dormesher-21565
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.
Paul Evans
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.
Doctor Skellington
Firstly, this is a big update on the previously available version of this great lost 'masterpiece', including new model work, subtly polished effects, and a few newly filmed live action scenes, all joined together by pleasing digitally animated 'comic' style sections that fill in all the missing acted bits, which also serve to open up the settings far more than I'm sure the BBC would have been capable of achieving originally.If we're being honest, the story itself isn't exactly the best ever, it plods a teeny bit in places and gets rather too silly in others, but overall it works and the dialogue is typical Douglas Adams in that there are many fun to and fros between the characters which keeps you entertained regardless, and there are lots of enjoyable moments that carry it along quite adequately with a twist and a turn at the end.I enjoyed it tremendously, but any new classic Who is good Who when you're a fan, and it's worth it just for the delightful newly added live action scene right at the very end that will both delight and leave a lump in the throat of every whovian on the planet. It certainly did me.Between that and the most campily dressed villain ever brought to screen (seriously, it's jaw dropping), I highly recommend a viewing.
