Scream of the Shalka by Paul Cornell, published by BBC Books, is a 2004 novelisation of the webcast of the same title that was distributed by the BBC as a 40th anniversary special on its Doctor Who website in November and December of 2003. This adaptation of the story marks the only book appearance (to date) of the Alternate Ninth Doctor featured in the webcast, who was rendered non-canon by the subsequent announcement of a new Doctor Who TV series. This book is the first novelisation of an officially licensed Doctor Who story since the 1996 novelisation of Doctor Who. As of 2011 it stands as the most recent novelisation of a Doctor Who story, although novelisations based upon the spinoff series The Sarah Jane Adventures were published from 2007. Finally, it is the only novelisation to date based upon a webcast.
Publisher’s Summary
When the Doctor lands his TARDIS in the Lancashire town of Lannet, in the present day, he finds that something is terribly wrong. The people are scared. They don't like going out onto the streets at night, they don't like making too much noise, and they certainly don't like strangers asking too many questions.
What alien force has invaded the town? Why is it watching barmaid Alison Cheney? And what plans does it have for the future of the planet Earth?
Deviations from the Webcast
- The line to the Doctor, "while you can be eccentric and superior", is delivered in the webcast as a joke, while in the book it's a scathing put down.
Author, Writing and Publishing Notes
- Published in the same paperback format as the BBC's two ongoing (at the time) novel ranges the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures lines, it is generally considered to be part of the Past Doctor Adventures (PDA) line.
- The adaptation of the story itself runs 194 pages which makes it one of the shortest Doctor Who novels to be published since the Virgin New Adventures line had been launched in 1991 (later novellas published by BBC Books and Telos would be shorter, however); the remainder of the book is taken up by "The Making of Scream of the Shalka", a behind-the-scenes chronicle also written by Cornell.
Associated Images
To be added
Publishing History (UK)
International Editions
- To date, no international editions of this book are known.