Doctor Who: Shada

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

source: Doctor Who: Shada

Excellent Blu Ray version of Tom Baker's story. The animation is fantastic and the picture quality is brilliant. Loved all the extras and the story presented as a complete story in one programme. Mark Ayres 70's styled incidential music is a nice homage to Dudley Simpson.

Shada was an episode that was supposed to be released during Tom Bakers era in Season 17 but was cancelled and most of the footage shot was missing which has been finished using animation with the old footage merged together. This story is very interesting and a great story for 70s Doctor Who. The ideas about the book that came Gallifrey which immense power was very interesting and made for some really cool moments in the story especially the scene where it blows up an XRay machine. And this book also has secret codes to find Shada which turns out is a prison build by the Time Lords which they forgotten about, The villain Skagra was a very cool villain to add to Doctor Who law with an interesting goal of taking peoples thoughts and memory and eventually finding an old Time Lord criminal called Salyavin so that he can control minds without the machine he uses and start a new universe under his control is pure 70s Doctor Who and works for Tom Bakers era. There is a brilliant twist in this story when the professor and old Time Lord friend of the Doctor who left Gallifrey to live in peace actually turns out to be Salyavin who has escaped from Shada and used his powers to make everyone forget about it so he could be good but he took this book by mistake which kicks of the whole story such a great twist that i didnt see coming and had me shocked love it. Tom Baker is always a pleasure to watch in Doctor Who he plays the part so well and always looks like hes having fun in he has a line in this episode which i just love and its pure Tom the Professor offers the Doctor him some Crackers by saying "Crackers" and The Doctors response is "Well Sometimes" thats just pure Tom Baker right there and always makes me laugh a joy to watch him. Romana 2 is also in this episode she was the companion during this time and she is brilliant in this episode she still remains my favourite classic Who companion and i love Lalla Ward in the role she is beautiful actress and plays this role perfectly i love her scenes K9 who is also a fun character to see in Doctor Who. The animation to complete the scenes that where missing is really well done. Completed by the same people who did Power of the Daleks this adds alot to this episode because we can finally see these scenes in action and the style of the animation still makes it feel like a 70s produced episode of the show giving it that authentic feel. My favourite scene in the story is the climax battle between Skagra and The Doctor which is a battle of the minds such a great scene and really animated and acted shows how powerful the Doctors mind can be. i Also love the scene when The Doctor takes control of Skagras ship by confusing it to believe he is dead so if he is dead he is no longer a threat and the ship and give him information such a great moment for the 4th Doctor and a joy Tom Baker me silly but incharge of the situation which a great part of his character during this era. The creatures that Skagra creates the Krargs are really interesting creatures made out of diamonds very interesting design. However they look way better in the animation parts which a bit annoying because they look really silly in the actual footage and its very distracting but still a very interesting design and see K9 fight them was very fun. Verdict 8/10 a great Doctor Who that is finally been released always a joy to watch Tom Bakers era of Doctor Who he plays part really well and the animation adds to the story really well still feeling like a 70s story of Doctor Who.

This story was not completed during its original recording for season 17 of the classic series due to industrial dispute interfering with the schedule. It has since been released as an audio version, as a reconstruction with narration for missing parts, as an audio and animated remake with the 8th Doctor instead of the 4th Doctor and finally this reconstruction with restored original footage and animation for the previously missing portions (which also has an added scene at the end with Tom Baker reappearing as his much older self.) In my opinion this most recent animated reconstruction gives the best depiction of the original story despite limitations with the animation. It allows us to fully appreciate Shada in all its glory. The story involves the Doctor and Romana arriving at Cambridge in order to see the Doctor's friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis just as evil scientist Skagra is also looking for him in order to acquire a stolen Gallifreyan book which has the power to release Time Lord criminal Salyavin who has the power to implant his mind into others. Skagra who already has the means to extract people's minds intends using Salyavin's powers for himself. The adventure is thoroughly absorbing, intelligent and fun. There is very funny humour, quite dark moments and loads of charm throughout. Denis Carey is magnificent as Professor Chronotis, one of the great guest characters both in the idea behind the character and the performance. It is a pity he never appeared again. Other guest characters are all good and Romana is a great companion but above all that is Tom Baker who is at his magical best as the 4th Doctor. He is electrifying to watch and listen to. So funny, so intriguing and so entertaining. This story lets him have a real showcase and that is one of the reasons it is an absolute classic. It is awful that it was not finished and released at the time. Fans were denied this for so long.

What did I just see? I'm a big fan of Doctor Who. I always watch and love it. But this one is kind of a complete mess. It is a combination of classic Doctor Who, animation Doctor Who and etc. I tried to watch it, but after a few minutes passed, I couldn't bear it anymore. So, I stopped watching. As for me, I'd say it'd be the worst Doctor Who film ever. Hence, I wouldn't recommend it.

Shada is quite a complicated story to follow, doesn't matter how many times I watched the VHS or blu ray I never quite got it. Having the gaps in the production made it nigh on impossible to follow. However the production team have worked wonders, putting Shada together with a mix of old and new material, and doing it in an almost seamless way. City of Death apart, I wasn't really a fan of the Douglas Adams era, I always thought Tom got away with a little too much, too many laughs, too much nonsense, the balance in City of Death was spot on, and for the most part the balance is spot on in Shada too. Watching it in this new format it now feels like Shada could have been somewhat of a classic, ultimately superior to Creature from the Pit, Horns of Nimon etc, it has so much going for it, Cambridge, Time Lords, a giant killer ball and of course the excellent Skagra, a villain way before his time. Christopher Neame is great as Skagra, he is a clever, matter of fact villain, he's not laughing maniacally or over the top in a silly manner, he's clear, single minded and sinister, a great foe. I am also stunned at the Blu ray transfer, the original material looks fantastic, it bodes well for the classic series releases on BD. It's still a confusing plot, but I enjoyed this updated version enormously.

Probably for children up to 10 years of age it's a joy, for me, definitely not. I have been living in the UK for 11 years now, and I did not know anything about Dr. Who's "cult" series. I didn't get a job at a store in central London selling DVDs among other things, because the interviewer asked me who, what actors played the main character. That was 11 years ago. I had no idea. I do not know now, for me it was and it's not a priority. And, the instinct did not cheat me, I did not lose anything. Childish, puerile, babyish. Nice musical theme though.