Scream of the Shalka.

TV With so much new Doctor Who buzzing around at the moment in cd and book form, now is a great (and expensive) time to be a fan. The new online adventure Scream of the Shalka begins tonight and it's another fresh take which underlines simply how flexible this format can be. Something strange is happening in what looks like Lancashire, and The Doctor has been sent by powers unknown (I'm betting on The Timelords) to sort it out.

Can you see what I'm doing here? So that this blog doesn't fall foul of the EC quota for recycling, I'm reposting a review I wrote of Shalka from its original 'broadcast'.

Being a fan hasn't really become less expensive. If you're an old schooler, you're still shelling out for dvds and cds and books. The new tv series is the icing on the cake. But it's still flexible. Re-watching this, listening to the new McGann audio Time Works and reading the fun comic strip at the heart of Doctor Who Adventures Issue One it's amazing how they're all essentially the same premise, the same character, the same story, but they're all subtly different and could attract different fans. It's actually somewhat of a shame that the mysteries of this retrospectively monikered Unbound story haven't been explained.

Someone once wrote that The Doctor is a fool proof role that anyone can play. I've never really agreed with that. Imagine most actors in a room with Davros, Dalek creator and s/he'll be exterminated before they can get hissy. I'm pleased to say that Richard E Grant is still instantly The Doctor even in voice form. It's hard to believe he's never seen the show when he manages to cram in both a Pertwee-esque 'moment of charm' and that McCoy-like feeling that something else is going on that's none of our business. There is also real chemistry between Grant and new companion, Sophie Okenodo's Alison, and it'll be interesting to see what develops.

See what's happening at the top there. Eagle eyed readers by notice something familiar. On reflection, although there is some magnetism up front, Richard's performance becomes increasingly listless over time. Rather like latterday McCoy he lacks a dramatic impetous, a t factor which holds the interest of the viewer/listener. Actually, the best performance in the thing is Sophie, because it's a new, naturalistic approach to companion acting which makes sense and oddly enough less cartoony than anything seen in live action, even in the new series. Not sure about that chemistry though. I think I might have been grasping for complements.

They're really helped by Paul Cornell's script, which somehow manages to offer something new and different without dashing away from the essential spirit of the show. Although the opening echoes Pertwee's first story Spearhead from Space, this is a very urban story, the Timelord drifting through a much larger modern landscape, and ironically for a cartoon some of the characterisation is more realistic than the TV series managed at times. Cornell has always been one of the most flexible Doctor Who writers and on the strength of this first episode, it's clear he's worked out yet another way of French polishing the police box. Really do hope they give him an episode of the new TV series to play about with.

As Sean has quite rightly pointed out, it is interesting how much of this first episode parallels Rose and in fact before the new series was broadcast Cornell did mention how similar his and Davies' approaches were but also how they differed in significant ways. This is a much darker rendering. The Doctor seems to be in the thrall of some higher power rather than travelling for his own pleasure. I still think he had the timelords in mind what with the wierdness of the robo-Master (which was an excellent idea).

Was the new series announced before Shalka went out? I can't remember. But I was right about who would be writing episodes in that first season, although I thought Lance Parkin would be in there as well. I do hope Gareth Roberts gets a full episode or two in Season Three -- it seems a tad unfair that he should be isolated to mopping up webisodes and interactive episodes and comic strips when he's written for Saturday nights before. Sorry, have I gone off topic?

The look of the piece is a quantum leap from the Shada remake (still online). Animated properly by Cosgrove Hall, the framing brings to mind Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury as well as some anime, in its use of static figures moving within a space. The character designs are also good, especially Alison although The Doctor seems quite arch to me -- perhaps this'll be explained in future stories when he find out what he's been up to.

I still stand by that Doonesbury reference, but I think it's in much the same way as the framing in Kevin Smith's Clerks mimics comic strips, it's the static nature of shots and scenes. I really wasn't a fan of the character design for this Nth Doctor -- too vamparic and artificial.

The Doctor is back ... again ... and he's looking really good for his age.

He certainly is. It's a shame Cornell couldn't continue this experiment. Any possibility that Big Finish might get the chance to resolve this story some time?