RTD Finally Reveals the Truth Behind the Shalka Doctor Series 14’s Appearance
Russell T Davies has finally explained the Shalka Doctor’s inclusion in Series 14 of Doctor Who.
The episode “Rogue” featured a parade of familiar faces from the Doctor’s past but also included a surprise: Richard E. Grant as the Shalka Doctor. This version of the Doctor, originating from the 2003 animated web series Scream of the Shalka, was previously ignored as part of the TV canon.
Some fans wondered if this might be setting up something important, but in the latest issue of SFX magazine [via], Davies reveals it was just a bit of fun.
Davies said: “We talked about that many times with [‘Rogue’ co-writers] Kate [Herron] and Briony [Redman]. Just fun, a joke. It’s funny. It’s that simple. I sat here in this office with them and they just thought ‘an unknown Doctor’ – that’s what the script said because we had to work out who to get and how we could get him.”
Davies also wanted to offer “a bit of payment” to Scream of the Shalka’s writer, Paul Cornell: “It was lovely. A little bit of payment there because he created the Ninth Doctor with the Shalka and we completely replaced him with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.”
He continued: “So, how nice all these years later, to take a little lean back and sort of say, the door’s open now, thanks to ‘The Timeless Child’, and you can come in and own your Doctor again. Really, it’s not just fun, it’s a nice thing to do.”
Finally, Davies revealed Richard E. Grant was actually involved in a small capacity: “He wasn’t paid the fee he would’ve been paid to be a Doctor, obviously. He was so up for it and went and did that, especially for us. Very last minute! Because we weren’t sure whether to do it or not, partly because we’re busy, and there was a lot of extra paperwork just to do that. But as we watched that parade of Doctors, we just sat and went, ‘We’ve got to put an extra one in, we’ve got to.’ That’s the fun of it.”
