Douglas Adams Written Dr. Who Episode Goes Into Production
Posted by
chrisd
on from the let-go-of-my-coat-tegan dept.
oddsheep writes "The BBC have announced they will be showing a new version of an episode originally written by Douglas Adams and that was never shown after industrial action halted the original production in 1979." "Shada" will star Paul McGann as the Doctor.
one little detail...
by
jesse.k
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· Score: 4, Informative
what the poster forgets mention that this is not the TV show, but rather a web based audio drama.
sorry to get your hopes up, Whovians, but this isn't the new dr. who series you were promised.
Re:serious question
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Informative
"Industrial action" means a strike (where the workers cease working).
It's an audio play!
by
PCM2
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· Score: 4, Informative
From the article:
Following several false starts in attempting to bring it back, the drama will finally be premièred in a webcast on BBCi in the spring... Produced by the Big Finish company, it stars Fox in the role of Professor Chronotis, with Sachs as the evil Skagra.
For those who don't know, Big Finish has been producing a series of audio dramas starring various incarnations of the Doctor. They use the original actors (Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Davidson, and some of the companions, among others) and they have access to some of the original theme music, sound effects, etc. There's nothing in this article to make me believe this is anything else but another in the series. If the BBC was really going to produce a video version of the Doctor -- with all the budgetary concerns that entails (no snickers from the Doctor Who haters out there, please) -- do you really think they'd premiere it as a Webcast? No, expect this one coming your way via MP3 or RealAudio sometime soon.
Re:serious question
by
PCM2
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· Score: 5, Informative
What exactly does 'industrial action' mean?
It means the BBC Unions went on strike during the original filming. They never completed the episode, though a restored version was produced for home video with Tom Baker narrating the missing bits.
-- Breakfast served all day!
Re:Why remake it?
by
Graspee_Leemoor
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· Score: 5, Informative
The Tom Baker version of Shada, i.e. the original and proper version of Shada was never completed due to a strike at the BBC. Way back whenever the BBC did the post-production on the unfinished scenes and got Tom Baker to do some new segments where he stands in a Dr. Who museum and narrates what happens in some scene that is missing.
They then released this version of Shada as a boxed set with the script.
I admire any new Who stuff they do, or rather I admire the effort, but nothing will ever be able to match the on-screen chemistry between Tom Baker and the sexy sexy super-sexy Ms. Ward.
In particular there is a scene at Prof. Chronotis' where the Prof., Romana and the Doctor are talking about Galifreyan stuff, and it just rocks. I think some of it is ad-libbed.
graspee
OK, it's an audio-only webcast
by
Kiwi
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· Score: 4, Informative
Not clear in the article, but this is an audio-only webcast. Oh well; nice thought while it lasted.
- Sam
--
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
Re:OK, it's an audio-only webcast
by
Phexro
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· Score: 3, Informative
It's also not made clear that this isn't a BBC production. It's produced by Big Finish, which has been making excellent Doctor Who audio drama for a few years now.
I expect they will have a release on CD before too long.
Re:serious question
by
Graspee_Leemoor
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· Score: 3, Informative
It did go into production, they just didn't finish filming it.
graspee
Re:K9 is a PERSON???
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Informative
Er, John Leeson was one of the people who provided K9's voice in the original series. In fact for quite a number of episodes.
Most of the plot of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a retread of Shada. When the video release of the filmed bits of Shada plus Tom Baker's linking narration came out. Adams donated his royalties to charity, which stopped any annoying legal turmoil over the fact that he'd used the same plot in Dirk Gently.
Life, The Universe and Everything used large amounts of a rejected Dr. Who plot which was originally put forward as Dr. Who and the Krikkitmen. Once Adams ran out of radio series and old Dr. Who ideas to recycle, he really went downhill...
Yes -- important bits of both "Shada" and "City of Death" were used in Dirk Gently, though I wouldn't exactly call it a "retread" of either story.
The funny thing about this is, I read once where Adams was supposedly unhappy about the "Shada" video being released, precisely because of the reused elements in Dirk Gently. (This was according to a fan at a book signing.) What's funny about that is that "City of Death", of course, DID air way back when, and that certainly didn't deter him.
All the BBC channels are available on satelite for the cost of a box and dish (about £100 second hand - less then the cost of a DTT box and new ariel). You get loads more free channels too like boomerang (24 hour cartoons). They are also on DTT (""freeview"") too, as well as the digital only radio stations.
BBCi is the interactive part of BBC (Digital "teletext", the website, and extra video streams on news24). BBCi is not the Digital only channels.
The footage of Tom Baker in "The Five Doctors" was from Shada, as he pulled out at the last minute, and they had to do a bit of a re-write at the last minute - hence the story seems a bit odd.
I really hope this one isn't like the last Dr Who they made - that sucked.
-- ---
Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit? | Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
Re:I am quite looking forward to this...
by
jeremyp
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· Score: 5, Informative
Douglas Adams wrote lots of Dr Who episodes many of which were aired.
-- All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
Re:ideal fantasy production
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Informative
Tom Baker is alive, and recently stared alongside Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in a remake of the television series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) It was a good show, a good series, and Tom Baker was as good as he always is.
The entire script used to be online, but I can't seem to find it anymore. A shame, because it had some funny lines in it.
If you've read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, you already have a vague idea of Shada's premise. Adams re-used some characters in Shada to create DGHDA.
This script is still on line and linked from the above plot summary:
More information, including the scripts of the episodes, is available from the Script Project page.
.. and there are some funny lines especially if you replace certain words and phrases with "slashdot posters"..
DOCTOR: Well, When I was on the river I heard a strange sound,
a sort of babble of inhuman voices. Didn't you Romana?
ROMANA: Yes.
PROFESSOR: Oh just undergraduates talking to each other I expect.
I've trying to have it banned....
Re:Available in OGG format?
by
h0tblack
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· Score: 4, Informative
Although the beeb insists on using Real for 99% of it's audio and video these days, the geezers in the background tested ogg vorbis a while back. It was a great trial IMHO and had some good content. It was a shame when they stopped the streams, but now, with the legal issues resolved, they're planning on bringing them back up. This could bode well, especially with the increase in streaming content from the beeb.
Bigger and More Usefull Article
by
seh99
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· Score: 4, Informative
here
Seems that it will be the same deal as the previous "new" adventure "Death Comes To Time", with pictures being played over a radio dramatization of the script. Shame, whould have liked an actual tv program.
Good to see Manuel from Fawltey Towers in there, though I pass up the oportunity for lame Manuel/Doctor humour.
A better article (from gallifreyone.com)
by
shadowlight1
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· Score: 4, Informative
BBCi has revealed plans for its 40th anniversary of Doctor Who webcast: a remake by Big Finish Productions of the classic "lost" Doctor Who story Shada, written by the late Douglas Adams. "Shada" was originally abandoned due to an industrial strike, although it was eventually released on video with linking narration by Tom Baker. In this new version of "Shada", the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) is reunited with old friends Romana (Lalla Ward) and K-9 (John Leeson) "in a quest to track down the most dangerous book in the universe." The cast features such notables as James Fox ("A Passage to India," "The Remains of the Day") as Professor Chronotis, Andrew Sachs (best remembered as daffy waiter Manuel on "Fawlty Towers") as Skagra, Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood in the "Harry Potter" films) as Chris Parsons, Hannah Gordon (presenter of UK Channel Four's "Watercolor Challenge" and originally in the Doctor Who serial "The Highlanders") as the voice of Skagra's ship, Susannah Harker ("Ultraviolet") as Clare Keightley, Melvyn Hayes ("Quatermass II," "Ain't Half Hot, Mum") as college porter Wilkin, and Stuart Crossman in an unknown role. "This is a tremendously exciting project," director Nicholas Pegg told BBCi. "We've really pulled out all the stops on this one. We've had a fantastic time in the studio and I hope people will agree that we've done justice to one of the greatest writers Doctor Who was ever blessed with." Says Big Finish producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery, "This is a great opportunity to finally produce Doctor Who's most famous lost script, and a fine tribute to Douglas Adams." Lee Sullivan will produce animation for the new webcast and Gary Russell, on authority from the estate of Douglas Adams, has tailored the script to add some framing information and tie it into the story. BBCi senior producer James Goss stated on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum, "Big Finish have come up with a neat way of fitting the new Shada into continuity without messing around with the original script too much. Without going into detail, there's a short prelude set on Gallifrey, where the Doctor turns up to see Romana, explaining that they've got some unfinished business to attend to... involving a call for help from an old friend that they appear to have been somehow prevented from answering." At right, a photo from BBCi with McGann, Ward and K-9. The recording was taped in early November, and is set for debut on BBCi next spring. (Thanks to BBCi, as well as everyone who wrote in to let us know about it and the report on Biggerstaff's website)
Mary Tamm was much better.
by
emil
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· Score: 3, Informative
The original Romanavoratnalunda had a certain Je ne said quois.
Douglas Adams Fans - H2G2
by
Captain_SpankMunki
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· Score: 2, Informative
http://www.h2g2.com
Run by the BBC, the Hitch Hikers' Guide To The Universe, Earth Edition.
Liam. --
-- The opinions contained in this document are in no way expressed.
this wasn't Adams' only Who script
by
doubleyou
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· Score: 3, Informative
The original poster seemed to imply that this was a big deal because it was written by Douglas Adams. However, Shada is not unique in that sense. Adams also wrote "City of Death" and another Doctor Who script which never made the cut, "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen" (to be later recycled as the thrid Hitchhiker's book, "Life, the Universe, and Everything").
He was also script-editor for the series for quite a few years.
Re:I am quite looking forward to this...
by
AndroidCat
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· Score: 2, Informative
And the first Dirk Gently book is basically a relabeled Dr. Who story.
-- One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Slashdot Mirror
what the poster forgets mention that this is not the TV show, but rather a web based audio drama.
sorry to get your hopes up, Whovians, but this isn't the new dr. who series you were promised.
"Industrial action" means a strike (where the workers cease working).
Breakfast served all day!
There was a BBC strike in 1979. The script was complete, but it never went into production due to the stoppage.
I write in my journal
Breakfast served all day!
The Tom Baker version of Shada, i.e. the original and proper version of Shada was never completed due to a strike at the BBC. Way back whenever the BBC did the post-production on the unfinished scenes and got Tom Baker to do some new segments where he stands in a Dr. Who museum and narrates what happens in some scene that is missing.
They then released this version of Shada as a boxed set with the script.
I admire any new Who stuff they do, or rather I admire the effort, but nothing will ever be able to match the on-screen chemistry between Tom Baker and the sexy sexy super-sexy Ms. Ward.
In particular there is a scene at Prof. Chronotis' where the Prof., Romana and the Doctor are talking about Galifreyan stuff, and it just rocks. I think some of it is ad-libbed.
graspee
Not clear in the article, but this is an audio-only webcast. Oh well; nice thought while it lasted. - Sam
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
It did go into production, they just didn't finish filming it.
graspee
Er, John Leeson was one of the people who provided K9's voice in the original series. In fact for quite a number of episodes.
Most of the plot of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a retread of Shada. When the video release of the filmed bits of Shada plus Tom Baker's linking narration came out. Adams donated his royalties to charity, which stopped any annoying legal turmoil over the fact that he'd used the same plot in Dirk Gently.
Life, The Universe and Everything used large amounts of a rejected Dr. Who plot which was originally put forward as Dr. Who and the Krikkitmen.
Once Adams ran out of radio series and old Dr. Who ideas to recycle, he really went downhill...
"Information wants to be paid"
All the BBC channels are available on satelite for the cost of a box and dish (about £100 second hand - less then the cost of a DTT box and new ariel). You get loads more free channels too like boomerang (24 hour cartoons). They are also on DTT (""freeview"") too, as well as the digital only radio stations.
BBCi is the interactive part of BBC (Digital "teletext", the website, and extra video streams on news24). BBCi is not the Digital only channels.
The footage of Tom Baker in "The Five Doctors" was from Shada, as he pulled out at the last minute, and they had to do a bit of a re-write at the last minute - hence the story seems a bit odd. I really hope this one isn't like the last Dr Who they made - that sucked.
--- Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit? | Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
Douglas Adams wrote lots of Dr Who episodes many of which were aired.
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
Tom Baker is alive, and recently stared alongside Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in a remake of the television series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) It was a good show, a good series, and Tom Baker was as good as he always is.
The entire script used to be online, but I can't seem to find it anymore. A shame, because it had some funny lines in it.
If you've read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, you already have a vague idea of Shada's premise. Adams re-used some characters in Shada to create DGHDA.
Anyway, check out the detailed plot summary. A fun story.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Although the beeb insists on using Real for 99% of it's audio and video these days, the geezers in the background tested ogg vorbis a while back. It was a great trial IMHO and had some good content. It was a shame when they stopped the streams, but now, with the legal issues resolved, they're planning on bringing them back up. This could bode well, especially with the increase in streaming content from the beeb.
here
Seems that it will be the same deal as the previous "new" adventure "Death Comes To Time", with pictures being played over a radio dramatization of the script. Shame, whould have liked an actual tv program.
Good to see Manuel from Fawltey Towers in there, though I pass up the oportunity for lame Manuel/Doctor humour.
BBCi has revealed plans for its 40th anniversary of Doctor Who webcast: a remake by Big Finish Productions of the classic "lost" Doctor Who story Shada, written by the late Douglas Adams. "Shada" was originally abandoned due to an industrial strike, although it was eventually released on video with linking narration by Tom Baker. In this new version of "Shada", the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) is reunited with old friends Romana (Lalla Ward) and K-9 (John Leeson) "in a quest to track down the most dangerous book in the universe." The cast features such notables as James Fox ("A Passage to India," "The Remains of the Day") as Professor Chronotis, Andrew Sachs (best remembered as daffy waiter Manuel on "Fawlty Towers") as Skagra, Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood in the "Harry Potter" films) as Chris Parsons, Hannah Gordon (presenter of UK Channel Four's "Watercolor Challenge" and originally in the Doctor Who serial "The Highlanders") as the voice of Skagra's ship, Susannah Harker ("Ultraviolet") as Clare Keightley, Melvyn Hayes ("Quatermass II," "Ain't Half Hot, Mum") as college porter Wilkin, and Stuart Crossman in an unknown role. "This is a tremendously exciting project," director Nicholas Pegg told BBCi. "We've really pulled out all the stops on this one. We've had a fantastic time in the studio and I hope people will agree that we've done justice to one of the greatest writers Doctor Who was ever blessed with." Says Big Finish producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery, "This is a great opportunity to finally produce Doctor Who's most famous lost script, and a fine tribute to Douglas Adams." Lee Sullivan will produce animation for the new webcast and Gary Russell, on authority from the estate of Douglas Adams, has tailored the script to add some framing information and tie it into the story. BBCi senior producer James Goss stated on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum, "Big Finish have come up with a neat way of fitting the new Shada into continuity without messing around with the original script too much. Without going into detail, there's a short prelude set on Gallifrey, where the Doctor turns up to see Romana, explaining that they've got some unfinished business to attend to... involving a call for help from an old friend that they appear to have been somehow prevented from answering." At right, a photo from BBCi with McGann, Ward and K-9. The recording was taped in early November, and is set for debut on BBCi next spring. (Thanks to BBCi, as well as everyone who wrote in to let us know about it and the report on Biggerstaff's website)
The original Romanavoratnalunda had a certain Je ne said quois.
http://www.h2g2.com
Run by the BBC, the Hitch Hikers' Guide To The Universe, Earth Edition.
Liam.
--
The opinions contained in this document are in no way expressed.
The original poster seemed to imply that this was a big deal because it was written by Douglas Adams. However, Shada is not unique in that sense. Adams also wrote "City of Death" and another Doctor Who script which never made the cut, "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen" (to be later recycled as the thrid Hitchhiker's book, "Life, the Universe, and Everything").
He was also script-editor for the series for quite a few years.
And the first Dirk Gently book is basically a relabeled Dr. Who story.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.