October 27th, 2017
67 comments
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Doctor Who Shada DVD (2017)
Available to order in the UK from www.amazon.co.uk
Also available to order from www.zoom.co.uk, www.zavvi.co.uk and www.hmv.com
Available to order in the USA from www.amazon.com #ad
“Delicate matter, slightly. It’s about a book…”
Chris Parsons is happily engrossed in studying post-graduate physics at Cambridge, when one day he finds an old book, sitting on a dusty shelf in an ageing professor’s library. Written in a language nobody can read and made of a paper that can’t be torn, this is no ordinary book.
And when it enters his life, everything changes for young Chris Parsons.
Soon finding himself aboard an invisible space-ship, chased by monsters made of molten rock; aboard an alien prison on a distant planet and attacked by a horde of mind-control zombies. Chris also meets a strange man with a very long scarf who claims he can travel through time and space… in a police box.
It’s going to be a busy day for Chris Parsons.
- 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)
An abandoned Doctor Who classic is brought to life. Starring Tom Baker and written by Douglas Adams, this is “Shada” for a modern audience, with footage upscaled to high definition, and incomplete footage now completed using high-quality animation.
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Tyler Prescott
August 4th, 2018 - 11:50pmIs the canal boat scene from The Five Doctors in the episode?
Demdike@CultLabs
January 4th, 2018 - 12:46pmI started watching the new Shada disc last night. It’s not episodic just a single 136 min film.
What’s that all about? Ended up turning it off after four chapters as it was too late for something two hours plus.
It does look rather splendid though.
Anonymous
December 26th, 2017 - 9:05pmI got this for Christmas. Loved it! So glad they finally finished it, again. I’m sure they’ll do another version in a year or so.
steve
December 31st, 2017 - 2:49pmI’m planning on getting this soon(also plan on getting power of the daleks and a few of the stand alone release post 2005 episodes such as deep breath and dr mysterio) I’ve just started my doctor who collection again so far I’ve got The legacy collection and tenth planet as well as already having the dalek collection(peter cushing with the black dalek cover) and a few audio books and audio plays too and a a fair few doctor who books and other collectables but i sold my dvd collection to get a few other bits but never again
Who rules
December 5th, 2017 - 8:28pmI’ve heard a lot of complaints about the fact that these shada episodes and the hartnell troughton episodes have been animated instead of certain people’s prefered method of reconstructing them. Namely by using photorealistic cgi as they did in star wars rogue one. Now this must sound brilliant to some people – far better than animation… there are a few problems with the idea though. In fairness the recreation of tarkin was – variable. And this in a multi-million dollar blockbuster. Not on a bbc straight to dvd primarily for the fans when all is said and done budget. Now i know a chap who works in the movie cgi world and i talked to him about this idea of cgi who. Here’s what he said: there are two choices. You either create all sets with cgi or you have to rebuild the original sets. Both expensive routes to take. In order to capture performances to replace you have to hire actors to replay the entire story… more expense. All special effects sequences would have to be done completely with cgi. And then you’d have to go through every second of “film” and replace the body actors with the original actors faces. To do that you are talking millions of pounds per episode. I showed him some of power of the daleks and the reign of terror animations and he said that they were best way to go as frankly the technology just isn’t good enough yet to do what some fans want – a cgi cast that looks real. He said unless you want to pay a good few hundred pounds for each dvd you are better off sticking to cheaper, reliable artwork. I sometimes feel that some fans don’t appreciate what we actually get. Power of the daleks and shada are not meant to be perfect representatives of the original stories as made or in shada’s case concieved but they are meant to give an idea of what they might have looked like. And i for one am very grateful for these releases. We have to get behind these so that we get more animated recreations. I agree with tim M about space pirates an animated version could look very good. There are better stories needing releases but we should support any release!
Tim M
December 6th, 2017 - 12:27pmGreat reading your article Who Rules. I find animation absolutely fine for the missing episodes. Charles Norton and the team have done sterling work with the animations. One sincerely hopes more such animations are on the way. It’s thanks to them we can now fully enjoy ‘The Power of the Daleks’ and ‘Shada’.
Who rules
December 5th, 2017 - 6:56pmI agree it’s not the classic everyone assumed it was going to be but then it never was. Episodes would have been better but at least we finally have it in full. Thing is with 10 hartnells (including mission to the unknown as a single entry) and 9 troughton stories (including underwater menace but not eps 3 web of fear) at one a year it could be 2036 before they are all done! I think a slight speed up of releases is needed.
Tim M
December 5th, 2017 - 8:39pmThey could animate four episodes next year and release them in a box set. ‘The Crusade’ parts 2 and 4 animated, plus a re-release of ‘The Underwater Menace’ with parts 1 and 4 animated. They re-released ‘Shada’ with added animation, so why not ‘The Underwater Menace’?
Who rules
December 5th, 2017 - 8:46pmI’d be very happy with something like that.
Tim M
December 5th, 2017 - 6:45pmI’ve watched all of ‘Shada’ now, and whilst I can’t fault the efforts of everyone involved from acting, animation, direction (old and new) and writing, It’s still a bit of a slow drawn out story. In some respects I prefer elements of the Tom Baker narrated version from 1992. I prefer it being in episodic form, plus it speeds the pace of the story along with narration. With the overall running time being closer to a 4 parter than a 6 parter. My overall mark for the story (either version) is exactly the same. 7/10.
Who rules
December 4th, 2017 - 10:36pmAs i said below tim m’s comment i really enjoyed it but i have to just give a special mention to mark ayres brilliant music score. Evocative of dudley simpson and using themes from city of death it just sent shivers through me. Very haunting in places. And a very nice dedication to dudley simpson at the end.
Tim M
December 3rd, 2017 - 5:04pmGot the ‘Shada’ DVD today in the post, and I have a minor irritation with the reverse cover. Whilst the overall reverse has the Doctor Who logo on the top right and most of the cover is correct. Why oh why did they feel the need to put not one, but two PG certificate logo’s on the spine. When all the other reverse covers on the classic series DVDs had the 2-Entertain logo, but no certificate rating displayed. Makes ‘Shada’ standout like a sore thumb in the collection. Sigh. :-/
Harold Saxon
December 3rd, 2017 - 11:53pmDid it have both feature length and episodes format of the story ?
Anonymous
December 4th, 2017 - 11:12amjust feature length
Tim M
December 4th, 2017 - 5:08pmYes, it is only feature length. So it’s worth holding onto the original ‘Shada’ dvd release, as that is in episodic form with Tom Baker’s 1992 narration. Which I thought filled the gaps well anyway. I’ve only watched half of the new ‘Shada’, and so far I have to say the animation works really well alongside the filmed footage. Plus Mark Ayres incidental score works much better than the Keff McCulloch version. Although early on in Mark’s score I can hear a blatant rip off and slightly altered version of music from ‘City of Death’!
Who rules
December 4th, 2017 - 10:30pmDoes your copy play with black bars to left and right? Mine does on 3 different dvd players like some other dvds it plays 4:3 so a square in the middle with black bars at the sides. Doesn’t matter as you soon get used to it like i did with other movies but it was a surprise as i thought it would be full screen. Really enjoyed it thought. But i think I’d like to see galaxy 4 completed for hartnell and macra terror for troughton as my two choices.
Tim M
December 5th, 2017 - 8:55amYes, black bars on my copy too.
Tim M
December 5th, 2017 - 9:07amFor Hartnell I’d like ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ animated. For Troughton I’d like ‘The Evil of the Daleks’ animated
Who rules
December 5th, 2017 - 9:34amI’d settle for the space pirates justvas long assomething gets released!
Tim M
December 5th, 2017 - 3:12pm‘The Space Pirates’ would be worth animating, as no telesnaps exist for the missing episodes. So the animators could interpret the visual footage in any way they want, without much restriction of sticking to the original. As only episode 2 and a handful of photographs exist to use as a template for the rest of the story.
Paul Walters
November 26th, 2017 - 11:03amI wonder if it’ll have the angry Tom in the studio scenes, with such greats as
“Oh fu** anyone who slammed the door!! Who the hell slams a door during a scene!!”
[email protected]
November 6th, 2017 - 9:32pmSo is everything animated or only the missing bits.
76 Totters Lane
November 6th, 2017 - 11:40pmOnly the missing bits.
Tim M
November 6th, 2017 - 11:40amThis surely has to be the last version of ‘Shada’ that can be released. I’m getting bored of it now. I know this story more than some of the fully complete stories, and whilst ‘Shada’ isn’t a terrible story, neither is it a classic. It’s a typical Season 17 story. Bad and really poor in parts, to witty and utterly brilliant in other parts.
GallifreyanKnight
November 2nd, 2017 - 12:04pmIt’ll go great with the linked narration version released in the “The Legacy Collection” boxset from a few years ago. 🙂
Tim M
November 6th, 2017 - 11:44amIndeed. Tom Baker’s superb narration from 1992 perfectly fills the gaps. ‘Shada’ wasn’t really shouting out to be animated. Much rather have had another missing/incomplete Hartnell or Troughton story animated. Episodes 1, 2 and 3 of ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ would have been good.
Anonymous
November 6th, 2017 - 6:30pmI think there doing a new full length animation each year, so hopefully we get a Hartnell or troughton story for 2018.
Tim M
November 7th, 2017 - 7:25pmWhat would everyone like animated next year then? My choice is ‘The Celestial Toymaker’
T.A
November 7th, 2017 - 9:50pmI would like the Daleks master plan.
Tyler Prescott
August 4th, 2018 - 11:49pmMaster plan and Evil.
Harold Saxon
October 29th, 2017 - 3:29pmHope it is still in episode format.
Gordon
October 29th, 2017 - 11:27pmIt’s already confirmed by the animators
Dalek Eye Stalk
October 28th, 2017 - 11:46pmWhilst it is great to see a version of ‘Shada’ released with animation, I would have preferred another missing Troughton or Hartnell classic being animated instead. I felt the Tom Baker narration nicely covered the gaps in the story ‘Shada’ anyway.
T.A
October 29th, 2017 - 8:58amWill probably get a new animation next year.
Peter
October 28th, 2017 - 12:24amWish all the classic covers were like this.
The Drums The Never Ending Drum Beat
October 28th, 2017 - 4:02pmI don’t I hate them like that
Whorules
October 27th, 2017 - 9:19amBrillant cover, and presumably reversible as with power of the daleks
booboo
October 27th, 2017 - 9:45amthey have only sent out the one image so far
Mr Vector
October 27th, 2017 - 8:58amYAY! The side is the same as all the other classics!
DoctorFan
October 27th, 2017 - 7:35amThe cover is great and I’m glad it isn’t animated pictures like the power of the Daleks cover
Keith Rydberg
October 26th, 2017 - 12:36amWill the release date be the same in the US?
DoctorSong2016
October 16th, 2017 - 9:54amThis has been reduced to £13.99 on Amazon now and the BluRay is £19.99.
IsItNeil
October 12th, 2017 - 1:52amThis is being released in three editions:-
* DVD (2 disc)
* BLU-RAY (3 disc)
* STEELBOOK (3 disc)
Does anyone know what content differences there are between the DVD version and the BLURAY / STEELBOOK versions? There must be something extra as there is 1 disc more! I cannot myself find any significant info relating to this. Does anyone know ??
IsItNeil
October 12th, 2017 - 1:53amRelease date:- 4th December 2017
itzPrew
October 27th, 2017 - 1:06pmIt could be simular to the POTD steelbook, it may include the DVD version as well
Gordon
October 27th, 2017 - 1:57pmThe contents of the third disc have been embargoed till mid November. Got an email from bbc worldwide telling me after enquiring about it. Whatever it is I think it’s either special or something that is still being worked on. If I’m going to guess a fully animated version or a non episodic version
Anonymous
October 29th, 2017 - 12:32amDoubt it, more likely to be 1 Bly ray and 2 DVD set.
Gordon
October 29th, 2017 - 11:28pmIt’s been hyped as exclusive content so I doubt it’s just a dvd
faboofour
January 1st, 2022 - 11:36pmThe US and UK versions are different: the 2003 web version (in regular video, not flash) is on the US edition, but not on the UK version. Additionally, the special features are spread differently between the two discs.
skonnos
October 11th, 2017 - 6:06pmSome of us in the know knew about this coming out sometime. At least now we have confirmation why the BBC turned down Ian Levine’s version when he offered it to them.
Gordon
October 27th, 2017 - 1:50pmNot really as they turned it down about 5 years ago. It needed a lot of polish and had no tom. Not getting any clearance from the Adams estate was possibly a sticking point and not paying some of his animators for the work probably didn’t help either. Telling bbc worldwide that they couldn’t alter any of it and had to take it as is isn’t going to do any favours either
matparks08
October 10th, 2017 - 8:45pmwow – well that came out of the blue….did anybody know this was happening? Great little pre-Xmas treat…
DoctorSong2016
October 10th, 2017 - 11:04pmIt’s been rumoured for a few months, so no one is really surprised to be honest, it’s just surprising that it’s pretty much been common knowledge for months but it’s only being formally announced now.
Josh
October 10th, 2017 - 5:45pmWould really like an evil of the daleks Animation
Whorules
October 10th, 2017 - 3:56pmWe need to support this if we want more, hopefully if it sells well we’ll get another troughton or hartnell next year. Due to the cost of animation i think it’s unlikely we’ll get daleks’ masterplan soon, but crusade or wheel in space would be cheaper to do first. Personally i don’t care what gets done as long as something gets done!
Harold Saxon
October 10th, 2017 - 3:00pmGood extra features then , am grateful we are getting this release !
IsItNeil
October 10th, 2017 - 2:11pmAs we know Classic Series DVD releases are now few and far between… Therefore any new addition to the range and our collections is great fully received and I feel us true fans should support its release and keep the range alive and ongoing.
I will certainly be getting it. I am very pleased to see that the exceptionally high content standards of Power of the Daleks has been maintained with an exceptional selection of special features.
Well done and thank you to the team behind it.
Now let’s all go out there and buy it to encourage the next one.
IsItNeil
October 10th, 2017 - 2:13pm….even if we only get one (1) new classic DVD release a year I think that should be considered a positive and something to support , encourage and look forward to.
Kevin Bunker
October 10th, 2017 - 11:28amNice to see they’ve finally done a proper version of this story. 🙂
The Werewolf
October 10th, 2017 - 1:01amThis I would like to buy, hopefully for less than £20 though.
whofan36
October 10th, 2017 - 1:42amwell you in luck then as the DVD is £19.99
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 12:20am“High quality animation” doesn’t look like it too me
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 10:20amYou might be looking at an unofficial version made some years ago by Ian Levine. This is different from that.
Anonymous
October 10th, 2017 - 6:03pmNope definitely this one