Scream of the Shalka

Last updated

Scream of the Shalka
Cast
Doctor
Others
Production
Directed by Wilson Milam
Written by Paul Cornell
Script editorNone
Produced byMuirinn Lane Kelly
Executive producer(s)Martin Trickey
James Goss
Mario Dubois
Production codeNone
SeriesNone
Running time6 episodes, 15 minutes each
First broadcast13 November 2003 (2003-11-13)
Last broadcast18 December 2003 (2003-12-18)
Chronology
← Preceded by
—		Followed by →
"The Feast of the Stone" (short story)

Scream of the Shalka is a Flash-animated series based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who . The series is the 40th anniversary special and was originally released in six weekly parts from 13 November to 18 December 2003 on bbc.co.uk's Doctor Who website. [1]

Contents

Although Scream of the Shalka continues the narrative of the original 1963–89 programme and the 1996 television film, the show's 2005 revival ignored the events. [2] The series was written by veteran Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell, with Richard E. Grant providing the voice for the Ninth Doctor. This performance followed years of rumours that Grant would play the Doctor in a film or new series, and indeed he had appeared as the "Conceited Doctor" in the Comic Relief special Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death in 1999. Grant subsequently went on to appear in the revived television series of Doctor Who as Walter Simeon and the Great Intelligence in 2012's "The Snowmen" and 2013's "The Bells of Saint John" and "The Name of the Doctor". The Doctor's companion for this adventure, Alison Cheney, was voiced by Sophie Okonedo, who appeared in the 2010 series of Doctor Who as Liz Ten. Derek Jacobi reprised his role as the Master in 2007's "Utopia". David Tennant appeared in a cameo role as the Caretaker, later being cast as the Tenth Doctor in 2005, and the Fourteenth Doctor in 2023.

Plot

The TARDIS has unexpectedly materialised in the village of Lannet, Lancashire, in the year 2003. The Doctor, acting more disaffected than usual, lives with an android version of the Master, who acts as his ally. This version of the Master has the transferred consciousness of the original, but can't leave the craft. The Doctor the acquaintance of Alison Cheney, a barmaid. The other villagers refused to tell him why the other villagers seem so fearful. A tremor strikes the area, killing a homeless woman, and swallowing the TARDIS into lava below. Angered by the homeless woman's death. Later, Alison admits to seeing aliens. The other villagers have decided to stay inside and make as little noise as possible, since it attracts creatrures. The Doctor deliberately attacks two of the wormlike monsers, who burst up through the floor. He deflects their shrieking sonic attack back at them and they escape.

The Doctor contacts UNIT but says he doesn't want to get involved. He'll leave as soon as he has his TARDIS returned to him. The Doctor leads a UNIT team down to get his ship. The creatures attack, and the Doctor separates himself from the group and meets Prime, the female commander of the Shalka. Prime declares humans inferior and subject to their domination and says that they make a full-on invasion. Prime orders her minions to ahve ALison killed, which forces the Doctor to make a deal to spare her life. The TARDIS is cast into a black hole the Shalka had created inside Earth which they are using as a gateway to bring in more troops. As he plummetsinto the black hole the Doctor realizes his phone is still connected to the TARDIS and uses it to summon the ship The Master has reactivated and fexpels the Shalka from the TARDIS into the black hole. For an unknown reason, the Shalka release Alison back to the surface.

As UNIT evacuates Lanet, the Doctor learns that one of the Shalka has gotten captured and that they have an vulnerability to raw oxygen. He also finds that the villagers have gotten mind-controlled by the invaders, who make them emit subsonic screams. The Earth's ozone layer is being stripped away as the SHalka's enslaved humans make their move all over Earth. The Doctor takes Alison and the Master back to the Shalka underground lair.Prime tells them that the Shalka inhabit 80% of the worlds in the universe. They live underground off of volcanic energy. When a species is on the edge of ecological destruction, the Shalka finish the job, with the rest of the universe none the wiser.

The Doctor swallows a small piece of Shalka he removed from Alison's forehead. He bonds with it, reprograms it and, use its knowledge to plug himself into their sonic network and understand the shrieks. He engages Prime in a "sonic duel", which he purposely throws but only to get Prime to move him toward the black hole controls, so that he could send Prime to her death. The Doctor coughs up the piece of Shalka. He puts it back in Alison's head, where she fights off the remaining Shalka and shuts down the screams. The Doctor unplugs her a few moments before she can reprogram the scream to heal the atmosphere. H

Back onboard the TARDIS, the Master reveals that it has been a long time since the Doctor had a living companion. His last companion was killed in the events that also led to the Master choosing to have his consciousness transferred into the android, and to the Doctor's exile. Without being specific, the Master tells her that they are being controlled by an unknown force. The Doctor wants Alison to stay as his companion but that he wouldn't admit to it directly. She decides to leave Earth with the Doctor and see the universe.

Production

Doctor Who had suspended production in 1989, and aside from charity specials had only resurfaced as an American-funded television movie in 1996, which did not garner enough ratings to go to a regular series. When Shalka was announced in July 2003 for planned broadcast in November, the possibility of Doctor Who returning to television screens still seemed remote and BBC Worldwide were continuing to shop around for another possible movie deal. As a result, BBCi officially announced, with BBC approval, that the Doctor appearing in Shalka would be the Ninth Doctor. However, events rapidly overtook this.

In September Lorraine Heggessey, the Controller of BBC One, managed to persuade BBC Worldwide that as their plans for a Doctor Who film were nowhere near fruition, BBC Television should be allowed to make a new series. A deal with Russell T Davies to produce the new series was quickly struck, and on 26 September, the BBC announced that Doctor Who would be returning to BBC One in 2005, produced by BBC Wales. As a result, the status of the Shalka webcast was in doubt even before it was released.

After the webcast, in February 2004, plans for sequels were indefinitely shelved. For a period, it was unclear if the new television Doctor would be the Ninth or Tenth Doctor, but this was ultimately settled in April 2004 when in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine , Davies announced that the new television Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston), would be the Ninth Doctor, relegating Grant's Doctor to an alternate Doctor. Davies later commented that Grant had never been considered for the role in the television series, telling Doctor Who Magazine: "I thought he was terrible. I thought he took the money and ran, to be honest. It was a lazy performance. He was never on our list to play the Doctor." [3]

The working title for this production was Servants of the Shalakor. This original story outline is included in the BBC Books novelization (see below).

In print

Scream of the Shalka
Scream of the Shalka (novel).jpg
Author Paul Cornell
Series Doctor Who book:
Past Doctor Adventures
Release number
64
SubjectFeaturing:
Shalka Doctor
The Master and Alison
Set inPeriod between
The 1996 TV Movie And The 2005 Revival
Publisher BBC Books
Publication date
February 2004
Pages248
ISBN 0-563-48619-8
Preceded by Deadly Reunion  
Followed by Empire of Death  

The novelization of Shalka was written by Paul Cornell. The book also includes a feature on the making of the webcast, as well as the original Servants of the Shalakor story outline.

Critical analysis

A book length study of the serial, written by Jon Arnold, was published as part of The Black Archive series from Obverse Books in 2017. [4] This detailed the story's key points and the production process, and featured an in depth look at the unmade sequel story Blood of the Robots. This book also revealed that the Big Finish audio drama Immortal Beloved was originally intended as a Shalka sequel before being adapted to feature the Eighth Doctor. [5]

DVD release

The British Board of Film Classification cleared all six episodes of the series for release on DVD. In March 2007, clips from the series were released to DVD, as part of Flash Frames, a documentary on the DVD release of the restored The Invasion. The story was released on DVD in Region 2 on 16 September 2013. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

The Master (<i>Doctor Who</i>) Character in TV series Doctor Who

The Master, or "Missy " in their female incarnation, is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its associated spin-off works. They are a renegade alien Time Lord and the childhood friend and later enemy of the title character, the Doctor. They were most recently portrayed by Sacha Dhawan.

<i>The Curse of Fatal Death</i> 1999 Doctor Who charity special

The Curse of Fatal Death is a Doctor Who special made specifically for the Red Nose Day charity telethon in the United Kingdom, and was originally broadcast in four parts on BBC One on 12 March 1999 under the title Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. Later home video releases are formatted as two parts and drop the "and" in the title. It follows in a long tradition of popular British television programmes producing short, light-hearted specials for such telethon events.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (film) 1996 British television movie

Doctor Who, also referred to as Doctor Who: The Movie or as Doctor Who: The Television Movie is a 1996 television film continuing the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was developed as a co-production between Universal Studios and BBC Worldwide. It premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 15 days before its first showing in the United Kingdom on BBC One and two days before being broadcast in the United States on Fox. It was also shown in some countries for a limited time in cinemas.

Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Foreman</span> Fictional character in Doctor Who

Susan Foreman is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The granddaughter of the Doctor and original companion of their first incarnation, she was played by actress Carole Ann Ford from 1963 to 1964, in the show's first season and the first two stories of the second season. Ford reprised the role for the feature-length 20th anniversary episode The Five Doctors (1983) and the 30th anniversary charity special Dimensions in Time (1993).

<i>Survival</i> (<i>Doctor Who</i>) 1989 Doctor Who serial

Survival is the final serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 6 December 1989. It is the final story of the original 26-year run; the show did not return as a series until 2005. The story marks the final regular television appearances of Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace, and the final television appearance of Anthony Ainley as the Master, appearing alongside McCoy's Doctor for the only time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Waterfield</span> UK TV Doctor Who character created 1967

Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1967 to 1968. Only two complete serials to feature her exist complete in the BBC archives. However, DVDs of all her adventures have still seen release, with both official animation and photo reconstructions utilizing the original surviving audio taking the place of the missing episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Destrii</span> Fictional character

Destrii, or the Primatrix Destriianatos, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor.

The Visitation is the fourth serial of the 19th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 15 to 23 February 1982.

Colony in Space is the fourth serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 10 April to 15 May 1971.


The Past Doctor Adventures were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures. The novels regularly featured the First through Seventh Doctors. The Infinity Doctors had an ambiguous place in continuity and featured an unidentified incarnation of the Doctor. The Eighth Doctor co-starred with the Fourth Doctor in one novel (Wolfsbane) and, after the Eighth Doctor Adventures had ceased publication, a novel featuring the Eighth Doctor and set between two earlier Eighth Doctor Adventures was published within the Past Doctor series.

The Invasion is the partly missing third serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968.

The Sea Devils is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Michael E. Briant. The serial is notable as the first appearance of the Sea Devils and features extensive location filming in cooperation with the Royal Navy, as well as an experimental electronic score by Malcolm Clarke.

"Utopia" is the eleventh episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007. It is the first of three episodes that form a linked narrative, followed by "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords". The episode serves to re-introduce the Master, a Time Lord villain of the show's original run who last appeared in the 1996 television movie Doctor Who.

<i>The Infinite Quest</i> British animated serial

The Infinite Quest is an animated serial based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was made by BBC Television, but does not share the same producers as the live-action series. It was aired in twelve weekly parts starting 2 April 2007 as a segment of the children's spin-off show Totally Doctor Who. The final instalment was shown at the end of the "Omnibus" episode, thus increasing the total to thirteen parts, making the compiled series the equivalent length of a standard episode of Doctor Who. The compiled story was broadcast on 30 June 2007, coinciding with the finale of Series 3.

<i>The Gallifrey Chronicles</i> (Parkin novel) 2005 novel by Lance Parkin

The Gallifrey Chronicles is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was the last of the Eighth Doctor Adventures range and features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner, and Trix MacMillan. This book, along with a few others in the series, was reprinted in 2011 and is available as an e-book.

"The Beast Below" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat and broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 10 April 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninth Doctor</span> Fictional character from Doctor Who

The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Webcasts - Scream of the Shalka".
  2. ↑ Bahn, Christopher (21 December 2013). "Doctor Who (Classic): "Scream Of The Shalka"". AVClub. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Cook, Benjamin (14 September 2005). "Tooth and Claw". Doctor Who Magazine (360). Panini Comics: 17.
  4. ↑ "Scream of the Shalka (The Black Archive, #10)". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. ↑ ARNOLD, JON (2017). SCREAM OF THE SHALKA. Place of publication not identified: OBVERSE Books. ISBN   978-1-909031-55-5. OCLC   969371363.
  6. ↑ "Animation Plans for The Tenth Planet Episode 4". Doctor Who Magazine (458). Panini Comics: 9. April 2013.
  7. ↑ Paul_Cornell [@Paul_Cornell] (7 February 2013). "16th September: Scream of the Shalka on DVD! #fb" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Webcast

Novelization

Reviews

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.