Shada
Encyclopedia
Shada is an unaired serial of the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season (Season 17), but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC
during filming. In 1992, its recorded footage was released on video using linking narration by Tom Baker to complete the story.
Shada is also the title of an audio play
with animation produced by Big Finish Productions
and broadcast 2 May – 6 June 2003 on BBCi and later webcast on the BBC website, and (in a slightly different version) on the BBC7 Digital Radio Station in 2005 and 2006.
s built a prison for defeated would-be conquerors of the universe. Skagra, an up-and-coming would-be conqueror of the universe, needs the assistance of one of the prison's inmates, but finds that nobody knows where Shada is anymore except one aged Time Lord who has retired to Earth
, where he is masquerading as a professor at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge
. Luckily for the fate of the universe, Skagra's attempt to force the information out of Professor Chronotis
coincides with a visit by the professor's old friend, the Doctor
.
Broadcast date: 10 December 2005
In 2003, the BBC commissioned Big Finish Productions
to remake Shada as an audio play which was then webcast in six episodic segments, accompanied by limited Flash animation, on the BBC website
using illustrations provided by comic strip artist Lee Sullivan
. The play starred Paul McGann
as the Eighth Doctor
and Lalla Ward
as Romana
. The audio play was also broadcast on digital radio station BBC 7, on 10 December 2005 (as a 2-hour omnibus), and was repeated in six parts as the opening story to the Eighth Doctor
's summer season which began on 16 July 2006.
Lalla Ward (Romana) is the only actor to appear in both the original television version and the subsequent Big Finish remake.
. Two other references are a sequence where Skagra steals a Ford Prefect
and when images of Hitchhiker's Guide characters appear as inmates on Shada itself.
, in particular the character of Professor Chronotis who possesses a time machine. Adams did not allow Shada, or any of his other Doctor Who stories, to be novelised by Target Books
. It is, therefore, one of only five serials from the 1963–1989 series not to be novelised by Target – along with Adams' other stories The Pirate Planet
and City of Death
, plus Eric Saward
's two Dalek
stories (Resurrection of the Daleks
and Revelation of the Daleks
).
A six-part adaptation of the story by Jonathan V Way appeared in issues 13-18 of Cosmic Masque, the DWAS's fiction magazine. Douglas Adams granted permission for the adaptation on condition that it was never published in collected form.
A fan group in New Zealand published an unofficial adaptation in 1989, later republishing it as an online eBook titled Doctor Who and Shada.
BBC Books
will publish a novelisation of this serial in March 2012, written by Gareth Roberts
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season (Season 17), but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
during filming. In 1992, its recorded footage was released on video using linking narration by Tom Baker to complete the story.
Shada is also the title of an audio play
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
with animation produced by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
and broadcast 2 May – 6 June 2003 on BBCi and later webcast on the BBC website, and (in a slightly different version) on the BBC7 Digital Radio Station in 2005 and 2006.
Synopsis
The story revolves around the lost planet Shada, on which the Time LordTime Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s built a prison for defeated would-be conquerors of the universe. Skagra, an up-and-coming would-be conqueror of the universe, needs the assistance of one of the prison's inmates, but finds that nobody knows where Shada is anymore except one aged Time Lord who has retired to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, where he is masquerading as a professor at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge
St. Cedd's College, Cambridge
St. Cedd's College is a fictional college, created by Douglas Adams, of Cambridge University.It appears in the Doctor Who serial Shada, and in the novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency....
. Luckily for the fate of the universe, Skagra's attempt to force the information out of Professor Chronotis
Professor Chronotis
Professor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams. He was originally created for the 1979 Doctor Who serial Shada, starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike...
coincides with a visit by the professor's old friend, the Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
.
Continuity
- In an unfilmed scene in Episode 5, a listing of prisoners kept on Shada included a DalekDalekThe Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
, a CybermanCybermanThe Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
, and a ZygonZygonThe Zygons are a fictional extraterrestrial race in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They first appeared in the Fourth Doctor serial Terror of the Zygons, where it was revealed that centuries ago, the Zygon homeworld was destroyed in a stellar explosion. A...
. Instead of these, aliens bearing resemblance to Ice WarriorIce WarriorThe Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his...
s were seen. - In 1983, clips from Shada were used in The Five DoctorsThe Five DoctorsThe Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
, the 20th-Anniversary special. Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
, the fourth actor to play the Doctor, had declined to appear in the special, and the plot was reworked to explain the events in the clips.
- For the Big Finish version, Tom Baker was originally approached to reprise the role of the Doctor, but declined. The Eighth Doctor was then substituted and the story reworked accordingly.
- Although working from the original Adams script, portions of the Big Finish version were reworked by Gary RussellGary RussellGary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
to make the story fit into Doctor Who continuity. This included a new introduction, and a new explanation for the Fourth Doctor and Romana being "taken out of time" during the events of The Five Doctors; the Eighth DoctorEighth DoctorThe Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
has come to collect Romana and K-9 because he has begun to have a feeling that there was something they should have done at that time. In addition to this –- RomanaRomanaRomana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
is referred to as Madam President by Skagra in Episode 5. - In Episode 6 it is Romana, using her Presidential powers, who decides that Chronotis should be allowed to return to Cambridge.
- When the policeman enters Chronotis' room, the Doctor can be heard talking about a "terrible way to see in the New Year" in a possible reference to that Doctor's first adventure.
- Various other minor dialogue changes throughout, mostly relating to the Eighth Doctor reflecting that he has missed Romana and K-9K-9 (Doctor Who)K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
since they left him and how much he enjoyed their company in the past.
- Romana
- When Skagra is investigating the Doctor, clips from three other Big Finish productions can be heard, exclusively on the CD version – The Fires of VulcanThe Fires of VulcanThe Fires of Vulcan is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:The Seventh Doctor and Mel visit ancient Pompeii just before the Vesuvius tragedy is due to occur.-Cast:...
, The Marian ConspiracyThe Marian ConspiracyThe Marian Conspiracy is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
and PhantasmagoriaPhantasmagoria (Doctor Who audio)Phantasmagoria is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The story was written by Mark Gatiss and stars Peter Davison and Mark Strickson...
. The original serial was to have used clips from The Pirate PlanetThe Pirate PlanetThe Pirate Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 September to 21 October 1978. It forms the second serial of The Key to Time...
, The Power of KrollThe Power of Kroll*When script editor Anthony Read asked Robert Holmes to write the story, there were two requirements: that it include the largest monster in series history and that Holmes minimise the humour that many scripts from the era were known for. This second requirement was a request from higher up at the...
, The Creature from the PitThe Creature from the PitThe Creature from the Pit is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 27 October to 17 November 1979.-Synopsis:On the planet Chloris, metal is scarce....
, The Androids of TaraThe Androids of TaraThe Androids of Tara is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 25 November to 16 December 1978...
, Destiny of the DaleksDestiny of the DaleksDestiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....
, and City of DeathCity of Death-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
. The webcast features outlines of the first eight Doctors' faces.
Television version
- Location filming in CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and the first of three studio sessions at BBC Television CentreBBC Television CentreBBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
were recorded as scheduled. The second studio block was affected by a long-running technicians' dispute. The strike was over by the time rehearsals began for the third recording session, but this was lost to higher-priority Christmas programming.
- Attempts were made by new producer John Nathan-Turner to remount the story, but for various reasons it never happened and the production was formally dropped in June 1980. Nathan-Turner was eventually able to complete the story (so far as was possible) by commissioning new effects shots and a score and having Tom Baker record linking material to cover the missing scenes. The result was released on video in 1992, but has never been aired on television – making Shada the only Doctor Who television story never to be broadcast. In October 2010, Dan Hall of 2 Entertain2 Entertain2 Entertain is a British video and music publisher, formed by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004....
confirmed that a DVD release of Shada is in production and at present the plan is to release it with another title.
Big Finish version (2003)
The Cast
- The Doctor – Paul McGannPaul McGannPaul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
(Eighth DoctorEighth DoctorThe Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
) - Romana IIRomanaRomana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
– Lalla WardLalla WardSarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes... - K-9 Mk. IIK-9 (Doctor Who)K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
– John LeesonJohn LeesonJohn Leeson is a British actor who is best known for voicing K-9 on the television series Doctor Who from 1977 to 1979, and again in the 1980–1981 season. He was called back to do the voice of K-9 again for the 2006 episode "School Reunion" and again for the 2008 Doctor Who episode "Journey's End"... - Skagra – Andrew SachsAndrew SachsAndrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
- Professor ChronotisProfessor ChronotisProfessor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams. He was originally created for the 1979 Doctor Who serial Shada, starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike...
– James FoxJames FoxJames Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His... - Chris Parsons – Sean BiggerstaffSean BiggerstaffSean Biggerstaff is a Scottish actor best known for playing Oliver Wood in the Harry Potter film series.-Life and career:Biggerstaff was born in Glasgow, Scotland, growing up with his parents in Maryhill...
- Clare Keightley – Susannah HarkerSusannah HarkerSusannah Harker is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She is the daughter of English actress Polly Adams and actor Richard Owens, and the great-niece of Gordon Adams. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in House of Cards...
- Wilkin – Melvyn HayesMelvyn HayesMelvyn Hayes is an English actor probably best known for playing the effeminate Gunner "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum,-Early life and career:...
- Dr Caldera – Barnaby EdwardsBarnaby EdwardsBarnaby Edwards is a British actor, writer, director and artist. He is best known for his work on the popular British science-fiction series Doctor Who. His various roles include being a Dalek operator for the revived series in many Dalek stories...
- Motorist/Constable – Stuart Crossman
- The Ship – Hannah GordonHannah GordonHannah Cambell Grant Gordon is a Scottish actress who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television work, including Upstairs, Downstairs, Telford's Change, My Wife Next Door, Joint Account and an appearance in the final episode of One Foot in the Grave.-Early life:Gordon was born in...
- Think Tank Voice – Nicholas PeggNicholas PeggNicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.A graduate of the University of Exeter, Pegg trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth...
Broadcast date: 10 December 2005
In 2003, the BBC commissioned Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
to remake Shada as an audio play which was then webcast in six episodic segments, accompanied by limited Flash animation, on the BBC website
Bbc.co.uk
BBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
using illustrations provided by comic strip artist Lee Sullivan
Lee Sullivan
Lee Terence Sullivan is the drummer for the London based alternative rock band Bôa. Lee is the son of Terry Sullivan, the drummer for the rock band Renaissance.-References:...
. The play starred Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
as the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
and Lalla Ward
Lalla Ward
Sarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes...
as Romana
Romana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. The audio play was also broadcast on digital radio station BBC 7, on 10 December 2005 (as a 2-hour omnibus), and was repeated in six parts as the opening story to the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
's summer season which began on 16 July 2006.
Lalla Ward (Romana) is the only actor to appear in both the original television version and the subsequent Big Finish remake.
Outside references
In Episode 2 of the webcast version, when Chris is in his lab showing Clare the book, a vending machine-like object in the background is labelled "Nutrimat", a reference to a similar device in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
. Two other references are a sequence where Skagra steals a Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (car)
The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars produced by the UK section of the Ford Motor Company, and a more upmarket version of its direct siblings the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 1941; returning to the market in 1945, it was...
and when images of Hitchhiker's Guide characters appear as inmates on Shada itself.
In print
Elements of the story were reused by Adams for his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective AgencyDirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams, first published in 1987. It is described by "the author" on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic".The book was followed by a sequel,...
, in particular the character of Professor Chronotis who possesses a time machine. Adams did not allow Shada, or any of his other Doctor Who stories, to be novelised by Target Books
Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...
. It is, therefore, one of only five serials from the 1963–1989 series not to be novelised by Target – along with Adams' other stories The Pirate Planet
The Pirate Planet
The Pirate Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 September to 21 October 1978. It forms the second serial of The Key to Time...
and City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
, plus Eric Saward
Eric Saward
Eric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
's two Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
stories (Resurrection of the Daleks
Resurrection of the Daleks
Resurrection of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts between 8 February and 15 February 1984...
and Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
).
A six-part adaptation of the story by Jonathan V Way appeared in issues 13-18 of Cosmic Masque, the DWAS's fiction magazine. Douglas Adams granted permission for the adaptation on condition that it was never published in collected form.
A fan group in New Zealand published an unofficial adaptation in 1989, later republishing it as an online eBook titled Doctor Who and Shada.
BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
will publish a novelisation of this serial in March 2012, written by Gareth Roberts
Gareth Roberts (writer)
Gareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
.
VHS, Webcast and DVD releases
- Shadas video release featured linking narration by Tom Baker and was accompanied by a facsimile of a version of Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
's script (except in North America). The release was discontinued in the UK in 1996. - The webcast version (originally broadcast via BBCi's "Red Button") remains available from the BBC Doctor Who "classic series" website, and an expanded audio-only version is available for purchase on CD from Big Finish. This expanded version was the one broadcast on BBC7.
- Ian LevineIan LevineIan Levine is an English songwriter, producer, and DJ. He is also a well-known fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who.Levine attended Arnold School in Blackpool from 1963 to 1970...
announced on 8 September 2011 that his personally-funded reconstruction of all six episodes of the serial, using animation and recently-recorded vocal tracks to fill in missing parts of the story, had now been completed. However, the animation was rejected by 2Entertain, and it has been announced that the shot footage for the story will be released in 2012 with assorted Doctor Who material, including the 1993 documentary More Than 30 Years In The TARDIS.