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| By: | Nathaniel Maxfield, London |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 August 2006 |
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| Rating: |   4 |
Shada is an alright story. Maybe this adaptation would be better if it had a different Doctor. The fact is Shada might, if it had ever been broadcast, have been a good Tom Baker story. But when you are watching a webcast with the extremly dull Paul McGann it's hard to find any good points with it apart from some good voice acting from guest stars. Boring
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 3 January 2007 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
Shada is the legendary "lost" Douglas Adams story. There was a video made from the footage actually shot, with Tom Baker providing linking narrative. In its way, that is better than this version. The problem is that Paul McGann is a little too "serious" to play the Baker lines correctly. It might have been better to cast Sylvester McCoy for this. Additionally, Andrew Sachs' version of Skagra is too stock badguy, not nearly as good as Chrsitopher Neame's Skagra. The story itself is very Douglas Adams - reality being somewat plastic.
| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 1 April 2007 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
I enjoyed this version of Shada, and I happen to feel it was a great improvement over what remains of the cancelled original. The premise is interesting - the idea is that when the Fourth Doctor and Romana were taken away from Cambridge by the time scoop in The Five Doctors and were later rescued from the time eddy and returned, they never completed this adventure with Professor Chronotis. So now, in his eighth incarnation, the Doctor finally becomes aware that he needs to return with Romana and K9 and complete what they were supposed to do there. From there, the original story resumes.
However, the interesting setup is also the biggest weakness of the story. It whips by too quickly, and the new (Eighth) Doctor's first meeting with Romana is just too brief and flippant. She pretty much just says, "I like the new body," and leaves it at that. A longer and/or better written opening scene would've been nice.
The rest of the story is, well, Shada. The characters were well-cast, and I happen to think that Paul McGann worked very well here. The sound design was excellent, and it all went together to create a fun listening experience, if a bit long. Recast in this way, I'd say this was a very good Season 17 story, and an interesting remake.
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 | Overall good, but not 100% |
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| By: | Paula, Johnstown, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Monday 29 October 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Given that the majority of this is the Douglas Adams script, most of the lines are written for the Fourth Doctor's style, and it shows. McGann worked extremely well with what he was given on the pages, but the bottom line is that, even with the continuity re-work, this is not an Eighth Doctor story. McGann's version of the Doctor simply does not speak or behave in this manner.
That said, I'm thrilled that the full version of the story now exists in a form beyond the Tom Baker video. The sound design is fantastic, and the guest voices are excellent. This is definitely a worthwhile purchase, if for no other reason than its release to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Who.
