| SCREAM OF THE SHALKA by Paul Cornell |
| Story ? Synopsis: A mysterious meteor lands in New Zealand, depositing a small snake-like creature. Meanwhile in a Northern English town, the TARDIS brings the Doctor to find things have gone quiet. He saves Alison Cheney, then brings in the military when the TARDIS gets stolen. He finds creatures called Shalka underneath the ground, who have tremendous technology. They use implants in humans around the world to form huge swarms of people, who are then genetically reprogrammed to help alter Earth's atmosphere. The Doctor rescues Alison, swallowing the small Shalk who had been infecting her. He uses it to create a counter-scream, and sends the Shalka leader, Prime, into a black hole. Alison then takes over as Prime, and with the Doctor's help, breaks the Shalka grip on the humans, and obliterates the Shalka. Alison opts to leave Earth and travel with the Doctor. |
| Review:- BBCi's 3rd webcast was a special occasion. To chime in with the 40th Anniversary, they planned an all-new adventure for an all-new incarnation of the Doctor. Three months after the webcast comes the novelisation, from the pen of the author, Paul Cornell. Together with an extra section looking at the "Making of" the story, as well as a previous draft, the book stands to make for an interesting contrast for those who have seen the webcast, and an all-new tale for those who haven't. I fall into the latter category. The new Doctor goes through a process of change during the book, a voyage of discovery. He has made some tragic mistake in the past which has altered his entire outlook. He travels alone, except for a robot butler modelled on the Master, and containing the Master's mind. This makes for an intriguing set-up, and by the end of the book, the revitalised Doctor is certainly as deep a character as any of his forebears. Alison Cheney is our companion-elect, and although we don't really scratch the surface of who she is, she gets enough to do to make the audience care, and her inevitable joining the TARDIS at the end is made a welcome prospect. The Master gets little to do, but provides a useful foil for the Doctor, with hints that he might be up to something... certainly how long he would remain practical in a series is a tricky one. As for the Shalka - as an all-new monster, they have some development, and are credibly presented as a threat to the whole of Earth, indeed the whole of the Universe. Their sonic power, and ability to swoop through the ground makes them fearsome as they travel all over the world, capable of mutating people and the atmosphere. Their leader, Prime, has a steely confidence that quite convinces an audience that this is going to be a tough, nigh-on impossible job for the Doctor. Major Kennet is a Brigadier substitute, and does pretty well as a believable "realistic" representative of the Armed Forces. The relationship between the Doctor and the Army is one that has been a staple of some Doctor Who fiction, notably Relative Dementias, and here we get a useful spin from the new Doctor. Apart from that back-page bit about the "Lancaster town of Lannet", my main concern with this book comes in the Making Of essay. Since the story itself is quite reasonable, this is perhaps a churlsih quibble, but the essay does slip in the point that many of the people involved with future productions of Doctor Who are not going to be working from the inside out, but from the outside in. At least 2 people in that essay are, in my judgement, not people I would want involved in Doctor Who ever again. The early draft is also useful in showing that the final version was at least a marked improvement on what came before. So, to sum up, the story is quite good, if you can stomach the rather sledgehammer-subtle ecology theme. |
| Disclaimer: I have a copy of the novelisation. |