The Wilderness Years (1990 - 2004) - Part Four: Scream Of The Shalka

In 2003 the next attempt was made to revive the show, albeit in animated form with the online production, Scream Of The Shalka, starring Richard E Grant as the ninth Doctor.

At the time this was meant to be a genuine continuation of the series and future animations would have been likely to follow but shortly after the announcement was made that the BBC were bringing back real Doctor Who, with Christopher Eccleston appearing as the ninth Doctor and as such Richard E Grant's Doctor was removed from the true continuity of the show. However Scream Of The Shalka has just been released on DVD and I've never seen it before so I thought it was worth slotting in and I ended up watching this just before starting Christopher Eccleston's first episode.

Grant's Doctor is much darker than his eighth persona and its clear from the start that something has happened prior to this adventure to make him the way he is. There is a real sadness to him which in someway is similar to how the Doctor will develop having survived the Time War and the slaughter of his people.

The animation is pretty good but its not fantastic. I think it shows that it was made for an online release rather than a television showing.

One of my favourite performances would have to be Derek Jacobi as the Master (again foreshadowing his eventual appearance as the Master in the new series!). At first I wasn't sure what was going on as the Master spends the duration of the story inside the Doctor's TARDIS, unable to leave, but at the same time helping the Doctor. He even gets revealed to be an android of sorts part way through the story! It's revealed that at some point the Doctor has saved the Master and is now travelling with him so the Master is the Doctor's, not quite willing, companion which I think is a neat idea.

The Master also has a great scene with the Doctor's new companion, Alison, as he goes on to explain the Doctor's sadness and therefore his need for her. It's rather a touching scene really.

I'm running out if time to talk about the Shalka! They are a pretty impressive creation with their screams being able to strip away the Earth's atmosphere. The Doctor has had a fair few companions with some good screams but nothing that could beat the Shalka!