October 10th, 2017
44 comments
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BBC Worldwide to Release Completed Shada
The DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook are available to order from www.amazon.co.uk
They are also available from www.zoom.co.uk, www.zavvi.co.uk and www.hmv.com
BBC Worldwide to release completed 1970s Doctor Who story for the first time ever
Tom Baker returns as the Fourth Doctor in a previously unbroadcast story, combining original live-action footage with hand-drawn animation. To be released on DVD, Bluray and digital download.
In 1979, Shada was set to be the celebratory end to the seventeenth series of Doctor Who. Critically acclaimed writer Douglas Adams had completed the script, Tom Baker’s Doctor was at the height of his popularity, and the series had bigger audiences than ever before. But strike action at the BBC in November 1979, meant the studio scenes were never completed and the adventure was abandoned. The story became legendary among fans.
Now, thirty-eight years on, BBC Worldwide has announced that Shada, is to finally be completed, combining the original, remastered footage, with brand new colour animation to complete the story. The animation will feature the newly-recorded voices of the original cast, including Tom Baker as the Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana, performing the original script. Shada will be released as a digital download on Friday 24th November, and on DVD and Bluray on Monday 4th December.
Tom Baker says, “Shada was one of my favourite Doctor Who stories. I have many fond memories of shooting the location scenes in Cambridge, and it was disappointing not to finish the story in studio. I’m so glad that BBC Worldwide have found a way to bring fans a complete visual version.”
The new feature-length production incorporates all of the live-action scenes from 1979, together with new animated material.
Shada finds the Doctor in Cambridge working alongside companion Romana and retired Time Lord, Professor Chronotis, to defeat the evil alien Skagra who is attempting to steal the secrets to the prison planet, Shada.
Bonus Material
- Taken Out of Time (25′ 39″)
- Now and Then (12′ 45″)
- Strike, Strike, Strike! (27′ 50″)
- Studio Sessions – 1979 (44′ 38″)
- Dialogue Sessions (14′ 16″)
- Model Filming (04′ 36″)
- Deleted Scenes (01′ 22″)
- Title Sequence Films (TBC)
- Live Action Reference Footage (02′ 48″)
- 1979 Gallery (04′ 50″)
- 2017 Gallery (02′ 52)
Doctor Who: Shada is being produced by the team behind the highly successful and critically acclaimed animation of lost Doctor Who episode, The Power of the Daleks and lost Dad’s Army episode A Stripe For Frazer .
The team have had access to nearly seven hours of raw footage from the original 1979 Shada shoot from which they are editing the new production from scratch, with all the original film negatives re-scanned in full HD and digitally remastered.
Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Worldwide says, “Fans loved The Power of the Daleks, so we’re delighted to be able to complete and bring them another lost Doctor Who classic.”
Doctor Who: Shada will be released as a digital download on Friday 24th November, and then on DVD and Bluray on Monday 4th December. You can pre-order The DVD, Blu-ray or Steelbook from www.amazon.co.uk
On Saturday 2nd December there will be a special screening of Doctor Who: Shada at BFI Southbank, London. Further information will be available from bfi.org.uk from Monday 23rd October. Tickets for BFI members will be available from Tuesday 7th November, and for the public from Tuesday 14th November.
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Doctor Mysterio
October 15th, 2017 - 10:05amSo it’s just feature length then, not in episode form as scripted?
Tim M
October 14th, 2017 - 7:27pmNo one has commented on how they will do the incidental music for Shada. I know it was scored by Keff McCulloch for the VHS release in 1992, and the same for the later DVD re-release, but will they reuse it where it was used for the existing footage, accompanied by new music in keeping with Keff’s for the animation? Or will it be a completely new score and soundtrack? Ideally one which is similar to the style of Dudley Simpson one hopes. Keff’s version is intrusive noise!
TIMELORDTC
October 13th, 2017 - 7:39pmOn my youtube channel I created a video saying top 10 stories I want released from the BBC in animated form. I never expected to wake up and see that Shada was to be released!
Dalek Eye Stalk
October 18th, 2017 - 6:46pmWhere was it on your top ten? My top ten most wanted animated would be (in reverse order),
10) Fury from the Deep.
9) The Highlanders.
8) The Savages.
7) The Underwater Menace.
6) The Crusade.
5) Marco Polo.
4) The Wheel in Space.
3) The Daleks Master Plan.
2) The Celestial Toymaker.
1) The Evil of the Daleks.
DoctorSong2016
October 18th, 2017 - 7:37pmMine would be ;
10. The Highlanders
9. The Savages
8. The Wheel in Space
7. The Myth Makers
6. Fury from the Deep
5. The Faceless Ones
4. Evil of the Daleks
3. The Massacre Of Saint Bartholomew’s Eve
2. Marco Polo
1. The Daleks’ Master Plan/Mission to the Unknown
TIMELORDTC
October 18th, 2017 - 10:09pmShada wasn’t on my top 10 as I never saw it as a “missing adventure” in the same format as Power. You can find the video on my youtube channel TIMELORDTC
skonnos
October 11th, 2017 - 6:01pmWelcome news, but as someone who has seen the Ian Levine Version (Hush now) I’ll be interested to compare the meerkat so-to-speak. I thought the POWER animation was acceptable so we all know what to expect here. Of course one should ALWAYS support these releases (whether you approve or not) so there remains a market for future releases.
Like DALEK MASTERPLAN (God. Please.)
Tim M
October 11th, 2017 - 5:19pmLets hope we get another lost Sixties classic get the animated treatment next. My Top 5 most wanted animated would be…
1) The Evil of the Daleks.
2) The Celestial Toymaker.
3) The Macra Terror.
4) Fury from the Deep.
5) The Faceless Ones.
Doctor Mysterio
October 11th, 2017 - 9:08amBooboo, Amazon has changed the release date to 4th December.
booboo
October 11th, 2017 - 9:40amwasn’t it always that?
DoctorSong2016
October 11th, 2017 - 4:23pmIt’s being released as a digital download on the 24th November but the DVD, BluRay and Steelbook were always going to be out December 4th.
Doctor Mysterio
October 11th, 2017 - 9:02pmWell Amazon sent me a confusing email, which said “We have good news! One of your pre-ordered items is now eligible for release date delivery and has been upgraded at no additional charge. Your new delivery estimate is: December 04 2017”. So I think they mean they’ll post it before the release date so it arrives on time.
The Dalek Whovian
October 10th, 2017 - 5:59pmI can understand why people would have preferred a lost 60s story. However, the audio recordings for those stories will still be around for piratically forever. I say it’s good that they have recreated this story while they still can.
Doctor Mysterio
October 10th, 2017 - 6:13pmThat’s a good point but I’d like to see some episodes that made it to screen and were then needlessly lost restored too. Power of the Daleks was good, let’s hope for the DMP for the 55th anniversary!
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 5:24pmShada’s Third Animation
Look I love this style, I love the steelbook artwork but 39.99 for it
I hope they lower the price soon
The Drums The Never Ending Drum Beat
October 10th, 2017 - 4:13pmI actually watch shadow on the DVD release and I thought it was an amazing story it was just a shame it wasn’t fully completed but now wow this is amazing hopefully it’ll do the story Justice as well wow everybody applaud the BBC it done something good for once
R1ch1e
October 10th, 2017 - 4:03pmThis is great! Hopefully this will be a yearly thing now. The animation on Power of the Daleks was fantastic so expect this will be the same!
I had hoped for news of a complete series 10 DVD by now
Cymon
October 10th, 2017 - 5:31pmAmazon.com have season 10 listed for release on November 14th.
There may also be a steelbook by the artist who painted the artwork for season 9
DoctorSong2016
October 10th, 2017 - 6:53pmI think it’s more likely that they’ll get the artist who did the Series 1 and 2 Steelbooks to do a Series 10 one.
Nuallain
October 11th, 2017 - 8:52amAlice X Zhang, who did the art for the S9 steelbook has confirmed she’s done art for the S10 steelbook and put an image of it on her instagram,
(In related news, at NYCC Peter Capaldi made a point of going to her stall at Artists’ Alley to personally thank her for the art he’d enjoyed so much and spent a little time there so some fans wound up with prints of her art of Capaldi signed by BOTH of them.
mrcrazyesque
October 11th, 2017 - 11:08amWhere is this confirmation from Alice X Zhang? I can’t find it on her instagram. There’s one of 12 and Bill but those were for a titan comic.
Nuallain
October 11th, 2017 - 5:36pmSorry, I misspoke slightly. She confirmed to people who were present that she was doing the S10 steelbook and showed them the art she’d done for it. It was posted on her own account:
http://www.hidefninja.com/community/threads/doctor-who-series-10-blu-ray-steelbook-possible-amazon-co-uk-release-uk.89039/
Oswin
October 10th, 2017 - 3:59pmdo u thinkt he artwork will be the same layout as the classic dvds
Peter
October 10th, 2017 - 6:09pmYes. It’ll likely be a reversable cover.
Nuallain
October 11th, 2017 - 8:55amIt’s hard to say. Clayton Hickman has said he was commissioned to design and produce packaging, including reversible covers and an exclusive eight page booklet to go with the DVD release but that he just got told it was no longer needed after he’d been working on it for four months. They’ve just hired Lee Binding instead but it’s unclear if the reason for the change is that they’ve completely changed their mind about what the packaging is to look like.
whovian
October 10th, 2017 - 2:56pmAm i the only one who thinks the animated version of Romana just looks like Rose Tyler with a hat. She just has that same vacant, derpy look
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 3:11pmYes
Vortexsurfer
October 10th, 2017 - 3:19pmWell to be fair there is a fair resemblance between Lalla Ward and Billie Piper in real life. The Romana custom figure I made a while back used a Rose figure as a base.
Tim M
October 10th, 2017 - 11:16amShada complete at last. Hopefully they animate ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ next. Or failing that, episodes 1 and 4 of ‘The Underwater Menace’. I’d double deep and buy that again.
Mark Belsom
October 10th, 2017 - 10:39amCan’t say I’m overly excited,but I will still buy Shada that way we might get more missing stories animated.
Demdike@CultLabs
October 10th, 2017 - 10:29amSo underwhelmed by this. When you think of the stories that could have been animated.
GallifreyanKnight
October 10th, 2017 - 10:13amShould go nicely with the linked narration version that was released in the Legacy boxset.
Doctor Mysterio
October 10th, 2017 - 9:19amThis will be a joy! Can’t wait, pre-ordered steel book already. Let’s hope for Master Plan next!
Peter
October 10th, 2017 - 2:05pmYes! Master Plan is the dream release!
The Drums The Never Ending Drum Beat
October 10th, 2017 - 4:13pmIKR
Doctor Mysterio
October 10th, 2017 - 6:15pmWell it’s the 55th anniversary next year and that would be a dream release!
prototype dalek
October 10th, 2017 - 9:07amQuite a good idea to do this I think and to release it in a steelbook
timelord327
October 10th, 2017 - 7:38amHad a feeling this would be happening… Wonder what they’ll be doing after Shada
Dalek
October 10th, 2017 - 2:58amCompared to previous animated stories, the animation looks really cheap here in my opinion. Compare this to The Moonbase from a few years back and it’s a clear step down. It’s such a shame that the BBC have obviously cut the money being put into these releases. The Power Of the Daleks was sub-par animations wise to me but this a huge step down from even that.
Despite that though, it is nice to finally have this story completed.
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 10:18amThis is exactly the same as Power of the Daleks. The same people are making it.
Pip
October 10th, 2017 - 2:21pmI have to say that I found the animation for Power to be very creepy, a lot of it seemed very unnatural.
Doctor Mysterio
October 10th, 2017 - 6:23pmI thought Power was better animated than The Ice Warriors though. Have reasonable hopes for Shada. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
I wonder if they’ll include the previous McGann animation.
the ergon
October 10th, 2017 - 12:21amI rarely watch the incomplete shada due to the repetitive scenes and tom bakers attempt to fill in the narrative. the animation will be the best way to fully realise the story. can,t wait for the animated kraags vs k-9. Damn those industrial strikes.
toptimelord
October 10th, 2017 - 12:05amThis is thrilling news for the Whovians!