Shada

Shada is a tricky one to review as, obviously, what we are looking at is very much unfinished. Because bits of it were never shot it is hard to get a sense of the pacing and coherence of the thing. However, it is still possible to watch it and get a sense of the story, which is why I have decided to include it in my retrospective, in spite of the fact that it was never broadcast.

Shada was, in a sense, the end of an era and probably would have been (stylistically) the definitive example of the Douglas Adams era. The script would be instantly recognisable as Adams’ work even if it wasn’t reused seven years later as the basis for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (the similarities are even more pronounced than in City of Death, with entire scenes being reproduced almost verbatim). As it stands, the script is a good one. It takes an idea- a scientist who wants to be God and runs away with it, with some inspired concepts such as the mind-stealing sphere and a spaceship computer that nigh-on worships its master. There is a good deal of the comedy characteristic of the era, but a fair bit of it is funny, fortunately. The dialogue is good throughout with a few exceptions: ‘They stole our brains!’ is never a good line, no matter how necessary to the plot it is. The characterisation is reasonably good, even though the key characters of Chris Parsons and Clare Keightley aren’t exactly fleshed out- apart from Arthur Dent, Adams was never very good at making his everyman characters three dimensional. However, we have the wonderful character of Professor Chronotis and the insanely arrogant and ruthless Skagra to keep our attention. The script seems to justify the length of six episodes, which is pleasantly surprising.

The standard of the production is hard to judge, as only one of the studio sessions were made, giving the studio scenes a very uniform look. However, the location scenes in Cambridge are wonderful and the Professor’s study is a fantastic set. Pennant Roberts puts in some fantastic work behind the camera (something I’d never thought I’d type)- of special note is the opening scene, where the camera circles round the seated figures of the Think Tank, which is intercut with a countdown in Roman numerals. The Krarg is a wonderfully realised monster, making a strong impression even in its brief appearance on the surviving footage. The performances are excellent, with Denis Carey being wonderful as Chronotis and Christopher Neame’s Nordic glower being used to good effect as Skagra. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward are clearly invigorated by this story and perform excellently.

Shada would not have been the best story of the season, but it would certainly have been very memorable if it had been completed. What is left of it can actually be enjoyed as a story and it is a real pity that it was not allowed to rescue what was the weakest run of Doctor Who stories for some time.

NEXT: The Leisure Hive

City of Death

If there is one story that justifies the appointment of Douglas Adams as script editor, it is this one. It is one of those stories which I have lost count of the number of times I have seen, and it is a pleasure to revisit it. The plot itself is rather good (in fact, Adams would shamelessly reuse it in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency!) but it is only the skeleton on which a truly wonderful script has been built. The dialogue is as sharp as a sushi knife, with quotable lines being spouted at every turn. The characters are well drawn and believable. Best of all, the humour is actually funny, rather than the clumsy attempts at hilarity in Destiny of the Daleks. As I have said before, Adams does get his science wrong sometimes, but not in a really egregious way.

However, great scripts have been let down before by inadequate realisation, so it was thankful that this story benefited from Doctor Who’s first ever foreign location shoot. The Parisian locations are beautifully shot and add an ambience that permeates the other scenes (helped by the fantastic set designs). Michael Hayes again worked with film cameraman John Walker, who has a great talent for getting very beautiful shots on 16mm film (as previously seen in The Androids of Tara) and his talent behind the camera is very much in evidence throughout. Hayes makes this story one of the most gorgeous ever made. The production is excellent throughout with some very imaginative sets and model work. Even Dudley Simpson is drawn out of the rut of woodwind flatulence he has been caught in and contributes a beautiful score- I always felt Simpson was happier with a keyboard than an orchestra.

He is helped, of course, by a superlative guest cast. The team of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward really come into their own here and their performances are truly joyous, getting everything possible out of the wonderful script and clearly having the time of their lives. Julian Glover returns to Doctor Who in the role of Scaroth the Jagaroth in all his human guises. Glover makes Scaroth a chilling alien monster, urbane gentleman thief, aristocrat and desperate survivor and makes them all believable as being part of the same character. He is ably supported by Catherine Schell as his wife, willingly taking on the role as consort to a thief and murderer (incidentally, to address all you wags out there, if Scaroth can make a human mask with blinking eyes, facial expression and believable hair, a convincing willy would not have been beyond him!) Tom Chadbon is great as the clueless, violent, but otherwise good-egg, Duggan and, indeed, every role is brilliantly played, even a great little performance from Peter Halliday as the guard in Leonardo's study. Then there are the two art critics…

This is truly unmissable Doctor Who- but then, you probably guessed that already!

NEXT: The Creature from the Pit

The Pirate Planet

Of all the writers who scripted Doctor Who in the 20th Century, only one became so successful that he arguably became almost as iconic as the series itself. Douglas Adams was riding the wave of success of the first radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when this story, the second in the Key to Time season was brought out. Adams's renown colours the perception of any viewer coming to the story today- we are looking for the detached view of the universe, the ideas that are both daft and brilliant, the absurd situations and the people that they spawn. We certainly get some very imaginative ideas- the Zanak, the planet that devours others; inertia absorbing corridors; a gestalt being formed from the psychic energy of the dead of a destroyed planet and moulding random inhabitants of Zanak to become Mentiads, beings with awesome psychic powers .

However, as you all know, I have been absorbed in Doctor Who for months, which led me to consider something- Douglas Adams has a lot in common with Bob Baker and Dave Martin. Baker and Martin are also fond of barmy ideas and they also have gaps in their scientific knowledge (to be fair, Adams has gaps, Baker and Martin have yawning chasms!) However, Adams is able to bind his barmy ideas into a narrative with more success than Baker and Martin usually do. Adams's humour is, of course a major factor, but more critical are the wonderful characters he creates. The Captain is one of the most entertaining figures the programme has ever seen, with his bombastic manner and piratical appearance. Bruce Purchase brings the character wonderfully to life, his mellifluous voice making us feel not only the bluster, but the ruthlessness and genuine humanity underneath. The interplay between the Captain and Andrew Robertson's wonderful Mr Fibuli are a joy to behold and the Captain's genuine grief at Mr Fibuli's death is genuinely moving. The twist in the tale is that the real reason for destroying dozens of planets and trillions of lives is to ensure that Queen Xanxia will be immortal. The vanity and total amorality is well portrayed in a restrained (and therefore very effective) performance by Rosalind Lloyd. Some of the other performances are less effective, however. The Mentiads are merely adequate, which is a real shame- we never really see why the rest of the population have such a horror of them. The only really disappointing performance is that of Ralph Michael as Balaton- not so much bad acting as wrongly modulated.

Like Baker and Martin, Douglas Adams's scripts don't seem too concerned about whether they can be effectively realised on screen with the low budget that Doctor Who had. However, the story is effectively realised, for the most part- special mention must be given to the wonderful costume for the cyborg Captain. The direction by Pennant Roberts is good enough to make the scenes work, but could have been better- his skill seems to be concentrated on some of the more impressive set pieces- the battle between K9 and the Polyphase Avitron was clearly filmed in a hurry, but works reasonably well.

Strange as it may seem, Tom Baker does not go completely over the top in his performance- perhaps this is Roberts's greatest contribution as director! Baker is funny when the script calls for it, but also expresses outrage at the countless deaths caused by Zanak. Mary Tamm is growing into her role nicely. Romana's attitude to the Doctor has changed a great deal, but her outward behaviour has not, something put over very well by Tamm.

The Pirate Planet is funny, clever and imaginative, which more than compensates for its flaws.

NEXT: The Stones of Blood