna Noble’s daughter, Rose, played by Yasmin Finney.
Along with Finney, David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprising Donna Noble, the cast of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary includes Neil Patrick Harris as a mysterious villain, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham and the late Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott. The other two episodes are called “Wild Blue Yonder” and “The Giggle.” Russell T. Davies, who was Doctor Who’s showrunner from 2005-2010, returned to the position for the 60th anniversary and continued into Season 14, which will see the Fifteenth Doctor traveling through time and space on the TARDIS with Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday.
Doctor Who fans outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland will need a Disney+ subscription to watch the 60th anniversary episodes and future seasons of the show. While we wait for more news about what this big event holds in store, peruse the 2023 TV schedule to see what shows are premiering sooner.
