The Series:

There was a time, back in the early 2000s, where the BBC said that they had no plans to bring Doctor Who back to television. Now, the odds are pretty good that anyone reading this knows that the series was revived and has gone on to quite a bit of commercial success but in that before between the end of the ‘classic' run and the revival, there was still a huge fan base hungry for new material. So it made sense that in 2003, Doctor Who would come back, albeit in animated form and on the internet, just in time for the fortieth anniversary of the show.

And that's where this storyline, Scream Of The Shalka, comes in. When the six part animated series begins, the being that would have been the ninth Doctor (voiced by Richard E. Grant), arrives via TARDIS in Lancashire. He's been sent there without much care for his own opinion on the matter and once he gets there, he's locked out of his Police Box. He notes immediately how unusually quiet this village is and decides to hear into a local pub to see what's what. When he arrives, no one wants to talk, the patrons simply sip their drinks and mind their own business. The bartender, however, is a young woman named Alison (Sophie Okonedo), who is at least marginally friendly. Unimpressed, the Doctor leaves the pub and just as a bag lady is about to tell him something that may or may not be of importance, a tremor rocks the Earth and she's killed. Shortly after, the TARDIS is also swallowed up by the ground.

With no one else to realistically turn to, the Doctor winds up at the apartment that Alison shares with her boyfriend, Joe (Craig Kelly). Much to their confusion, he basically lets himself in and insists that they tell him what exactly is happening in the town. Alison then admits that strange things have been happening, that there have been aliens sighted and that the ground itself seems to be having issues given that it's making all manner of strange and sometimes very loud noises. This has caused the townsfolk to take it upon themselves to stay inside and keep quiet. The Doctor, being the Doctor and all, decides he'll make as much noise as he pleases and in turn he succeeds in bringing the aliens out. They are, as the title of the serial implies, the Shalka and they're able to use their powerful shrieks as a powerful sonic weapon. After this incident the Doctor gets in touch with UNIT and expresses his displeasure with the situation, but in order to get out, he'll have to head underground and get his TARDIS back. Given that the Shalka have congregated down there and seem to be able to navigate their way through the lava filled underground, this won't be easy. And when it turns out they intend to launch a plan to exert their dominance over the planet, well, we all know the Doctor won't be turning his back on a plight like that…

Although there were plans made for a follow up series, the announcement from the BBC that Doctor Who would return to television cut the life of this ninth Doctor short. Not considered to be an official part of the TV series' continuity, we never did get that follow up and that's a bit of a shame. Yes, by modern standards where CGI animation now seems the norm this Flash animation does seem a bit primitive. In fact, it seems more like a motion comic than a cartoon as often times only one part of a character will move and the backgrounds are often stationary. Richard Grant, however, does make for an interesting Doctor and the storyline written by Paul Cornell, who was no stranger to the series, is actually quite good.

Though obviously Grant is only doing voice work here, he plays the Doctor with quite a bit of attitude. This is not a cheery Matt Smith style Doctor, Grant's take is more curmudgeonly, he's not all that friendly and for the first half or the storyline basically just wants to get back to his TARDIS and get out of there. Of course, as the story plays out and the different layers are peeled back to reveal a considerably more important problem, his reluctance wanes but throughout, let it suffice to say that he does have an attitude. Sophia Okonedo is also quite good here as Alison Cheney. She brings a bit of humor to the role and is a likeable character. She and the Doctor wind up making a decent enough team that when this is all over with you do find yourself a little remiss that they didn't have further adventures together.

The design work from Cosgrove Hall, the animation company responsible for bringing all of this to visual life, is, as stated, limited by modern standards. With that having been said, it's quite appealing. The Doctor himself has a dark look here, he almost likes like a villain at times, while the TARDIS looks more or less like the TARDIS we all know and love. The Shalka themselves are interesting aliens, they look like a cross between a worm and a cockroach and have an appreciably icky quality to them. Bold use of color is a constant throughout the series that helps to pump up the visuals a bit and all in all, this one turned out to be a considerably more engrossing story than was first expected. Though we'd obviously get another ninth Doctor in the not too distant future, it's nice to have this one time take on the character preserved and those who didn't bother with it when it was first broadcast on the web who appreciate the series ought to check it out.

Video:

Doctor Who: Scream Of The Shalka arrives on DVD in a 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks about as good as the animation style employed to bring the show to life will probably allow for. Colors are reproduced quite nicely and the line work visible in the animation stays solid. There is some obvious banding in spots but no serious issues with anything but the most minor of compression artifacts. Detail is only as strong as the material so don't expect too much here, this isn't hyper detailed CGI animation, it's Flash done over a decade ago but it holds up well and this is a nice presentation of the source material.