50 Years in Space & Time (Part 10)

Here's the next part of my look back at the Best of the Bunch from Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary:

• The November DVD release of Scream of the Shalka

10. Scream of the Shalka

This November DVD release almost slipped by unnoticed in the midst of the 50th Anniversary celebrations, but is worth a place on any Doctor Who fan's shelf.

Originally produced during the "wilderness years" when Doctor Who had been off the air for quite a long time, Scream of the Shalka was intended as a celebration of Doctor Who's 40th Anniversary (there was little else happening to celebrate it).

Using then state-of-the-art flash animation, and first broadcast in six parts on the classic BBC's Doctor Who website from 13th November - 18th December 2003, Scream of the Shalka was the first true Doctor Who web animation. Up until the surprising return of the live TV series, web animation was generally accepted by many to be the future of Doctor Who.

The return of Doctor Who to television in 2005 relegated Scream of the Shalka to the level of a mere historical curiosity. But Doctor Who fans just love that kind of thing, and this DVD is worth getting for the excellent extra features on the disc alone.

The main story, written by Paul Cornell, is also pretty good, and the excellent performance of Richard E. Grant as the Doctor showed that he'd have been perfect for the role, if he'd been selected for the live series. It's a great pity that he only had this one bite at the cherry. I bet he thought he'd last a little longer as the Doctor!

To Be Continued...

50 Years in Space & Time (Part 3)

With the Radio Times celebrating Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, with no less than TWELVE variant covers, the TV Times also got in on the act with their own 50 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary edition for the week of 23rd-29th November, with four variant Doctor Who covers. I have the 1963-1969 Cover #1, featuring Hartnell and Troughton, plus companions Jamie, Zoe, Steven and Dodo, and a selection of the favourite b&w era monsters. A very nice cover, although it's strange that all the background companions and monsters are Troughton-era. There's nothing from the Hartnell era, except the First Doctor himself, and maybe the Daleks, as they were from both eras.

Inside the magazine, we have:

• A mini-review of The Day of the Doctor
• A five-page 50 Years of Doctor Who Special celebration, A Very Special Birthday. This is a nice one, and includes an interview with David Tennant and Matt Smith, and interviews with Tom Baker (the 1970s) and Peter Davison (the 1980s)
• There's also a Classic Companions piece, featuring interviews with Peter Purves (Steven) and Frazer Hines (Jamie)
• And to crown it all, there's A Brief History of Time (Lords), a very nice timeline running along the bottom of the entire five-page feature, starting with An Unearthly Child in 1963, and taking us right up to the 2012 Christmas TV Special, in which the Matt Smith Doctor faces off against the Great Intelligence, in the shape of Richard E. Grant

Overall, a pretty good Doctor Who 50th Anniversary edition. It's well worth grabbing at least one copy of this one.

To Be Continued...