Scream of the Shalka (webcast): Difference between revisions

The serial finished production shortly before the BBC announced [[Series 1 (Doctor Who 2005)|a live-action ''Doctor Who'' revival]] with [[Russell T Davies]] at the helm. The live-action series would eventually introduce [[Christopher Eccleston]] as the [[Ninth Doctor]], marking an incongruence that led to ''Shalka'' being disregarded by most ''Doctor Who'' fans. However, from [[November (releases)|November]] [[2003 (releases)|2003]] to [[April (releases)|April]] [[2004 (releases)|2004]], the Richard E Grant Doctor was still treated as a valid incarnation by the BBC, with [[The Feast of the Stone (short story)|one short story]] premiering the day after [[DWM 342|Eccleston was announced as the Ninth Doctor]]. Several novels (specifically ''[[Sometime Never... (novel)|Sometime Never...]]'', ''[[The Deadstone Memorial (novel)|The Deadstone Memorial]]'', and ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles (novel)|The Gallifrey Chronicles]]'') either foreshadowed or referenced the webcast as one potential future for the [[Eighth Doctor]].

[[The Doctor's TARDIS (Scream of the Shalka)|The Doctor's TARDIS]] materialises in the village of [[Lannet]] in [[Lancashire]]. An annoyed [[Ninth Doctor (Scream of the Shalka)|Doctor]], who has apparently been transported here against his will, finds the village silent. Its inhabitants are all living in fear except for a barmaid, [[Alison Cheney]]. The alien [[Shalka]] have taken up residence beneath Lannet in preparation for a wider [[invasion]]. Despite his initial reluctance, the Doctor finds himself having to save the world again, aided by Alison and [[The Master (Scream of the Shalka)|an enemy]] who has become an ally.

* To give the [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures|BBC ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'']] an ongoing thread of foreshadowing to ''Scream of the Shalka'', [[Justin Richards]] introduced a disembodied version of the Master permanently trapped in the machinery of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] in the novel {{cs|Sometime Never... (novel)}}, with the appearance of the ''Scream of the Shalka'' Master. The Eighth Doctor has several conversations with this Master in the later EDAs, with Richards intending that this Master would later be transferred into an android body by the Doctor.<ref>[[DWM 338]]{{which}}</ref>

* Around the time of providing the voice of Alison, [[Sophie Okonedo]] also filmed a role in the movie ''Hotel Rwanda'', for which she was nominated for an Academy Award; this makes Okonedo, to date, the only companion actor to have been nominated for an Oscar. Okonedo would eventually return to televised ''[[Doctor Who]]'' in [[Series 5 (Doctor Who 2005)|the 2010 series]] as the recurring character [[Elizabeth X]].

* [[Richard E Grant]] previously played [[Tenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a Tenth Doctor]] in {{cs|The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story)}} and would later play [[Walter Simeon]] in {{cs|The Snowmen (TV story)}}.

* Appearing in a cameo role in the serial was actor and ''Doctor Who'' fan [[David Tennant]], who would go on to play the [[Tenth Doctor]]. He was not originally cast in the production, but Tennant happened to be recording a Radio 4 adaptation of ''The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents'' in a neighbouring studio. When he discovered what was being recorded next door, he convinced the director to give him a small role.<ref>[[DWM 336]]{{which}}</ref>

* This story marks the first time [[Derek Jacobi]] would play [[The Master]], he would later go on to play the [[War Master]] in the revived series, in {{cs|Utopia (TV story)}} as well as in audio, in {{cs|Beneath the Viscoid (audio story)}}, {{cs|The Devil You Know (audio story)}}, and so on.

 

* The funds to animate the two missing episodes of ''[[The Invasion (TV story)|The Invasion]]'' came from money left over at the end of production. ''No evidence exists to suggest this.''

 

* The cut on Allison's forehead originally appears on her right, but later appears in the middle.

* When referring to a cat, The Doctor says that "He must have used his nine lives, rather like me," suggesting that he is in his ninth incarnation.

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An audiobook of the novelisation was released in [[2013 (releases)|2013]].