“Looks about as rubbish as I thought it’d be when I recorded it.”
~ Lalla Ward, at L.I. Who 5
Doctor Who is a franchise known for its continuity complications. Is the Doctor from Gallifrey or the 49th century? What happened to Peri? Which of Ace’s fates should be taken seriously? What is Iris Wildthyme?
But perhaps the greatest continuity curiosity is Shada. Originally intended to be a serial in season 17, written by Douglas Adams and starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, only location filming was completed before a strike prevented them from completing it.
An unfinished serial, with the most iconic Doctor and (arguably) his iconic team of companions, written by a science-fiction grandmaster (Douglas Adams), would be tempting enough for revision and revisitation on its own.
Then The Five Doctors happened. When Tom Baker could not be lured back to take part in the 20th anniversary special, footage from Shada was cut in to explain his absence. He is kidnapped early in the story, and caught in a time vortex The course of Shada, such as it is being unfinished, is now derailed.
Which takes us to the 40th anniversary year of Doctor Who, as Big Finish embarked on a team-up with the BBC website. Big Finish would record special stories which would be animated in early flash. Of the four webcasts, they did two–Real Time and Shada.
But this was long before Tom Baker would join Big Finish as his Doctor.
How did they resolve this matter?
Paul McGann, stepping into Tom Baker’s place, filling in the gaps. It’s a brilliant choice. Paul McGann had just come into his own as the Doctor, and this was the chance to fully embed him in the show’s history. This is its chief success.
The chief downfall, obviously, is the animation. Or, perhaps, “animation.” Even keeping in mind this was intended for early-2000s internet, and made in flash, it’s lacking. If it were a storyboarded slideshow, it would be acceptable. But the choice to arrange things around the screen, almost without reason, zooming in and out, with various solid-color is maddening. It’s difficult to imagine watching for any length of time.
It’s the animation equivalent of interpretive dance, but unlike Chuck Jones’ “The Dot and the Line,” without the artistry that comes from decades of working in traditional animation. Which is inescapable when poor decisions–they did not commission nearly enough artwork to do animation–are compounded by technological limitations.
The above clip is one of the smoothest, thoroughly-animated portions of the webcast. See this official music video clip, however, for a taste of how surreal it quickly became.
Lalla Ward had studiously avoided seeing any of the Shada webcast animation. It was not until L.I. Who 5 that an impish fan talked to the production team, and handed them this video to show her during this panel.
The video played for a fraction of a second, then died. She said, quietly, “Oh, I do hope it doesn’t work.”
But it work it did.
She reacted in what is perhaps the expected way, for those familiar with Lalla.
And then the immortal words, “Looks about as rubbish as I thought it’d be when I recorded it.”
None of these criticisms apply to Big Finish’s recording, script, or cast. Shada is one of Paul McGann’s finest early outings as his Doctor, and Lalla Ward’s performance as an older version of her character going through her younger incarnation’s movements is sparkling. John Leeson’s K-9 is never less than perfect. That she is the only member of the original cast present makes her return touching, as Douglas Adams was one of her closest friends. Finishing one of the uncompleted works is a fitting tribute.
What the script and direction do best is alluding to the differences, as the script being a largely unaltered version of Douglas Adams’ Shada. The eighth Doctor is a very different Doctor than his fourth counterpart. President Romana is a very different Romana from her companion counterpart. This is one of the rare times–if not the only time–we’ve been able to see a different Doctor fully take on the script of a previous incarnation, and the result is fascinating. Paul McGann takes a script that could only have been written for Tom Baker, and performs it in ways he never could.
Ultimately, I recommend purchasing Big Finish’s Shada. It’s a fuller adaption, the sound is better–and you’re spared the animation. It’s a great Big Finish adaption, and overwhelmingly worth your time.
Purchase it here.
Viewing the animated Shada should be saved for people who think watching terrible movies is fun. Gather some friends, and prepare to laugh.
James Bojaciuk
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- Doctor Who Anniversary - The Original Animated Shada: The Webcast - November 23, 2017