Doctor Who: Shada with More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS DVD review

The first classic Doctor Who DVD release of the year will appeal mostly to the hardcore fan and collector. This three-disc set features “Shada,” the almost preposterously infamous unfinished Season 17 serial starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, alongside the 1993 30^th Anniversary documentary, “More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS.” Also enclosed is quite the array of documentaries and interviews, yet by the time you’re finished, the entire collection really just feels like three discs worth of extras. Now, if you’re into classic Who DVD extras, this set is prime fodder for you. If not, it’s little more than an extensive collection of bits and bobs that will likely hold zero appeal for those who’ve no interest in such minutiae. Now that we’ve got that sorted out, you can stick with me or move on.

Due to an industrial strike, only about half of the early-1980 six-episode “Shada” was completed. No doubt a big reason so much mystique surrounds the story – which centers on a powerful Gallifreyan book and a lost prison planet of the Time Lords - is because it was written by then-script editor Douglas Adams. It was a hasty contribution to the season after another story fell through, and Adams allegedly had no great love for it, though he did reuse some elements of it in his novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

The existing footage of “Shada” languished until 1983, when Tom Baker decided not to take part in “The Five Doctors,” at which point producer John Nathan-Turner (with Baker’s permission) used several scenes of the Fourth Doctor and Romana in the special. For years this was all of “Shada” that was available for public consumption. Finally, in 1992, JN-T brought what exists of “Shada” to VHS, along with a score by Keff McCulloch, some appropriately low-fi effects work, and Baker himself providing linking narration for the parts that did not exist. This program is the main feature on this DVD, “newly restored from original film negatives and studio recordings” (per the back of the set).

The concept works pretty well for the first couple episodes - much of which takes place and was filmed in Cambridge, and that footage is an absolute delight. But as the tale moves forward, the enterprise becomes increasingly clumsy, and certainly by the time one gets to the last couple of episodes it no longer works as much of anything but an uneven document of what might have been. Now if only this presentation were the final word on “Shada,” I could stop here.

The Whovian fascination with “Shada” never truly waned, which is rather understandable given how unsatisfying the VHS version was. A flash animated webcast produced by Big Finish and retconned to feature Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, alongside Ward and John Leeson as K-9, was released in 2003. It, too, is present on Disc One of this set, though it can only be viewed on computer, which is a mild shame for those of us who hate viewing programs on our PCs (granted, I am probably in the minority). The animation is extremely clunky insofar as its movement goes, though the pictures can be pretty at times. Some may find it almost as limiting as viewing the VHS version. This version is also available as an audio play through Big Finish.

Fan freak Ian Levine has since funded a full-blown animated version of “Shada,” though who knows when and where that will see the light of day. It’s a shame it isn’t part of this DVD, but given Levine’s prickly reputation, it’s anyone’s guess what hoops he’d have made the BBC jump through to include it (snarky speculation on my part - nothing more). And then, finally, there’s the official novelization written by Gareth Roberts, which was released a year ago, and was followed by an audio book read by Ward. There are all sorts of ways for the Doctor Who fan to imbibe in “Shada,” and this DVD presents two of them. Also present on Disc One is a trailer for the upcoming DVD release of “The Reign of Terror” (though curiously sans any bits of the animation that's been created to complete its visuals), and the production notes subtitle option for the VHS version of “Shada.” There is no commentary track.

Still from the flash animated McGann "Shada"

Moving on to Disc Two, which features a 25-minute documentary devoted to the tragic non-production of the serial, entitled “Taken Out of Time,” which features interviews with Baker and director Pennant Roberts among others. Another fascinating doc, entitled “Strike! Strike! Strike!” (27 min.), details the numerous times Doctor Who, as well as some other BBC programs, have been affected by strikes over the years. “Now and Then” is the now familiar location report, this time on “Shada” (it’s somewhat reassuring to see how little has changed at all the Cambridge locations). “Being a Girl” is a half-hour look at how women are represented in the series (really, this thing could have been three times as long and still not said everything). There’s also a 10 minute photo gallery from “Shada.”

For many, though, it’ll be Disc Three that shines brightest, as it contains “More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS,” a 90-minute doc that’s whimsically nostalgic magic works as well today as it did 20 years ago. Written and directed by a guy named Kevin Davies, this thing soars, and absolutely deserves to be seen and imbibed in at some point during Who’s 50^th Anniversary year. The BBC is said to be producing a new documentary celebrating 50 years, however it cannot be narrated by Nicholas Courtney, as this one is, and Lis Sladen and Jon Pertwee cannot take part as they do here. This is a lovely, well-rounded piece, loaded with clips from all eras of the classic series, and featuring opinions and thoughts from a wide variety of classic Who talent, all wrapped around a storyline (of sorts) of a young boy exploring and being affected by the many worlds and aspects of Who.

Additionally, Disc Three features unrelated interviews with Peter Purves and Verity Lambert, as well as Nick Courtney’s final interview (26 min.), which is just about perfect and features a surprise guest. For the Brig fans out there, this one’s a keeper. A doc called “Those Deadly Divas” plays well alongside the “Being a Girl” doc from Disc Two; this one focuses on the darker sides of women in Who, and features interviews with Kate O’Mara, Camille Coduri, and Tracy-Ann Oberman along with Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman. Lastly, there’s a photo gallery of behind the scenes shots from the “More Than…” documentary.

Doctor Who: Nightmare of Eden DVD review

Some years ago I kicked off a “Destiny of the Daleks” DVD review with, “You’d think that a season of Doctor Who script-edited by Douglas Adams would be a high mark in the show’s long history, but you’d be wrong. Season 17…was Who at its campiest and most goofy.” Since writing that piece, two other Season 17 stories – “The Creature from the Pit” and “The Horns of Nimon” – have been released on DVD, and on both occasions I gave the stories relatively high marks. I was surprised, as both of those tales sort of crushed their horrible reputations by being not nearly as bad as many had claimed over the years. Of course, none of these revelations really change my initial assertions. Season 17 is often campy and goofy, and, “City of Death” aside, it isn’t a Who high point. All that said, I’ve a renewed appreciation for Season 17 these days…well, most of it anyway.

Unfortunately, the story you’ve come here to read about – “Nightmare of Eden” - is almost the low point of the season. I say almost only because the derailed production of “Shada” sort of automatically wins it the lowest point status, on principle alone. At least “Nightmare of Eden” got made, though to hear the cast and crew talk about it, just barely. Two spacecraft – the Empress, a commercial airliner, and the Hecate, a smaller transport ship - collide, and are fused together. The Doctor (Tom Baker), Romana (Lalla Ward) and K-9 (David Brierly) arrive and attempt to help remedy the situation, only to discover that the accident was caused by the Empress’s co-pilot being high on a drug called Vraxoin.

For the first time in its long history, Doctor Who was suddenly tackling addiction and drugs. Does it do it in a noteworthy manner? Not really, and certainly not in any way that’s relevant to today. Although the Doctor claims that he’s seen whole planets destroyed by the drug, its effects boil down to making those high on it giggle and lose their concentration – basically about the same as smoking a joint, and hardly the scourge of the galaxy. There’s one fairly effective scene with a character jonesing for his Vrax threatens Romana, but beyond that, anyone looking for any kind of serious adult exploration of the topic won’t find it here, although credit should be given to producer Graham Williams and Douglas Adams for at least taking a chance and trying to see what might happen by going down such a road.

Mandrels & Mandrells

“Nightmare of Eden” is several mysteries intertwined, chief among them, “Who’s smuggling the Vraxoin?” The story’s monsters are called the Mandrels, who should by no means be confused with the Mandrell Sisters. Like those great ladies of 70’s and 80’s pop country music, however, they appear more cuddly than threatening. The guest cast is mostly cardboard, although Lewis Fiander offers up a cartoonish, over the top performance as the scientist Tryst, which at the very least makes him more interesting to watch than the rest, even if it’s all terribly silly. After a passable first two episodes, the events meander off into quite a bit of aimless running around, and while Baker and Ward do a decent enough job of carrying the proceedings, “Nightmare of Eden” is ultimately a pretty forgettable entry in the world’s longest running sci-fi franchise.

Yet there are two noteworthy things about “Eden.” Around the 15:30 minute mark of Episode One, Romana is looking through a window made by the story’s gimmicky gadget, the Continuous Event Transmitter, which is a most improbable piece of science fiction...but mildly clever nonetheless, especially since it sort of drives the whole story. Anyway, for about 60 seconds the show presents us with one of the most unnerving sequences ever created on classic Doctor Who. It is, in fact, so well done in comparison to the rest of the story, that one can only conclude it was an accident. I wonder who was responsible for it - director Alan Bromley, who was fired partway through the studio recording, or Graham Williams, who took over after the firing?

David Daker & Tom Baker

Secondly, and this is more personal, and far less revelatory, but the Empress ship captain, Rigg, is played by David Daker – the same David Daker who had some years before played Irongron in “The Time Warrior” (which, incidentally, was Alan Bromley’s only other Who directorial effort). I’m sure some people reading this already know this bit o’ trivia, but for me it was a minor mindfuck, compounded by the further realization that Daker was also Kevin’s Father in Time Bandits! It was Daker’s unmistakable vocal inflections that led to me piecing all this together, and then heading to IMDB for confirmation. Daker does a pretty good job here, and is far and away the standout guest actor of the serial. He’s not Irongron great – there’s no way he could be given that the writer of “Eden,” Bob Baker, is no Robert Holmes – but he does about as good a job as he could have given what he had to work with.

May was a peculiar month for Who DVDs here at the Morgue. High marks were given to one Sylvester McCoy story, fair marks to another, and finally an expression of disappointment over a Tom Baker serial. Very strange month, indeed.

DVD Extras: With this being the final story featuring Lalla Ward to get a DVD release (“Shada” aside), it seems unlikely that we’ll ever get that long awaited Ward/Tom Baker commentary track. Here Ward is joined in various turns by actor Peter Craze, writer Bob Baker, effects designer Colin Mapson, makeup designer Joan Stribling – all moderated by Toby Hadoke. As always, Lalla’s a joy to listen to. As hinted at above, “Eden” was a production fraught with problems, and so the making of, called “The Nightmare of Television Centre,” really concentrates on only two things: the dodgy videotaped special effects ship sequences, and the disastrous production that led to the firing of Bromley; as such, its running time is only 13 minutes. “Going Solo” features Bob Baker talking about writing his only Who story without writing partner Dave Martin. “The Doctors’s Strange Love” is yet another entry in the series featuring Simon Guerrier, Joe Lidster and Josie Long (would somebody please make her stop?!) chatting up all things “Eden.” There’s also an 11-minute vintage interview with Lalla on a show called Ask Aspel.  Then there’s the usual photo gallery, production notes subtitle option and Radio Times listings in PDF form. Finally, there’s a trailer for “Dragonfire” and “The Happiness Patrol.”