Doctor Who Magazine – Issue No. 334, 17th September, 2003

BBCi Webcast: More news on Richard E Grant’s debut adventure

Production on the new BBCi Doctor Who webcast, The Scream Of The Shalka, is continuing apace, with a view for a November launch.

With the recording of the audio section now completed, work has begun on the animation.

Unlike BBCi’s previous Doctor Who ventures such as Shada and Death Comes To Time, The Scream Of The Shalka will be fully animated by award-winning company Cosgrove Hall, renowned for its cartoon series such as Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.

The company previously worked on the non-Who BBCi webcast The Ghosts Of Albion, and a similar Flash animation style is expected.

A DVD release for the story is confidently expected following transmission.

Full cast details for the story are now available. Joining Richard E Grant as the Doctor, Sophie Okonedo as new companion Alison, and Craig Kelly as Joe, are Diana Quick as Prime, the leader of the Shalka; Jim Norton as the Doctor’s military liason Major Thomas Kennett; Anna Calder Marshall as Mathilda; Connor Molony as Sergeant Greaves; Andrew Dunn as Max; Ben Morrison and David Tennant as the Caretakers; and recent Doctor Who: Unbound star Derek Jacobi in a cameo appearance as the Doctor’s nemisis, The Master!

Other than the Doctor and the TARDIS, there are said to be very few continuity references in the story, which is set in 2003, in a Lancashire town under siege by mysterious forces.

Meanwhile, writer Paul Cornell has finished the novelisation which, at around 50,000 words, is longer than a Target book, but smaller than a regular BBC novel.

Cornell says that it “Adds loads of detail to the story, with lots of new lines and scenes, and will hopefully both give Who book fans the depth they demand, but be accessible to new readers, re-introducing, as it does, the key concepts.”

The book will also have a lengthy “Making of” essay, with excerpts from the original plot and an insight into the production process, supported by quotes from the production team.

DWM was, of course, present at the recording of the story and we’ll be running an in-depth feature including interviews with the main cast and production personnel, plus a look at the animation process. The article is currently scheduled for DWM 336.

To see a scanned copy of this actual article, click here.

To read the article which appeared in DWM 336, click here.