# Doctor Who: "The Lost Episode" (Shada) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718 "2018-07-28T04:05:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/1 "2018-07-28T04:05:48Z")
My DVR is just set to record Who and I noticed this 3 hour entity sitting there having been broadcast on BBC America. A restored and completed with animation and original voice actors series written by Douglas Adams. Anyone else catch it? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/2 "2018-07-28T04:15:04Z")
I saw that last weekend. I like anything Dr. Who. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/3 "2018-07-28T05:50:47Z")
My DVR caught it as well. Very strange episode and not because of the animation. I think it has to do with Adams being forced into writing something completely different from what he wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/4 "2018-07-28T12:21:26Z")
Dendarii Dame and I watched it this week - we liked it. It’s nice to see footage of Tom Baker that we haven’t seen before. I’ve read the Gareth Roberts novelization of “Shada” (and also read “Dirk Gently” which used several elements from “Shada” (and “City of Death”")). ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/5 "2018-07-28T13:29:44Z")
Bored the fuck out of me, I gave up after an hour ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/6 "2018-07-28T14:10:30Z")
The pacing was slow compared to what we’re now used to. Still, it’s a good story and Professor Chronotis is a fine addition to the list of characters. I had seen it before, BTW. The BBC released a videotape of it back in the 90s with Tom Baker describing the missing scenes. Still have the tape somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/7 "2018-07-28T14:24:19Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Bored the fuck out of me, I gave up after an hour I enjoyed seeing Tom Baker and the Professor, but the rest was a mess and I also gave up about 1 hour in. So why was part of this episode lost? Why did they use such crappy animation to restore it? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/8 "2018-07-28T14:54:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So why was part of this episode lost? Why did they use such crappy animation to restore it? a) there was a BBC strike. b) that is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/9 "2018-07-28T15:18:20Z")
I have an old VHS copy of this episode from the early 90’s where they showed the filmed parts and Tom Baker talks to us to fill in the part that are missing. No animation at all, just Tom Baker standing there talking to us about what’s going on the missing scenes. It’s one of my favorite episodes. Somehow I missed this new incarnation of Shada. Guess I’ll try to find it online somewhere to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/10 "2018-07-28T18:01:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So why was part of this episode lost? > [@Andy\_L](#): > > there was a BBC strike. That, and Douglas Adams was dragging his feet. It’s the last story in Series 17, for which Adams wanted the Doctor to be the [retired badass](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RetiredBadass), not Chronotis. Producer Graham Williams wasn’t having any of this; he wanted to explore how the Time Lords dealt with capital punishment. Williams eventually won out and Adams hastily cobbled together “Shada”. There was still time to shoot the rest of the story when the strike ended but the BBC was gearing up for Christmas productions by then. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/11 "2018-07-29T01:13:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I had seen it before, BTW. The BBC released a videotape of it back in the 90s with Tom Baker describing the missing scenes. Still have the tape somewhere. Not only that, but the episode “The Five Doctors” used footage from this episode to represent Tom Baker when he declined to appear in the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/12 "2018-07-29T01:19:49Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Not only that, but the episode “The Five Doctors” used footage from this episode to represent Tom Baker when he declined to appear in the episode. I had seen “The Five Doctors” numerous times before I got my copy of “Shada”. The first time watching it, I was like, “Omg! Now I know where that footage is from.” ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/13 "2018-07-29T03:42:58Z")
I loved that at the beginning of the episode there was a countdown clock using Roman numerals – and it ended at 0. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/14 "2018-07-29T06:25:25Z")
They made a three hour episode, in the 70s? I would guess that it’s probably supposed to be two hours and ends up boring mostly because they’ve decided to throw everything in rather than edit properly, to get it down to the two hours it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/15 "2018-07-29T06:27:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > They made a three hour episode, in the 70s? In six parts. 😉 Troughton had a 10-part story in '69. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/16 "2018-07-29T07:21:41Z")
Wow, that’s more episodes than Sherlock! I guess the UK was ahead of the game on non-episodic TV. Strange that nu-Who barely even does two-parters. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/17 "2018-07-29T08:44:25Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Wow, that’s more episodes than Sherlock! > > I guess the UK was ahead of the game on non-episodic TV. Strange that nu-Who barely even does two-parters. Non-episodic? Telling a single story over a number of instalments is the definition of episodic. That’s how _Doctor Who_ worked from the very beginning in 1963: each season consisted of a number of stories, each one serialised across a number of (originally) 25-minute episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/18 "2018-07-29T12:26:13Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Not only that, but the episode “The Five Doctors” used footage from this episode to represent Tom Baker when he declined to appear in the episode. And apparently, they used that fact to justify an 8th doctor version of “Shada” - because (in-universe) the adventure of the Five Doctors took the 4th Doctor out of the Shada story, the 8th doctor needed to complete the adventure. > [@WotNot](#): > > Non-episodic? Telling a single story over a number of instalments is the definition of episodic. > > That’s how _Doctor Who_ worked from the very beginning in 1963: each season consisted of a number of stories, each one serialised across a number of (originally) 25-minute episodes. And in the US, PBS stations would show the 25-minute installments on a daily basis, or show entire stories in “movie format.” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/19 "2018-07-29T12:56:20Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > And in the US, PBS stations would show the 25-minute installments on a daily basis, or show entire stories in “movie format.” Actually we first got the 3rd Doctor on a local independent station WOR channel 9 NYC. They would show 2 episodes at a time (1 hour broadcast). Then PBS picked up the 4th Doctor and would show 2 hours Sunday morning I believe. I never got into the 3rd Doctor, but the 4th Doctor had me watching for maybe 4 years. Mostly Leela years. I had barely remembered Sarah Jane and didn’t remember Romana. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/20 "2018-07-29T13:34:19Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > They made a three hour episode, in the 70s? > > I would guess that it’s probably supposed to be two hours and ends up boring mostly because they’ve decided to throw everything in rather than edit properly, to get it down to the two hours it should be. It was a six-part episode, which were standard: the Tom Baker years usually ran a season of five Four-episode serials and on with six episodes (usually at the end of the season). Since they were made up of half-hour shows, the number of episodes didn’t matter. A six episode show has a running time of about 2 1/2 hours. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718.md?page=2)