# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**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, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/21 "2018-07-29T20:35:59Z")
> [@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.” One of the local stations has been showing Colin Baker’s run; I set my DVR for them until they started piling up. The last episode that got recorded was “The Two Doctors”, which was longer than the time slot so got split into two parts. The on-screen guide typically has no summary for these episodes so tracking down the second part wasn’t easy. ---
**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, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/22 "2018-07-29T20:41:09Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > One of the local stations has been showing Colin Baker’s run; I set my DVR for them until they started piling up. The last episode that got recorded was “The Two Doctors”, which was longer than the time slot so got split into two parts. The on-screen guide typically has no summary for these episodes so tracking down the second part wasn’t easy. The Two Doctors was a good one, as I recall. ---
**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, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/23 "2018-07-29T21:39:23Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Non-episodic? Telling a single story over a number of instalments is the definition of episodic. > **[Serial (radio and television)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_(radio_and_television))** > > In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of the series, and sometimes spinoffs, which distinguishes them from episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes. Worldwide, the soap opera is the most prominent form of serial dramatic programming. In the UK the first serials were direct ... “Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes.” ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/24 "2018-07-29T23:04:30Z")
Back in the '70s, when I first watched Doctor Who on PBS, they used to show them weekly in episode format. After a few years, they went into whole stories later on (which I enjoyed much more). It was explained during one pledge drive that Doctor Who was one of the more expensive shows they ran. The BBC used to sell them the shows in packages. If they wanted William Hartnell, they had to buy that and Tom Baker. If they wanted Jon Pertwee, they had to buy that and Tom Baker. If they wanted Peter Davison, they had to buy that and Tom Baker. So, if they wanted to show all five Doctors, they ended up paying for Tom Baker four times! Even worse, they had likely already bought Baker, as that WAS Doctor Who in America for years and it was his popularity that would have led them to buy the other Doctors. So they had five copies of Baker. ---
**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, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/25 "2018-07-29T23:12:10Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [Serial (radio and television) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_(radio_and_television)) > > “Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes.” I see what you mean within the context of that article, but I don’t think that, in general, you can use “non-episodic” as a synonym for “serialised”, at least, not without risk of confusing your readers. In any case, as I think you can see from some of the examples on that Wikipedia page, the BBC weren’t particularly ahead of the game in using a serial format for Doctor Who in the sixties: they were simply using a format that was quite common at the time, but which has become less popular. Hence the move to more of a stand-alone structure when the show was re-tooled in 2005. ---
**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 30, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718/26 "2018-07-30T00:50:19Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > I see what you mean within the context of that article, but I don’t think that, in general, you can use “non-episodic” as a synonym for “serialised”, at least, not without risk of confusing your readers. > > In any case, as I think you can see from some of the examples on that Wikipedia page, the BBC weren’t particularly ahead of the game in using a serial format for Doctor Who in the sixties: they were simply using a format that was quite common at the time, but which has become less popular. Hence the move to more of a stand-alone structure when the show was re-tooled in 2005. Yeah, multiple episode stories weren’t unknown in the earlier days of TV. “Mouseketter’s Club” would show a story (“Spin and Marty” say) in 25 parts shown over 5 weeks and one “Rocky and Bullwinkle” adventure had 40 parts [List of Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Fuel_Formula) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-the-lost-episode-shada/818718.md?page=1)