Inclusion debates/Shada: The Elephant in the Room

Alright, so for the longest time the TV version of Shada has been discounted as invalid on our website.

The reason for this was that there had been no version of the story which had "finished" it through actual use of the filmed sequences. The closest attempt was the 1992 VHS release, which simply had Tom Baker (not playing the Doctor, but himself) explain the missing scenes. Our ultimate judgement was that as this had been presented as something that "could have been" and not "something that now was." It's confusing, but the presentation coupled with an ultimate lack of it being "finished" lead to use seeing it as little more than a very complex deleted scene. As per our policy on deleted scenes, it was thus deemed invalid.

I am not challenging any of that. It's clear policy and precedent, and I see no point in trying to change it. Frankly, it makes sense. But only for the 1992 release.

Today, yet another version of Shada was released. The version that should have been released the whole time. A completed cut of the TV story, with scenes shot in the 1970s and animated versions of the unfinished scenes. But today's version of the episode frankly deserves to share the page with the "unfinished" episode as much as the 1990s version does. It seems hardly necessary complicated to present them as three different stories when they're not.

I furthermore think that there should be no doubt that TODAY's Shada is very much valid. Not only does it feature all of the finished scenes (unlike the 1992 version) but the presentation surely says that this is intended to be a "finished" version. Simply watching the trailer makes it clear that this is the intention of the creators.

I hope that this can be resolved quickly. This is facing much publicity, and it would be a shame to block users from writing about this amazing story for months for little reason.