Scream of the Shalka (webcast): Difference between revisions

The Doctor is picking the lock to Alison’s chains and he says that [[Andy Warhol]] once told him “They always say that time changes things. But you actually have to change them yourselves”. He proclaims that Warhol was a wonderful man and that he wanted to paint “all nine of me”. As he frees Alison, she questions what he’s talking about he replies that he’s just getting his courage together. She thanks him and he hopes that in time she allow him his eccentricities; adding that sometimes they are all he or the world has. She asks if he brought her down there purely so he could save her life and he replies that that would be shear vanity and that he needs her in a practical way. He then opens the jar containing the Shalka parasite and swallows the creature. It then begins to manifest inside his body and Alison quickly slaps him. He marvels at what it must be like to “escape the reliance of all life on other life! To take sustenance directly from worlds!” He tells her that the Shalka take good care of the worlds they’ve invaded after they’ve transformed them. She tries to break him out of this trance by continually slapping him until he stops her by grabbing her wrist. He tells her that it was linked to his neurons and that he was learning from and reprogramming it. He now understands the scream and all the information that goes with it. He adds that that was the pleasurable part; the dangerous bit comes now. He orders Alison not to move until he says.

The Doctor proudly declares “I think! Therefore, I win!” but Prime tells him he hasn’t won. He comments that she’s kept her human vocal chords and she replies “Which doesn’t stop me from doing this!” and she screams at the Doctor; knocking him over. She calls him an amateur and declares that he could only destroy an untrained or inexperienced Shalka. She says that they have a tradition of sonic combat and he retorts that he has a tradition of getting in the way. She says that in delaying her, he is not preventing Earth’s destruction. The scream is continuing to operate without her having to oversee it but he says that, now he has the entire knowledge of their system in his head, he is eventually going to get the hang of it. He tries his scream again but hers prove too strong; ultimately forcing him further backwards. But it turns out that was part of the Doctor’s plan as Prime’s screams have propelled him right next to the machine and he pulls a lever which converts the wormhole into the black hole. Both Prime and the Doctor are sucked towards it but they grab the very edge. Alison is hanging onto a rock and Prime is wrapping her tentacles around the Doctor; in an effort to drag him in with her. She urges the Doctor to die and he replies that’s just it. Life won’t die and he plants a firm kick in Prime’s face; sending her into the black hole. The Doctor then shouts for Alison to hit the button on the machine to convert the black hole back to the wormhole and she does so.

The screaming is continuing across the globe but Alison orders all the slaves to listen; declaring that she is now one of them and orders them to stop screaming as they are now free. She tells the Doctor that the Shalka are trying to force her out and regain control. He reminds her that she had the strength to resist them on her own before; now all of those people are on her side and she can do it! The colony creature then lumbers in and the Doctor mutters there’s been a change of plan. He taps a glowing orb on the machine and talks into it; asking if he is now speaking to the Shalka and Alison confirms that he is. He asks them if they are all on the surface trying to control all of those humans themselves “spinning all those plates at once” and Alison replies that they are. He then declares “Well then, this how it feels to drop them!” He then lets out his own scream again which makes the colony creature

explode, along with every single Shalka around the world. The parasite in Alison’s head then disappears and the Doctor proudly mutters “come to the cabaret!” Alison then realises that the Shalka are gone and the Doctor confirms that all of them, including the parasites, have been vaporised; “amateur indeed!” Alison then points out they could have used the scream to fix the atmosphere rather than just defeat the Shalka. She says that if she’d had just a few more seconds but the Doctor cuts in that he would never have allowed that; “humans can sort out the problems they make themselves”. She begins to say that every time she thinks she understands the Doctor but he cuts in that he feels the same way; “I don’t like the military but I have so many friends in it. I say I do not kill but then… I exterminate thousands!” Alison tells him that to do his best to keep all the plates from smashing and that he doesn’t have to be perfect. He smiles and says that he will. He then asks her if she wants tea to which she smiles.

Alison is stirring her tea inside the TARDIS and remarks how big it is. The Master tells her that she’s only seen a small part of it and asks if she’s planning to stay long enough to see more of it. She’s initially unsure what he means by this but soon realises and says that she doesn’t think she’s been invited. The Master says that the Doctor would never invite her and neither would he; saying that he’s not all that fond of her. She asks why he keeps calling her “my dear” and he replies that he calls everyone that. However he does, reluctantly, admit that she offers the Doctor a companionship that he does not; which is something that the Doctor has not allowed himself in a long time. She asks what happened to make the Doctor such an “emotional island” and he replies that it’s for the Doctor tell her the story though the Master reckons that the Doctor sees an echo of it in her. She asks if the two of them have always travelled together and he replies “By no means! I was of aid to the Doctor after he had lost…… during the events that so damaged him” and that in return he offered the Master a last chance at salvation which he, rather foolishly, accepted. He also doubts that they will ever reach as the Doctor promised a place he calls [[Bognor Regis]]. But the Master is certain that the Doctor wants Alison to stay so as to have someone to share his exile with. Alison questions what the Doctor is exiled from but then the man himself enters, carrying an umbrella. He tells the Master off for yet again leaving the umbrella stand in the zeppelin hanger.

The Doctor and Alison step out of the TARDIS, sheltering from the rain under the umbrella. She asks whether he could have landed back at the school and he replies that his control over the TARDIS is somewhat erratic. She also asks if he could have, at the very least, got her back after the rain had stopped but the Doctor tells her that the rain is going to continue for ages as the Earth needs to sort itself out. He remarks that the English will probably love it and want to conquer the world all over again which, he adds, would be bad. She asks, if she stays with him, whether they could go back and see the Pyramids so as to find out who really built them and the Doctor replies that the TARDIS can go to any time and any place.  Joe, Kennet and Greaves then arrive in an army truck. The Major informs the Doctor that the Prime Minister and the US President have extended their gratitude, the UN has already been in touch and there’s even talk of a parade. The Doctor is clearly unimpressed and tells Kennet to leave the getting mushy to the Shalka. The Doctor is preparing to say goodbye to Alison though she is looking sad at the thought. Joe tries to talk to her and the Doctor begins walking back to the TARDIS but she urges him to wait. She tells him that she has to say goodbye to Joe which surprises both him and the Doctor. She tells her boyfriend that the Doctor can drop her off at her mum’s house. The Doctor then notices the burns on Greaves’ face and calls it a tan. The Lieutenant asks for permission to thump the Doctor but Kennet tells him that it suits him. Alison tells Joe that she’s bored and that this is her chance to do some travelling in a time machine! Joe asks the Doctor if he’ll be able to get her back. He then says, because it’s a time machine, she’s probably already back and tells him to call her mum. He does so but she is not there. She seems a little uncertain but affirms that they now know. Kennet then tells the Doctor that he can’t simply go off again all on his own and he agrees but he is not on his own. Kennet then asks the Doctor if he needs any extra help but he tells the Major that there is no extra room. The TARDIS light then switches on which the Doctor recognises as the Master indicating that he wants to go. It begins to make its signature noise and Alison asks if it always makes that “awful racket” and the Doctor replies that she’ll simply have to get used to that. She asks if there’s anything else she’ll have to get used to and he quickly runs through the ship rules: no running, no jumping, no pushing and no slapping. She seems rather disappointed at the last rule as she steps into the TARDIS. Joe, Kennet and Greaves watch as the TARDIS departs.