Doctor Who review: The Silent Scream is a great tribute to 1920s Hollywood
By James Aggas
The Silent Scream is an effective Doctor Who horror in the city of dreams, where the voices of fading Hollywood stars are suddenly being stolen away…
James Goss uses a rather interesting setting for his Fourth Doctor story, The Silent Scream. Set during the late 1920s, the world of movies is experiencing a huge change. With talking pictures now a reality, silent movie stars are struggling to hold onto the limelight. It’s not just how someone looks that matters anymore, but how they sound, too. So it’s a major problem, to say the least, when actors in Hollywood suddenly start losing their voices…
There are a number of scary monsters and ideas used in The Silent Scream. The main creatures of the story – beings that look almost like shadows – are creepy enough. The scenes where people lose their voice are equally effective.
But the real villain of the piece is a nasty piece of work. Especially during a scene that makes very effective use of Swan Lake. So while this is definitely more family friendly that Goss’s Torchwood stories (Deadbeat Escape springs to mind), it’s nice to see such strong horrific elements included in the story.
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Hollywood stars
But it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, Goss has also written plenty of humor and comedy in The Silent Scream, too. Particularly with scenes involving K9. One scene in a cab is especially amusing.
We also get some great performances, too. Alec Newman is delightfully creepy and sinister as Dr Julius, and Pamela Salem is enjoyable as fading star Lorretta Waldorf.
But I think my favorite performance in this one is Andrée Bernard as Lulu Hammerstein. She works quite a bit with the Doctor in this one, and while she’s used to the eccentricities of Hollywood, even she’s constantly amazed by what happens in this story.
Overall, The Silent Scream is a nice little tribute to the early days of Hollywood, while still providing a good mixture of horror and humor. A nice and easy listen of a Doctor Who story.
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Have you listened to The Silent Scream? Do you think the Doctor should visit the city of dreams more often? Should a TV episode explore silent movies? Let us know in the comments below.