Shada

Bonus Release #2

Released: 21 November 2003

Hang on, kids; this is where it gets complicated. “Shada” was a Fourth Doctor story from 1979 that was started but never completed as a result of one of the BBC’s infamous strikes. However, because it was partially complete, and written by Douglas Adams, there’s always been a great deal of interest in it. Short clips formed the Fourth Doctor and Romana’s appearance in “The Five Doctors” in 1983. In this case, though, for the 40th anniversary in 2003, the BBC and Big Finish created a webcast version featuring the Eighth Doctor, along with Romana and K-9. The conceit was that the Fourth Doctor’s version of the story had been aborted because of the meddling from “The Five Doctors,” and now the Eighth has sought out Romana and K-9 later in his life to finish it. However, in 2017, the Fourth Doctor version of “Shada” was restored and released, with the unfinished bits filled by animation, possibly returning it to the canon timeline. That leaves the 2003 version in limbo. Big Finish released an extended version on audio, but it’s only available on CD, so I don’t have it. The webcast version still exists, but ironically it’s only available as a Flash animation, and in 2021, Flash no longer exists, possibly rendering this a lost story. Bottom line: I don’t have it.