Doctor Who - Shada Review

Right, time for another review and this is a NEW review folks (yep shocking I know!) and it will be on a Doctor Who story from the Tom Baker era that was never completed back in the day as its production was halted by the BBC strikes of the time and the story in question is Shada, which was written by then script editor, Douglas Adams.

So, after all this time, how does Shada stand up???  Well, let's find out...

And yep the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

Well, the story is a fairly elaborate one but it starts with the Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companion, Romana (Lalla Ward) in Cambridge where they are responding to a distress call sent by Professor Chronotis (Denis Carey) who is in actual fact, a Time Lord posing as a college professor. Chronotis himself is visited by a student, Chris Parsons (Daniel Hill) who ends up unwittingly giving him an ancient Gallifreyan tome, who he later shows to his colleague, Claire Keightley (Victoria Burgoyne) and they are both puzzled by its structure as it is clearly no ordinary book.

The Doctor and Romana soon visit Chronotis, who tells them that Parsons took the tome but the Doctor warns him how the book could be dangerous should it fall into the wrong hands. And to prove the Dcotor's point, a mad scientist named Skagra (Christopher Neame) is on the lookout for that very same tome as he intends to use it to find the location of a prison planet named Shada. Skagra soon turns up at Chronotis's study and uses a sphere to extract his knowledge that appears to leave him in a coma state. The Doctor is soon captured by Skagra along with Romana and Chris and Skagra uses the sphere on the Doctor in order to decode the tome and the Doctor manages to survive keeping his mind intact.

However from here the Doctor must try and find a way to stop Skagra from locating Shada and his plan to find there an imprisoned renegade Time Lord named Salyavin, who could project thoughts into the minds of others with Sakgra intending to use those powers to control every mind in the universe....

THOUGHTS

Well, Shada always has had a problematic history given that the original production of the story had never been completed due to a strike at the BBC, which left the serial incomplete. However since then of course, the story has been restored and completed and released on DVD with the missing footage linked by cartoon animations and the original cast returned to record the audio for this as well.

So, as for how the story stands up??? Well pretty well it has to be said as it is a very enjoyable story with plenty of good moments and enjoyable dialogue from Douglas Adams's script and the performances from the cast are also pretty good and the fact that they reunited to complete the story is also nice even if you can hear their voices have changed over the years!

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENE (Warning: this section may contain some spoilers!)

As for the performances they are all pretty good here.


Starting with Tom Baker, who is great once again as the Doctor and by this time he nearing the end of his run in the role but his enthusiasm and energy is as great as it ever was here.

And Tom has his share of good scenes but I will only mention a couple to keep things shorter here than normal.

The first scene I will mention is the one where the Doctor and Romana are having a punt up the river at Cambridge and the Doctor quotes a number of poets to Romana. So, the Doctor says "Wordsworth, Rutherford, Christopher Smart, Andrew Marvel, Judge Jefferies, Owen Chadwick..." and Romana asks "Who?" and the Doctor says "Owen Chadwick. Oh, yes. Some of the greatest labourers on Earth have thought here". Romana then rests back and says "Oh, I love the spring. All the leaves, the colours..." and the Doctor tells her "Its October" and Romana rather annoyed says "I thought you said we were coming here for May week!" and the Doctor tells her "I did! May week's in June!". Romana then shakes her head and says "I'm confused" and the Doctor grins and says "So, the TARDIS! Ha ha!".

So, as the Romana corrects herself on the season she says "Oh, I do love the Autumn. All the leaves, the colours..." and the Doctor says "Yes. Well, at least with something as simple as a punt nothing can go wrong. No coordinates, no dimensional stabilisers, nothing. Just the water, a punt, a strong pair of hands and the pole". However, as the boat is about to go under an arched bridge, the Doctor nearly loses his balance and almost falls in but holds on just enough from doing so.

Then there is the scene where the Doctor along with Romana and Chris, travel in the TARDIS and arrive in a field where Skagra's invisible ship is and they just happen to see a sphere disappear into the ship. So, the Doctor looks on in surprise and asks Romana and Chris "Did you just see what I didn't see?!" and Romana says "No" and the Doctor says "Me neither!". Chris, puzzled then says "It just vanished" and the Doctor says to him "That's what I said" and he indicates to something in the field and tells Chris "Watch that cow pat!".   

Another good scene is when the Doctor and Parsons arrive on a space station and Parsons refuses to believe that they have just travelled in space.

So, Parsons says to the Doctor "I don't believe that we travelled hundreds of light years!" and the Doctor asks him "Why not?" and Parsons says "You cannot travel faster than light. Einstein!". The Doctor then looks at Parsons and asks him "What? Do you understand Einstein?" and Parsons says "Yes" and the Doctor then asks "And quantum theory?" and Parsons says "Yes" and the Doc asks another "What?! And Planck?" and Parsons says "Yes" and the Doctor asks "What? And Newton?" and Parsons says "Yes" and the Doctor continues and asks "What? And Schoenberg?" and Parsons now getting a little impatient says "Of course!" and the Doctor gives him a look and says "Ah, you've got alot to unlearn!".

WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD AS THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO THE FINAL SCENE OF THE STORY!

And last of all is the final scene of the restored version where we see the Doctor and Romana have returned to the TARDIS and back on the road so to speak! And in the scene, the Doctor is working underneath the TARDIS console and Romana is out of the room as they talk to each other. So, Romana says to the Doctor "It seems hard to believe the Professor was the great Salyavin. He's such a nice old man. I wonder if the stories of Salyavin were exaggerated?!". And then the Doctor reappears and we see that he his the elderly Tom Baker who says "More than likely. The Time Lords over-react to everything. Look at the way they treat me. I expect at some time in the future, about two hundred years time, someone will meet me and say, is that really the Doctor? He seemed such a nice old man!" and he looks right at the camera and grins. 

Lalla Ward up next is also very good in her role as Romana, the Doctor's trusty companion, who helps him in his struggle against Skagra.

And Lalla has some good scenes as well such as her first one which I have already mentioned with the Doctor and Romana punting up the Backs in Cambridge. And the Doctor quotes a number of renowned scholars, who have studied at Cambridge over the years to Romana. So, Romana offers another one "Isaac Newton of course" and the Doctor agrees and says "Oh, definitely Netwon!" and Romana with almost smug air says "So, Newton invented punting!" and the Doctor says "Oh, yes. There's no limit to Isaac's genius!". Romana then adds "Isn't wonderful how something so primitive can be so..." and the Doctor offers "Restful?" but Romana says "No, simple. You just push in one direction and the boat goes in the other".

Romana then rests back and says "Oh, I love the spring. All the leaves, the colours..." and the Doctor tells her "Its October!" and Romana rather annoyed says "I thought you said we were coming here for May week!" and the Doctor tells her "I did! May week's in June!". Romana then shakes her head and says "I'm confused" and the Doctor grins and says "So's the TARDIS! Ha ha!". 

Another good scene from Lalla is when just after Professor Chronotis has been attacked by Skagra's sphere he has entered a comatose state and Romana finds him and tells Parsons to get a medical kit from the TARDIS.

So, as K-9 examines Chronotis and says "He is weakening fast" Romana says to Parsons "Do you want to make yourself useful?" and Parsons says "Well, if I can". So, Romana quickly tells Parsons "Go and get the medical kit from the Tardis" and Parsons confused asks "The what?" and Romana indicates the Doctor's TARDIS in the corner "Over there. First door on the left, down the corridor, second door on the right, down the corridor, third door on the left, down the corridor, fourth door on the right..." and Parsons offers "Down the corridor?" but Romana says "No, white cupboard opposite the door, top shelf!".



And last of all is the scene near the end (KIND OF SPOILER!!) where Romana gives the Doctor an idea on how to defeat Skagra in his plan to create a universal mind to control the universe. So, Romana asks "Doctor?" and the Doctor says "Yes" and Romana asks him "May I just remind you of something?" and the Doctor says "Yes" and Romana tells him "All the minds that Skagra has stolen are in the melting pot" and the Doctor says "Yes" and Romana reminds him "That means your mind is in there too". So, the Doctor triumphantly says to Romana "Yes! Romana?" and Romana says "Yes, Doctor?" and the Doctor takes a medal and pins it onto Romana's blouse and her formally kisses her on both cheeks and they give each other a salute with Romana looking pleased with her contribution. The Doctor then satisfied with Romana's information says to himself "Now I can think!".

As for the supporting cast they are all very good too!

Starting with Denis Carey who is excellent in his role as Professor Chronotis, the elderly Time Lord, who poses as a Cambridge college professor but has a mysterious past that will play a key part in the story.

And Carey has some good scenes of his own that include the one where the Doctor and Romana first meet with Chronotis in his study and he comes out with a tea tray and he says "Oh, Doctor! How splendid to see you!". The Doctor smiles and says "You too, Professor" and he indicate Romana "This is Romana" and Chronotis smiles and says to Romana "Oh, delighted, delighted! I've heard so much about you" and the Doctor a little surprised asks "Have you really?" and Chronotis says "Well, not yet, but I will have done. When Time Lords get to my age they tend to get their tenses muddled up!".

Another good scene is when the Doctor having warned Chronotis about the dangers of taking a Gallifreyan tome away from Gallifrey and discovers he no longer has the book in his study, they look for it. So, Chronotis suddenly remembers what might have happened to it and tells the Doctor "There was a young man here earlier. Came to borrow some books. He might have taken it while I was out in the kitchen making tea".

The Doctor then urgently asks "What his name, Professor? What was his name???" and Chronotis struggles to remember Oh, if only I could remember. Oh dear, I've got a memory like a. Oh dear, what is it I've got a memory like? What's that thing you strain rice with?". The Doctor then becomes impatient asks "What was his name, Professor?" and Romana offers "Was he tall? Short?" and Chronotis suddenly says "I remember!" and the Doctor asks "What?" and Chronotis says "A sieve! That's what it is. I've got a memory like a sieve!".


WARNING: ANOTHER SPOILER COMIMG UP!

Last of all is the scene where Chronotis is aided by another Cambridge student, Claire Keightley with the repairs to his TARDIS (which is disguised as his study!). So, in the scene as Claire tries to help Chronotis, he speaks of the Time Lord criminal, Salyavin and Claire asks who he was and Chronotis tells her "Salyavin? He was a criminal. His exploits have been wildly exaggerated. He was a hotheaded, brilliant young man with a peculiar talent. I can't fix this!". So, Claire asks "Can I help?" and Chronotis tells her "Difficult, very difficult. To repair an interfacial resonator requires two operations which must be performed absolutely simultaneously. And to be honest, my dear, I don't think you have the knowledge".


So, Chronotis suddenly has a though and says to Claire "Listen to me. Listen to me very carefully. What I am about to do, you are never to speak of, and this is the only time I will ever do it" and Claire, confused, asks "What are you talking about?" and Chronotis asks her "Do I have your promise?" and she says "Yes, yes all right". So, Chronotis points to a piece of equipment in Claire's hand asks her "What is that piece of equipment in your hand?" and Claire looks at it and says "This? I have no idea" so Chronotis says "Good". And then Chronotis takes off his glasses and his eyes glow as he looks right at Claire and afterward, he asks her again "Now, what is that piece of equipment?" and Claire without a flinch says "This? Er, it's a conceptual geometer relay, with an agronomic trigger, a totally defunct field separator. But it doesn't matter. We can dispense with it if we can get that interfacial resonator working again". So, Chronotis pleased says to her "Splendid!" and Claire smiles and says "Well, let's do that then".   

Daniel Hill and Victoria Burgoyne next up are both pretty good in their roles as the young students, Chris Parsons and Clare Keightley, who uwittingly both end up helping out the Doctor and Romana in their struggle against Skagra after Parsons takes the Gallifreyan tome from Chronotis's study.

And just to save time I will mention just one of their scenes they share together, which is the one where Parsons shows the Gallifreyan tome to Clare (which is animated scene in the DVD release).

So, Clare holding the book asks "So, what's it called?" and Parsons "Called? How should I know? Keightly, this book..." and Clare interrupts and says her first name to him as she clearly doesn't like being addressed by her surname. So, Parsons continues and tells Clare "This book will do to science what the Japanese did to Pearl harbour?" and Clare asks "What bomb it??!" and Parsons incredulously asks "What???". And the two of them touch the book and Clare says "Feels like paper, it smells like paper, doesn't behave like paper. Plastic". Parsons then says "Not a single polymer in sight" and Clare asks "Metal?" and Parsons says "No crystalline structure" and Clare suggests a "A single crystal then". Parsons then says "Well, if it is, our mystery Don's got a lot of explaining to do. Half of it's stable all of the time, half of it none of the time. There's absolutely no way of telling what it's made of!".

Clare then suggests "X-ray tomography?" and Parsons says "Oh, yeah, I got a positive result on the x-ray" and Clare asks "What?" and Parsons says "It blew up! Not only can't I tell what the structure is, it actually doesn't seem to have a structure. Pure matter. Non-atomic matter" and Clare says to him "You can't have matter without atomic structure. Its fundamental!". So, Clare asks Parsons "So, what is it all about?" and suggests "Why don't you ask old What's his name?" and Parsons says "Chronotis? Yes, I suppose that's the obvious thing to do" and Clare teases him and says "Is that why you haven't done it yet?". So, Parsons takes the book and makes to leave and says to Clare "Make yourself at home, Keightley" and he goes leaving Clare to sigh and say to herself "Its Clare!".

David Brierely is also pretty good in his vocal role as K-9 (Mark II) the Doctor's loyal robotic dog, who is invaluable in the story. And I won't really mention any of David's dialogue but he has several amusing moments where certain cast members keep saying "Blast!" as an exclamation of frustration and K-9 keep raising his blaster nozzle to fire off a shot! 

And last of all is Christopher Neame as the villain, Skagra, who does a good job in his role and he actually looks across between Robert Webb (of Peep Show) and film star, Paul Bethany!

Neame has some good scenes aswell but I will just mention the one where Skagra enters Chronotis's study and demands the tome from him.

So, in the scene Skagra enters as Chronotis has gone into the kitchen and when he returns, Skagra asks him "Professor Chronotis?" and Chronotis asks "Who are you?" and Skagra says "I have come for the book" and Chronotis asks "What book?" and Skagra threateningly says "You know what book!". So, Chronotis anxiously says "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't got any books. That's to say, I've got plenty of books. What book would you like?" and Skagra says "The book you took from the Panopticon Archives" and Chronotis looks serious and asks "What do you know about the Panopticon?". Skagra then firmly says to Chronotis "The book, Professor. You are to give it to me" and Chronotis asks "On who's instruction?" and Skagra firmly says "Mine!" and Chronotis asks "Who are you?" and he says "My name does not concern you. Give me the book!".


And as Chronotis says "I don't know where it is", Skagra opens the bag he carries and a sphere rises out of it and he tells Chronotis "If you will not give me the information voluntarily, I will deduct it from you. I'm sure there is much else in your mind that will interest me!". The sphere then attaches itself to Chronotis's head, who struggles and falls to his knees and Skagra stands over him and says "Do not fight it, professor! Do not fight it, or you will die!".







DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, Pennant Roberts does a fine job here with the original incomplete footage, which at the time due to the BBC strike, only half of the story had been filmed but what was shot is entertaining and well paced by Roberts. However, another director that also deserves credit is Charles Norton who directed the 2017 restored version for the DVD that featured animated sequences with the original cast reprising their roles. In fact for this production they even used the original sound engineer and audio equipment that used in 1980! 

Anyway both Roberts and Norton do fine work here respectively in assembling the story in their own separate ways even if they were 37 years apart in doing so! ;-)

As for the music well the original score composed by the late great Dudley Simpson still appears here and its another pleasant jaunty effort. However for the restored version on DVD there was additional music by Mark Ayres who was a composer on the show during the 1980's and he too provides some fine work here also.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws...yes OK, Shada is not quite perfect but at the same time I don't have too many gripes with it either.

But as for the flaws what I would say to start off is that the plot is a bit on the elaborate side and it can be difficult to follow at times. This tended to be the case with Douglas Adams's scripts for the show back then as I also found The Pirate Planet to be a bit confusing as well.

Another issue was to do with Skagra being a rather bland-ish villain even though Christopher Neame does a good enough job with his role but at the same time its hard to take him seriously as a villain with that ridiculous white outfit he wears throughout the story and that white hat! It makes Skagra look more like some sort of Sloane Ranger than an actual Doctor Who villain!

Then there is the whole idea of Professor Chronotis later being revealed as Salyavin, which OK I do sort of get it but what I do find strange is just how did Skaga's sphere not detect that it was him when it scanned him??? I guess that Skagra's sphere isn't that bright itself as it also later on tries to extract the Doctor's mind as well but it ends up failing to do so of course!

And this brings me onto the whole concept of Chronotis being Salyavin and how Chronotis keeps condemning Salyavin all the time only for him to later reveal that he IS him! And the whole time, Chronotis is portrayed a forgetful old man but it makes you wonder if he was really just playing with everyone all along and pretending that he was as its funny how the story spends all this time building up the surprise. Again its not clearly defined in the story as to how Chronotis cannot differentiate between his two alter egos until later on when it is conveniently revealed as a plot twist.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Shada is a very enjoyable story and its good to see it be recreated into a complete story courtesy of the feature length DVD/Blu-ray release that combines the live footage and animated sequences very well. The performances are also very good here, even if the audio performances by the older cast members clearly indicates how much their voices have changed since 1980! Douglas Adams script is also intelligent and funny and has plenty of amusing dialogue throughout.

And yeah OK the plot can be a bit confusing to follow at times but for the most part it is an entertaining adventure and one that is well worth checking out.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with hopefully one last post before 2019 arrives.

So, until then its bye for now!