Doctor Who: Shada

Intended as the finale to troubled-plagued season 17, this was the only story that was canceled over mid-way through production due to a most unfortunate strike at the BBC. Tom Baker stars as the fourth and most popular Doctor, with beautiful Lalla Ward as his companion Romana (II), and of course K-9(voiced by David Brierly for this season only) that finds them visiting 1979 Earth to see old friend(and fellow Time Lord) Professor Chronotis(played by Denis Carey) at his University, where they learn that an ancient book from their home planet Gallifrey has been stolen by evil scientist Skagra(played by Christopher Neame) in his plan for universal domination.

Uneven plot(typical of this season) has fine acting and nice location filming, but some silly elements as well that detract. What the end result would have looked like is speculative, and a great pity that it wasn't. Tom Baker introduces this, and first released on VHS in 1992, then 20 years later on DVD, where at least fans can have the opportunity to judge for themselves on what would have been a six-part adventure, though counted here on IMDb as one story.

Still should be considered as canon, since it was (visually)referred to later in anniversary story 'The Five Doctors'.

Arguably the most well known actor to ever portray the Doctor in the BBC series, Tom Baker returns to narrate this previously missing adventure from his heyday as the scarf wearing, grinning Fourth Doctor. 'Shada' was originally produced as part of the 1979-1980 season of the scifi programme-and would have been the final story of that year-but was cancelled mid way due to strikes. With Producer Graham Williams' departure and incoming replacement John Nathan-Turner desiring to move the series into a new direction, 'Shada' was consigned to storage and largely forgotten.... until 1992. Sylvester McCoy had been playing the mysterious seventh incarnation of the wandering Time Lord for three full years before the BBC decided to sell the show to an independent company over financial concerns. Spending the next two and a half years searching for someone to do this, the BBC grew despondent finally cancelled the long running programme. So with the sudden demand for Dr Who stories being released on VHS for commercial use, former producer Nathan-Turner, in one of his last acts as 'caretaker' of Doctor Who, authorized the release of the 'Shada' story on VHS with Tom Baker being hired to narrate the missing bits that were not completed in 1979 and presenting this rare gem to a new generation.

Shada has one of the most complicated behind the stories of all time. Originally conceived as the finale episode of the 1979-1980 season of Doctor Who by Douglas Adams (then script editor and future creator of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) and was extensively set at Cambridge University. Now all of the location filming at Cambridge had been completed and some of the studio work done before an actors strike halted the production. Then the decision was made not to finish all of the filming. Now in 1983 two brief scenes from the Cambridge filming was used in the Five Doctors. Adams also used elements in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. And then in 1992, the BBC finally decided to take the recorded footage from 1979 and use Tom Baker to help tie those sequences that were never filmed with narration. This is the result.

To say the least this is one of the most impressive Doctor Who adventures. Adams script is taught, tense, and even fun at times. The story is complicated to say the least and is virtually impossible to quickly summarize. Yet despite this (or rather because of it) the story keeps your riveted to the screen and waiting for the next scene right up until the very end. This is definitely the best Adams Doctor Who story and it is a shame that it was destined never to be finished. If it had this could have been perhaps the greatest adventure of the series.

The performances by the actors are good and amongst the better ones of the series. Tom Baker is at his height as the Doctor, at least in his time frame in the role. He plays everything so well that it is hard to find a problem with it. Lalla Ward is well as Romana and this is one of her better episodes as well. Beyond them is a strong supporting cast in the form of Denis Carey as Professor Chronotis, the retired Time Lord who is not what he seems. Christopher Neame is a very menacing Skagra, despite having one of the worst looking costumes of the series (white outfit, complete with silver cloak and hat) and the addition of the mind draining sphere helps immensely. Add on Daniel Hill and Victoria Burgoyne as two humans caught up in the events and the result is one of the finest casts ever assembled for Doctor Who.

The story was never fully filmed and is tied together by clips of narration featuring Tom Baker. This is actually a pro rather then a con. Baker brilliantly reprises his role of the Doctor and narrates the story's missing parts expertly. Baker gives in his narration (and in some sample special effects shots) and inkling of what Shada could have and should have been. It is a testament to his power as an actor that the story works as well as it does in an uncompleted form.

The one big minus of the story is in the special effects. The special effects are up to par with those of the series at the time. Yet there are some special effects featuring spacecrafts that don't work at all. The time tunnel chase sequence for example is a case where these special effects can only give an inkling of what was intended. But they are meant as exactly that and one can judge them for oneself.

Shada is the sum of its parts. With the combination of a fine script, fine performances, great humor, some terrific location filming, and some brilliant narration by Tom Baker, Shada is more then just a lost story from a classic series. It is an inkling of what could have and should become a Doctor Who classic. While it is isn't as good as seeing a full-fledged story (something that can never be of course) this is still an amazing sci-fi epic.

This film, despite being incomplete (Due to a strike at the BBC I believe) really is quite excellent. The plot is compelling, and the cast is simply first class. Although the special effects are a little ropey (Not surprisng for TV sci-fi of the 1970's), that does not detract from the story in the slightest. This is partly because of the superb acting, as I mentioned earlier, but also because of the script, written by the late great Douglas Adams, of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' fame. Of particular interest to fans of film will be the unfinished nature of this film. Originally intended as a 6 part serial for 'Doctor Who', it was only partially completed, and is presented here with linking naration by Tom Baker, and a booklet of the script, complete with the unfilmed scenes. For anyone seriously interested in the production of TV and film, this is a must. But this would also sit well in anyones collection as a superb example of Science Fiction.

Unfinished and unbroadcast due to a writers' strike, this 6-part serial was later put together as one release, using some new material, the material originally shot, and Tom Baker's narration covering the scenes never filmed. The result is that we get to see a serial that is better than the one that actually closed out season 17, but has many of the issues associated with the show throughout this season.

The title references a prison used by the Time Lords, but forgotten by them all; it is the subject sought by Skagra, by way of a book held by a Cambridge Professor (and Time Lord). The Doctor comes to him just in time to try to intervene in Skagra's plan to find the prison and use his mind extraction device to take the knowledge and being of all the criminals there, thus making him immensely powerful (although it is a shame he never extracted anything from someone who knows how to dress). In the background are monsters, in the foreground there is humor, and the plot is decent enough.

This version benefits from being shorter due to the unfilmed scenes, because 6 full episodes does feel a lot for this material. The ideas are decent enough, and it does have some good cliff hangers, but it is stretched a bit too thin for what it does, and doesn't maximize on many of the ideas. The monsters of the piece look cool as a piece in the museum where the narration is set, however in their brief appearance in the filmed scenes, they come over as another lumbering man in a suit. Likewise the orb is all a bit silly as a threat. The production is mostly set in the Professor's flat, and on location around Cambridge - it is a shame that the remainder wasn't shot, but to be fair, given the production standards in this season, it looks better described by Baker rather than seen.

The cast are solid and enjoyable through. Adams' writing is a bit messy in the way it mixes in silly jokes that don't work that well, interesting dialogue scenes and characters, but is not as smart as I hoped. Probably Shada's reputation benefits from it being unfinished and unbroadcast; while it is better than the actual season finale (Horns), it still fits into the standard of season 17 even if it is decent enough.