Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
| 13 November 2003 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    JinRoz

    For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

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    MoPoshy

    Absolutely brilliant

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    Kidskycom

    It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

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    Gary

    The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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    Dr Moo

    It's an unusual thing about Doctor Who that there can be so many different versions of the Doctor besides the ''official'' versions. Here in 2003 there lurks the mysterious Shalka Doctor, an alternate ninth incarnation, played by Richard E Grant and visible only by animation. He has his own TARDIS interior, sonic screwdriver, companions and title sequence. In fact until Russell T Davies showed up this Doctor was THE Ninth Doctor.The plot of Scream of the Shalka is typical ClassicWho fare: the Doctor arrives, meets some monsters, stops them and then he's off. In this edition he also acquired a new companion in the form of Alison joining him in his TARDIS where there also resides the Master in an android body. There's also some involvement from UNIT but they prove that without one of the Lethbridge-Stewarts they're little more than ''Red Shirts''.REG's performance is of a Doctor who appears disinterested but will still get the job done, even if he may need an incentive. Can he be trusted? What's happened to the Doctor since his previous McGann-shaped incarnation? That's the question that Paul Cornell sets out to ask but not necessarily answering it. I'm reminded of the "Am I a good man?" arc from series eight and the Twelfth Doctor. In fact the Shalka and Twelfth Doctors are quite similar personalities in lots of ways.The true highlight of the show is Derek Jacobi's Master. It's a shame he doesn't get much screen time but he's great during a limited period, just like his official Master from Utopia.This is an unusual look into what could've been but now never will be, an important lesson for Doctor Who obsessives to learn about. In a universe where the show never got back on the BBC as the mighty juggernaut of British Television it is today then this is how the show would exist now.It's a shame we never got more of this Doctor. All we have are three stories. Scream of the Shalka and its novelisation, a short story online called The Feast of the Stone (which is really really good) and Simon Clark's unfinished Blood of the Robots. I wish he'd blow the dust off his scripts and treat us to that sometime!

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    pipedreams1

    I hate reviews where the watcher/reader clearly hasn't seen or read the whole thing. Unfortunately I must now deliver such a review. I had wanted to watch the entirety of this animation but I found myself unable to do so. Not only didn't it engage me but within 3 'parts' I found myself starting to have negative feelings about Dr Who...This seemed to have everything in it that people have taken the Mick out of Whovians for. The Dr Who animated episodes that I saw were stilted and frankly a huge disappointment. I won't say anything more as it is terrible to badmouth something someone has put a large amount of effort into.Thank goodness for the news series and thank goodness they decided to ditch this animated concept.Perhaps watching this twice a day may help with withdrawal symptoms from the excellence new series... the problem is you might be so turned off by it that you decide not to tune in for the Christmas Invasion.

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    gunfight-1

    A dictionary definition of the word "Animation" reads as follows....."The act, process, or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity".After watching the online Dr Who i was unable to identify any of the above qualities in the programme, if any body can there are places you can receive proper medical attention.Richard E Grant is as "wooden" and one dimensional in this as he is in all his outings. The rest of the cast obviously have debt collectors after them or they surely would have avoided such a cheap and amateurish project.I was urging the Shalka to speed up their plan of world domination to end the agony of the hysterical laughter i was reduced to whilst watching this tripe.

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    burnt

    It's a pity that the BBC didn't cast Richard in the forthcoming revival of the television series. He was a great Ninth Doctor in this production, and I'm sure that he would have been great in a television series as well. Now it seems that this will be a one-off production. There is a brief piece of fiction featuring his Incarnation at the Doctor Who BBCi website, but now Christopher Eccleston will take on the role of the Ninth Doctor (following Paul McGann's Eighth Incarnation in the 1996 television movie)in the forthcoming series, due to begin production this Summer, and to be on British screens(BBC Wales)in 2005. I strongly suggest catching this production if at all possible. It may be released on DVD in the near future from what I hear.

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