Shada (audio story)

Shada (audio)

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Shada
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eighth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Romana II, K9
Main enemy:	Skagra
Main setting:	Earth, England, Cambridge, St. Cedd's College, 1979 Skagra's Carrier Ship Shada
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Big Finish Productions]]
Writers:	Douglas Adams (Story) Gary Russell (Prologue and minor changes)
Director:	Nicholas Pegg
Producer:	Gareth Jenkins
Release details
Release number:	2 (spine number II)
Release date:	December 2003
Format:	2 CDs - 6 Episodes
Production code:	BFPDWBBCiCD02
ISBN:	ISBN 1-84435-039-8

For other uses of Shada, see here.

Shada was an audio adaptation of an unbroadcast Doctor Who story of the same name. Unlike the television version, it featured the Eighth Doctor, as opposed to the Fourth.

Publisher's summary

The Doctor has a spot of unfinished business. Reunited with his old friends Romana and K9, he answers a summons from Professor Chronotis, a retired Time Lord now living the academic life in a Cambridge college.

But the Doctor isn’t the only visitor to Cambridge. Somewhere in the city is the sinister alien Skagra, who is intent on stealing an ancient and mysterious book brought to Earth by the Professor many years before.

What is Skagra’s diabolical masterplan? And who or what is the mysterious Shada? To discover the truth, the Doctor and his friends must embark on a perilous journey that will take them from the cloisters of Cambridge to the farthest reaches of deep space, risking deadly encounters with a sentient spaceship, the monstrous Krargs, and an ancient Time Lord criminal called Salyavin. As the Doctor soon discovers, the fate of the universe hangs in the balance…

Written in 1979, the original production of Shada was halted by industrial action, and for many years the story remained unmade – until now. Featuring an all-star cast headed by Paul McGann, and boasting an unforgettable script by the great Douglas Adams, this legendary Doctor Who adventure is lost no more!

Cast

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Romana - Lalla Ward
• K9 - John Leeson
• Professor Chronotis - James Fox
• Skagra - Andrew Sachs
• Chris Parsons - Sean Biggerstaff
• Clare Keightley - Susannah Harker
• Wilkin - Melvyn Hayes
• The Ship - Hannah Gordon
• Caldera - Barnaby Edwards
• Constable - Stuart Crossman
• Think Tank Voice - Nicholas Pegg

References

• The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey is the key to Shada.
• Chronotis (aka Salyavin) removed the book from the Panopticon Archives to prevent anyone from remembering him.
• Quite a bit of tea (with and without milk and sugar) is consumed.
• Skagra's ship identifies The Doctor's TARDIS as "a Type 39, possibly Type 40."
• K9 states that Skagra's home planet was the planet Dronid.
• The College of Cardinals is an institution made up of Time Lords.

Notes

• This is an extended release of Shada containing some lengthened scenes.
• Due to the change in format and style Gary Russell affected alterations to accommodate the new format, he wrote a prologue explaining (and making the footage seen in The Five Doctors) why it is the Eighth Doctor and Romana, he also changed small scenes which would not work for audio (such as the punting scene).

Continuity

• There is a reference in the prologue explaining the footage seen in DW: The Five Doctors of the Fourth Doctor and Romana II punting.
• When Skagra scans the Doctor's mind, audio clips are heard from: BFA: Phantasmagoria, The Marian Conspiracy and The Fires of Vulcan.
• The Doctor mentions meeting Mary Shelley on Lake Geneva. (BFA: Mary's Story)

Timeline

• This story occurs after: BFA: Terror Firma (flashback)
• This story occurs before ST: The Time Lord's Story

See also

• Shada (webcast)
• Shada (TV story)

External links

• Official Shada page at bigfinish.com
• Shada at the Doctor Who Reference Guide