An Hour of Who a Day: 09/21/14

September 21: Shada Parts One, Two, & Three

Shada is unique in Doctor Who's history: a story that they actually got halfway through filming (namely, the location filming and the first of the three studio sessions) before it had to be abandoned -- not because the script wasn't working or there was some sort of problem with the cast, but because there was a strike at the BBC. An effort to remount the taping failed (first because when the strike was over, Doctor Who wasn't considered a high enough priority to be completed, and then later because incoming producer John Nathan-Turner was unable to secure the studio space necessary to finish the story before the regular cast left the show (first Lalla Ward, and then Tom Baker)), and so Shada in fandom became a tantalizing "what if?" and a swansong denied to writer/script editor Douglas Adams and producer Graham Williams (who, you may recall, had been saving up money to spend on this serial). Then in 1992 permission was secured to release the extant footage on VHS, linked by Tom Baker briefly narrating the missing bits. This is the version that was released on DVD.

I do quite enjoy the opening bit, as Tom Baker wanders through a Doctor Who exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in London and looks at old enemies ("Cybermen; beat you. Daleks; beat you") before remembering the events of Shada, which leads into the existing footage. The first thing you notice is how incredibly inappropriate Keff McCulloch's score is. I actually don't mind most of his work during Sylvester McCoy's time, but it's a very late 80s style of music, which means McCulloch is just about the last person you'd want to score a season 17 story. (Was Mark Ayres unavailable?) You might be surprised to learn that McCulloch was attempting to mimic regular composer Dudley Simpson's style; I know I was.

But if you can get past the awful music, there's actually quite a bit to enjoy. Part one is the most nearly complete episode of the six (there are only two short scenes (and a brief insert) and the cliffhanger missing), which means that you can start to get a feel for how this story was going to be. The Cambridge scenes are quite nice (including the bit they used for The Five Doctors that everyone's familiar with), and Professor Chronotis's study is also rather lovely, with lots of battered books and furniture strewn about. The stuff with Professor Chronotis himself is fairly standard season 17, which means there are some clever moments with some lame jokes thrown in. Denis Carey does a great job as the absent-minded Chronotis though. The scenes on Think Tank do look a bit cheap, but it's a nice touch to make the countdown in Roman numerals.

Alas, parts two and three are much harder hit by the missing material, which gives what exists a much more disjointed feel, taking place as it does either on location in Cambridge or in Chronotis's study with almost nothing else in between. There are still some nice moments (such as the rather charming a capella group singing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" as the Doctor pedals by, "I'm not mad about your tailor", and Wilkins opening up Chronotis's door, only to find a blue void), but it's hard to get a sense of the danger that Skagra represents. And, sadly, things are only going to be less finished from here on out.

(Well, sort of. It turns out that superfan Ian Levine did a version of Shada where he animated all the missing bits with most of the original cast. It's been suggested that this was done with an eye toward including it on the then upcoming DVD, but that never happened (probably for various reasons; Tom Baker didn't participate, for one, and there honestly probably wouldn't have been space to include it and still keep everything else). But it was made available unofficially on the Internet (a low quality version can be viewed here if you're interested), so out of curiosity I checked it out. The original cast all participated except for Denis Carey and David Brierley (both sadly no longer with us), and Tom Baker. Other than the fact that Christopher Neame seems to be playing a significantly less subtle character in 2010/1 than he was in 1979 (a lot more shouting, for instance), and that Paul Jones (playing the Doctor) sounds like he's doing a parody of modern day Tom Baker (instead of late 70s Tom Baker), it's actually surprisingly good. (It's certainly a lot better than the crude 2003 Flash animation that accompanies the Big Finish version... yes, yes, advances in technology and all that, but nevertheless it's still better.) The shift between live-action and animation isn't actually that jarring, and while the animation isn't quite up to, say, broadcast animation standards, it's still serviceable (in fact, it reminds me rather of the animated missing episodes on the Ice Warriors DVD). But, most crucially, it gives you a sense of how the story was meant to be, how it was going to build up the threat over time. Which isn't to say that it was going to be a lot better than what the existing footage suggests, but you do get a better sense of pacing and danger. I look forward to seeing the last three parts.)