Scream of the Wretched Shalka on DVD - In the Wretched Shops

[Andrew Curnow]

And me...

[SiHart]

I did too. I remember finding it terribly disappointing, with a horribly unlikable Doctor and the best thing of all Mark Gatiss standing up and saying "Who cares cos it's coming back on TV!"

[Si Hunt]

And me! I was critical of it as soon as it was announced (no really ) and faced off against its writer on-line. But I felt I had good reason.

It seemed like the last straw to me. It seemed like the BBC doling out the final insult to our show. There was marvellous, wonderful Doctor Who that had once stood so proud on Saturday night TV delighting millions and for many years they had expected us to still buy the tat without them even bothering making it. Now the final insult- they were turning it into a website animation. It wasn't that though, it was the fact they were telling us this was the official continuation of the series. This WAS Doctor Who now. This was no spin off - this was ALL it was. It felt like it was time to say No.

So I did, leading to the infamous patroning response from Cornell which we still quote today: "Don't be scared Si!"

A short time later I enjoyed a private "in your face" response when this sad, shoddy, insulting "continuation" was swept under the carpet in favour of a proper, spectacular, lavish TV return. But it still stands as a shuddering reminder of what could have been. Doctor Who: from a TV favourite serial with William Hartnell to a BBCi slideshow with Richard E Grant...

Si.

[brandynigma]

I didn't mind it, loved the Episode 4 cliffhanger, but found that REG got bored halfway through the first episode.

It was a darn sight better than some of the nonsense the EDAs came up with.

[Rob McCow]

It's the way of the future, but I think we're still a few decades off TV shows being broadcast exclusively on the Internet. There's some good stuff on YouTube, but it's not ready to take over terrestrial television by a million miles.

So the time will come when a Scream of The Shalka style event generates magazine headlines and press attention, but it's not here yet.

[SiHart]

I did always like the line "Don't worry about the sign!"

[Andrew Curnow]

Around about halfway through (from vague memory, I did only 'watch' it the once) the Doctor suddenly got a bit more likeable, characterwise at least. But that was effectively four weeks in, and REG's performance was still so 'so-so' that it was too little, too late.

[SiHart]

I liked the version of the theme they did for it.