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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.)"
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
Shada has been filmed as an actual episode.And it will air soon ( but not soon enough for me )
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/247737
I think the idea behind the flash version is merely to serve as a promotional piece to push the live version, similar to the flash based Matrix episodes.After all the BBC has spent a LOT of money on this they just want to attract an internet buzz that's all.
Romana: "How did you know?" Doctor Who: "Ah, well, knowing is easy. Everyone does THAT ad nauseum. I just sort of hope"
You sure? As far as I could see, this Flash animation is what they were talking about in the BBC story. No live filming seems to be indicated, just voice recording. Flash is all we're getting. The BBC story you liked to is very sketchy, mentioning only BBCi, but not making it clear that it was going to be an animation with voice over (only a slight step up from a radio production).
The original Shada was released on VHS tape by the BBC a few years ago, with Tom Baker narrating the missing sections. It came with a copy of the original script.
When your hiding behind the sofa..
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
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 .
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.
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!