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Douglas Adams' Doctor Who
Blue Stone writes "As you probably know, the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" author, Douglas Adams, wrote a number of Doctor Who episodes. The BBC in its wisdom has turned one of his stories "Shada" into a Flash animation. Although the animation is rather primitive, I found the story very entertaining (you can always minimize the window and just listen.)"
Instead of re-creating existing episodes, why not create new episodes. There are tons of scripts available (not fanfic, actual scripts written and submitted by Dr Who writers) that were never produced.
I used to be a hardcore Whovian, and I still enjoy watching it on PBS. However, how about some new Red Dwarf or Blackadder episodes? I'd be willing to pay for flash animated new Red Dwarf episodes. And it would work very well with Red Dwarf too.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Now *THAT* is "news for nerds, stuff that matters"
;^)
;D
Finally this site produces something that is worthy of that slogan.
(And I'd damn well expect every post after this to filled to the brim with Dr Who and HHGTTG quotes & references
Now I'd better go and read the article and sneak a peek at the animation
..are his contributions to childrens cartoon Dr. Snuggles and Monty Python's Flying Circus!
Check IMDB!.
When your hiding behind the sofa..
I have the Shada VHS, it wasn't worth the effort for the BBC to scrape the pieces of video they did have and compile them together. I just viewed the Flash version, and it still wasn't worth the effort to animate the fragments of video footage for Shada.
There are other Dr. Who's (I was thinking of some of William Hartnell's episodes) that are in worse condition, that could use such a gift, I think the only reason this one was done in Flash was due to the fact the name "Douglas Adams" was sprinkled around.
The original Shada episode was never actually finished and aired due to a strike at the BBC.
While a "special edition" video was released where Tom Baker read the missing portions of the script out, it was very difficult to get a real feeling for the story because so much of the action was missing.
I haven't watched the flash animation yet, but hopefully it brings some life to this neat story that never really got told.
BTW, another great Douglas Adams Dr. Who that actually was completed and aired was "The Pirate Planet", the second of the key to time series.
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
The Beeb didn't get to transmit Shada. They then did a made for video release, with Tom Baker linking the bits they had in the can. Now the Beeb makes it again but not for tv, recasting the Doctor and some others! Like, what the..?! :-)
Meantime, some of us are awaiting new episodes! Yet in the 40th anniversary year, we are offered the audio remake of a so-so story that was never broadcast, but which has been accessible for some time now. DW's been off the air for years, and this was considered just what the fans want?! How many remixes of the same damn thing do we need?!
So will the 8th Doctor (the Paul McGann version, last seen on screen in the '96 telemovie) already recall having been in this adventure when he was Tom Baker? Maybe they should rename the show Doctor Which?!
It'd be interesting to learn what Adams made of McGann's Doctor. I know he thought highly of Baker's portrayal...but would he have felt #8 was right for this story, especially when it had already seemed a finished product to many of us for some time? Given Adams's own views on "Shada" itself, it's a point to ponder.
This is the THIRD such Doctor Who webcast (though the first based on archive material): the previous ones (Death Comes To Time, Real Time) have been released on CD.
The animation is just plebdazzle: it was (re)written as an audio play for the 8th Doctor (Paul McGann).
I haven't seen all of the Dr. Who episode, but so far they've mentioned Professor Chronotis at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge. The Professor is a main character in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (the first DG novel), and he resides at the College (which is fictional btw). The book was published in 1987 and set at a similar time, so 8 years after this script was written.
:)
Thought it was an interesting thing to point out
Someone tell me again why I'm not allowed to like Flash? And is it safe to like Homestar Runner? Or is that only for farkers?
We really need an official "Slashdot Manual of Ethics and Conduct" to spell out exactly what we can and cannot like. I mean, like what if I happen across some Anime, but its in Flash!?!?!
I don't wanna lose my badge!!
Why not just go off and read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency instead? It's basically the same story.
"Information wants to be paid"
I was actually fortunate enough to be lent a copy of Shada. Basicly there was so much film footage missing that Tom baker read the script. It was *enjoyable* but rather difficult to watch.
Fortunatly they have a time travel machine to cover the inconsistancy with Ramana being with the 8th doctor Paul McGann traveling back to 1979, understandable that Tom Baker is dead as a can of spam. (I can't rightly remember if the VHS edition took place shortly after the "Keys of Time" sequence)
The animation is a touch static, no attempt to make mouths move, but as with most doctor who stuff, video was secondary to the audio effects which was something the BBC was always briliant at. Should be BBC actually decide to go over their old scrips of eps that they lost their masters to, i'd be MOST happy to watch the flash animation. Hell in my region, the local PBS station took 10 years to actually repeat the 7th doctor stuff, and the first time around, they skipped many episodes.
Not to speak of the radio only productions they have done
I'd be happier if the bbc in their wisdom decided to continue the series primetime, real life or animated.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
You could buy it on VHS (come to that, I think i have it in the attic) - but its sold out, but some chains like Blackstar will try and locate a copy for you if you ask them:9 4
http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/70000000229
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Not to mention that a few seconds of Shada made it into "The Five Doctors" during Peter Davidson's stint. Evidently for some reason, it didn't work to have Tom Baker help with that episode, so they recycled a scene from Shada with Dr#4 and Romana#2 in a boat, and put them both on ice for the remainder of the episode using some sort of technobabble.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
According to his website he's seems very much alive, however the site will soon be dead has we here at slashdot slashdot it.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
I quite enjoyed it, mostly for matching up the bits Adams later recycled in Dirk Gently. I was gratified to hear them use the Tom Baker version of the theme song, and there's a cameo by a Ford Prefect. It feels like a Dr. Who episode, and that's good enough for me.
I have a very rare Dr. Who (old VHS tape) at home, I recently ripped to SVCD, one not too many fans seem to have heard of, called "The Curse of the Fatal Death". It's a hilarious Dr. Who spoof episode made by the actual producers and set designers of the old T.V. series for Comedy Relief.
It stars Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Blackadder) as The Doctor, and Jonathon Pryce (Brazil) as The Master. It also has guest cameos by Hugh Grant (Media Darling) and Joanna Lumley (Ab. Fab.), and, of course, The Daleks.
It runs about 20 minutes in 2 parts, and has "The Making Of..." footage, and 3 other older Dr. Who spoofisodes afterward.
This is REALLY funny stuff, if you like that sort of thing (Dry British humor and Dr. Who In-Jokes) and I'd highly recommend finding a copy. I would hope they've released it on DVD by now.
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
The BBC's internet-only radio service BBC7 carries radio versions of Dr. Who periodically. Currently they are airing a story called "The Ghosts Of N Space" weekends at 18:00 and Midnight GMT. Check out their Sci-Fi schedule at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/drama/7thdimension.shtml .
Surely the official abbreviation of 'Doctor Who' should be not 'DW' but 'D?'. Or 'Dr?'.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
I've got the video that the BBC put out. Parts of it are missing and it's got more rough edges than your average Doctor Who episode, but an older looking Tom Baker fills in the gaps with on screen narration. It's alright, but not as good as the finished City of Death, which is I think another Douglas Adams write.
For anyone else thats downloaded them all Directly to their HDD instead of watching them from the BBC site to get around the big "You Can't watch this unless its at its original source" thing just play it in quicktime.
Read Errant Story.
I'm curious to know what you think Adams' views on Shada were.
He didn't want Shada to ever be aired in any form by the BBC (after the strike had happened, etc), and was pretty annoyed (to put it mildly) when the BBC got the rights to do it (basically via an error/misunderstanding in a later contract).
Tim
Douglas Adams has been my favorite author for quite some time. I've read everything of his that I could come across. Some of his lesser known stuff is on his website, articles that I think you'll particularly enjoy:
Little Dongly Things
How to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet
Frank the Vandal
The Private Life of Genghis Kahn
He was a geek, though he knew he couldn't begin to pursue it as far as he wanted to, and his death distressed me quite a bit. Those are my favorite extracts from the archives.. Enjoy!
For all you not in the UK, there is a Radio 4 show of impression based comedy called Dead Ringers and while most of it is local UK oriented (except for the George Bush piss-takes), they also do a superb Tom Baker as Doctor Who calling vaious people on the phone. Some of the best bits (in Real Audio unfortunately) are here - Doctor Who calling the real Tom Baker, for example, was superb (Tom Baker reacts very well).
And for those who haven't seen it, Tom Baker's fiction The Boy Who Kicked Pigs is a very dark children's book, and well worth a read.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
As others have pointed out, this is the third Doctor Who webcast adventure. In addition, the producers of this story have also done numerous other audio stories, which are available on CD. The audio stories feature the original television Doctors and numerous of the television Companions, as well as some original Companions (some of whom I think are better than any of the televised ones.
For more information, go here.
As other people have mentioned, this episode *was* put together as a 'lost episode' on video. Tom Baker, so missing pieces aside it's -good-, and the VHS also came with a copy of the actual script.
People have also mentioned it's kind of a crossover between Dr. Who and Dirk.
Something cute I noticed however was the way the prelude fits it into the 5 Doctors story where he is 'scooped' from punting down the thames with romana.
That episode was made after Shada was abandoned, so they simply borrowed a piece of the unaired episode for it (as Tom was sick)... this footage is actually shown in sequence in the 'lost episode' vhs of course.
The prelude to this episode however tries to heal that little plot hole, which I thought was cute and at least showed somebody with knowledge of the series worked on this.
...and still appearing in the Reeves and Mortimer remakes of "Randall & Hopkirk Deceased" as Wyvern, a sort of Time Lord-esqe, omniscient guide to the afterlife... ...and, yeah, doing advertisement voice-overs too. What a waste. I saw him on Have I Got News For You a couple of years ago, and he is clearly still as mad as an emu on acid.
Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who??!!!
Ahoy-hoy-hoy! That explains rather alot!
I have the key to time series on DVD. It's amazing how much of "The Pirate Planet" is shared with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sounds like Douglas Adams was in the habit of recycling story lines. Think he was writing HGTG radio play at the same time he wrote "The Pirate Planet". The Pirate Planet is the best of the Key To Time series.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I wonder if they'll have a flash animation of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" soon - it wasn't a bad book, but I personally think Doctor Who makes a better character (ever since I was a pimply, geeky preteen).
Very cool to see the story with the Doctor as the lead character! (sorry, Dirk)
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -- "Step Right Up", Tom Waits
He rehashed most of the bits in the story to produce Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
Maybe that's why he didn't want Shada aired.
Couldn't they have been bothered to animate the mouths? I mean, it's just really distracting and it seems like it would be such an easy thing to do.
simon
home page
Overlay some lips on the flash animation, and I'd place the production values in the top 10% of Dr. Who episodes.
I tried saving the swf and when I launch it, it says it must be launched from its original location. I just don't want to go back one day and find it gone forever.
I guess it's not surprising to see an author borrow from his own work. I didn't realize that Dr. Chronotis had his origin in Dr. Who, but I remember reading (a long time ago) a teleplay of a Dr. Who episode in which the Krikkit Men of "Life, the Universe and Everything"-fame figured prominently. Did that script ever get produced? If not, I'd like to see them make a flash version. "I demand that I may or may not be Vroomfondel"
It's avaliable on DAB, satellite, cable and freeview
Be interesting to see how much it changes.
To sumarize the story, I borrow from my trusty 1981 copy of The Doctor Who Programme Guide:
In a remote space station called Think Tank, a scientist called Skagra steals the minds of his colleagues, and escapes. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Romana visit present-day [ed. - well, 1979] Cambridge to see Professor Chronotis, a retired Time Lord living incognito as a don. He wants them to take a book, The Ancient Laws of Gallifrey, back to the planet of the Time Lords. Unfortunately it has accidentally been taken away by a post-graduate student, Chris Parsons. He and a colleague, Clare Keightley, are mystified by the book, which is made of no earthly substance. Skagra arrives on Earth in search of the book because it will give him directions to the Time Lord prison planet of Shada, where he believes Salyavin, the most powerful Time Lord [ed. - well, except Rassilon], is imprisoned. Skagra needs access to Salyavin to learn from him the secret of projecting a print of his own mind into every sentient being in the Universe, a technique which will guarantee the success of his plan for galactic domination. The Doctor retrieves the book but Skagra sends his mind-sapping Sphere after the Doctor. On a bicycle chase through the streets of Cambridge the Doctor looses the book, which is found by Skagra. Skagra heads for Shada in the TARDIS, having captured Romana to operate it. The Doctor takes Skagra's own spaceship and with K9 and Chris Parsons goes to Think Tank in search of Skagra and Romana. He encounters the monstrous crystalline Krargs, Skagra's servants. It transpires that Chronotis's rooms in Cambrdige are the inside of his own TARDIS, which he uses to rescue the Doctor from the Krargs. Against the Professor's wishes and with the aim of rescuing Romana the Doctor follows Skagra to Shada, where Skagra has freed the ciminals, including a Dalek, a Cyberman and a Zygon -- but Salyavin is not there. Professor Chronotis turns out to be Salyavin. The Doctor wins a mind battle with Skagra and imprisons him in his own spaceship. Returning to Earth, the Doctor leaves the Professor in Cambridge, promising to keep his identity a secret.