Shada

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Pyralis Effect

This story marks the end of many things, it's the conclusion to televised Season 17 and while it was supposed to be aired in 1980, it was technically the last story produced in the 70s. It's the final 6-parter, the final story with Graham Williams as producer and Douglas Adams as script editor. It's essentially the finale to the 70s. While I wouldn't say it delivers on that, it's still a very solid story.

The animation is absolutely brilliant. While it was distracting at the start, seeing it switch from live-action to animated, you quickly get used to it. I think Tom Baker gives an excellent performance, in both the animated and live-action parts. This story is also an excellent display of the chemistry between Baker and Ward.

The supporting cast in this story are outstanding, Professor Chronotis is such a unique character and it's always fun to see a character that equals the Doctor. Both Chris Parsons and Clare Keightley are really enjoyable characters and help balance out the number of time-lords in this story.

And the scene at the end with Tom Baker, absolutely brilliant.

Next Story: Babblesphere

Season 17 Review: 8.5/10

Televised Season 17 was an interesting one, it had some of the greatest highs in Classic Who so far, City of Death and Shada, it also had some real lows like Destiny of the Daleks. It's not a season without it's faults but even in the dull stories the chemistry between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward gets you through. Douglas Adams as script editor also helps a ton, it's some of the best written dialogue of Classic Who.

You want "missing" or "incomplete" Doctor Who to be better than this don't you? Shada is funny in parts, very well acted and home to some excellent characters but boy is it overlong. There is simply not enough plot to drive the story and the plot there is is mildly interesting at best. Had Douglas Adams had the freedom to make this a four part story not only would it be tighter - they might actually have finished it before strike action took hold! It would be nice to think that if Shada actually got finished it would have been a more well rounded production, but the animation does a good job of realising how the story most likely would have panned out.

In fairness my enjoyment was most likely hampered by watching it in its extremely lengthy omnibus form. The upside of this 2017 production is getting to see the modern day Tom Baker appear in all his glory at the end, it is charming. It reminds me that the real joy of Shada is seeing Lalla and Tom in action. Lalla Ward is an exceptional actor. Season 17 in the hands of many other companions would have been totally lifeless, but she made a season of, on the whole, perfectly acceptable scripts truly shine. Romana II and The Doctor are a match made in heaven. Thank goodness this extra piece of their time exists - even in this uneven form.