TV Club, Doctor Who, Shada
Shada (season 17, episodes 21-26. Filmed in 1979; never aired.)
In 1979, Douglas Adams, then script editor for Doctor Who, wrote a story for the show in which the villain disastrously shatters into half a dozen fragments of himself that scatter throughout time. That was City Of Death, one of the best serials Doctor Who ever did. Later that year, he wrote another one. This time, the story itself exploded, shattered into half a dozen fragments of itself, and scattered throughout time. That was Shada, the great lost story of season 17, a half-filmed serial from Tom Bakers second-to-last season as the Fourth Doctor. And for a long time, people wondered if it too wouldnt have been one of the greats. But that was back when it was still lost.
Its oddly appropriate that the last scene of Shada begins with the Doctor reading from Charles Dickens The Old Curiosity Shop, because despite the persistent efforts over the years to give it life again, Shada remains, in all its various and contradictory manifestations, just an old curiosity. Its not awful, mind you. Its not anywhere near the toxicity level of something like The Twin Dilemma, in which the stupidity is actually painful to watch. No, this is just a thinly written, overly formulaic story, with some clever ideas and a smattering of good Adamsian jokes and Bakerian Doctoring stretched out over a lot of boring filler. Shada would never have engendered so much interest if Douglas Adams name hadnt been attached to it.
Still, even if its mediocre, its worth a look. If nothing else, Shada is interesting as a bit of complex pop-culture archaeology. There are at least seven versions of Shada floating around out there, ranging from complete adaptations to fragmentary scraps.
Originally published Feb. 17, 2013 on avclub.com. Read the complete article.
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