My copy of Shada arrived today

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by 23skidoo, Mar 20, 2012.

  1. 23skidoo

    23skidoo Admiral Admiral

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    It's his fault if he didn't get the clearances, unless he plans to release it on his own. But I read somewhere that Sylvester McCoy was involved or something. I don't remember him playing the Doctor in 1979. And I don't think Lalla Ward was involved either and I think the actor who played Chronotis died back in 1986 so I don't know exactly how many of the "original cast" were actually involved.

    That said, absolutely nothing has been announced regarding Shada other than it will be paired with More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS, so who knows what they might have planned. And the inclusion of the extant footage from the unfinished fan film Devious on the War Games set does provide some precedent.

    Alex
     
  2. Rarewolf

    Rarewolf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Lalla's in it. All of the living cast except Tom. As you Denis Carey died in the 80s, David Brierley is no longer with us, so he got John Leeson to voice K9. The gent playing the porter also died, but his scenes were all completed.

    Sylvester isn't in his Shada, he got him to film visual footage for his Downtime, Search Out Science and Destiny Of The Doctors Special editions.

    He can't release them on his own, he did them on the hope the BBC would pick them (or at least Shada) up. He was behind getting the lost sequences of Planet Of Giants redone, and they will be an optional extra on the DVD later this year.
     
  3. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Who the hell wants a "special edition" of Search Out Science? That's 20-something minutes of my life I want back.
     
  4. Rarewolf

    Rarewolf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Ian Levine.

    His new linking material it's basically to explain why The Doctor happens to be presenting a quiz show.
     
  5. 23skidoo

    23skidoo Admiral Admiral

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    I got mixed up somewhere along the way. I remember hearing about McCoy doing an expansion to Downtime. I wasn't aware Levine was doing anything with Shada. And I agree that expanding Search Out Space is pointless.

    Now that one is a good move. I had no idea myself that there was a "missing episode" with that story, and as the final complete Hartnell story to see release, it's a cool bonus.

    I'm interested in seeing what happens with Downtime, as I remember the original and adding the Doctor to it would be interesting. (I want to see it in circulation again anyway because it features Sarah Jane and the Brigadier). If I had to hazard a guess as to where it might fit into the BBC releases, there was a report from one of the conventions a few months ago that commentary had been recorded for a planned DVD release of the incomplete The Ice Warriors. As Downtime focuses on what happened to Victoria after her travels with the Doctor, adding it to a release of that story would make sense.

    Personally, I'd love to see BBC Video pick up the rights to do a "fan productions" box set and get things like Shakedown, Downtime, the Auton trilogy and Mindgame and the like into wider circulation. They aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they deserve recognition for keeping the Whoniverse alive during those dark years when the show was off the air. They also acted as a valuable training ground for many writers and other personnel (Mark Gatiss and Nick Briggs, to name only two) who went on to work on the TV series and for Big Finish and other shows as well. (That said, reportedly the PROBE spin-off series starring Caroline John as Liz Shaw and co-starring Louise Jameson, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, I think Pertwee in one episode, and others, is being reissued on DVD around this time, probably only in the UK.)

    Alex
     
  6. Rarewolf

    Rarewolf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Downtime is a tricky one, as being one of the original financers, Ian Levine belives he has the rights to further releases. But he wouldn't do it without the Doctor in it.

    The PROBE stuff is out, but its on DVD-R, so unlikely its region locked.
     
  7. 23skidoo

    23skidoo Admiral Admiral

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    Big Finish showed it's possible for a third party to get the OK to use the Doctor, so maybe Levine (who, lest we forget, was a consultant on the original series and even composed the theme to K-9 and Co. so he's not unknown to the BBC) can get the proper rights sorted out. Only thing is I remember reading the novelisation for Downtime and I don't remember the Doctor being involved (by comparison, when he novelised Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, Terrance Dicks devised a framing storyline with the Doctor). The last McCoy story comes out on DVD in a few months, so it's possible 2 Entertain (or whatever they call themselves now) might be interested in something featuring him so they have something new to offer during the anniversary year alongside the inevitable reissues.

    Shame to hear PROBE is only on DVD-R. They play OK, but I've never been impressed with the picture or sound quality of those types of releases (one reason why I've been reluctant to spend the rather high prices Warner Archive charges for its DVD-R releases of things like Girl from UNCLE). I don't expect to see Downtime on Blu-ray or anything (IIRC it was shot on video like most if not all of the independent spin-offs) but I'm still hoping to see a proper DVD release down the line. That said, DVD-Rs do tend to be region-free so that's good to know.

    Alex
     
  8. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The third Doctor appears in the final chapter (or maybe it's the epilogue). Victoria is in a museum and she sees a white-haired man who's familiar. They have a conversation about the Doctor and how he never came back for her. She doesn't recognize that the man is the Doctor.
     
  9. 23skidoo

    23skidoo Admiral Admiral

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    Cool - I haven't read the book since it came out back in 95 or 96 so my memory was a bit faulty. Maybe Levine intends to "retcon" that and have Victoria meet the Seventh Doctor.

    Alex
     
  10. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    Bump!

    I got this from the local library the other day and have just started it. I don't usually read DW books and indeed have passed over several other Who novels in my library (including the Baxter one). But the Adams name and my own knowledge of the legendary Shada script made me pick this one up. Enjoying it so far - Roberts has definitely captured Adams' writing style and tone, IMHO.
     
  11. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    A very late reply, as I only spotted this post when the thread got bounced: Levine's been filming material with McCoy facing the Celestial Toymaker, which is I believe intended as a framing plot for Downtime (the events of Downtime being influenced by their game, I assume). There are some images online.
     
  12. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    Finished the book last night. It was an enjoyable read and Roberts' little explanatory post-script about how and why he came to read it was also very interesting.

    As I said before, I don't read much or any DW novels. But what was quite disconcerting was that as I visualised this one in my head, I kept seeing it with dodgy 1970s DW production values, crap SFX and dodgy monsters. Try as I might, I couldn't superimpose 21st century Who values on it! Seriously!
     
  13. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Meanwhile, I had the opposite problem. I kept imagining it with modern day production values even though I know damn well back then it wouldn't have. I also have this problem whenever I read a Target novelization of a missing story.
     
  14. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    ^I wanted to make it look great in my mind but I couldn't! Stupid brain!