Episode X :Shada

"Well Mr. Skagra, or whatever it is you call yourself, you killed a Time Lord, a very old friend of mine. It's time you and I had a little chat!"

Episode X:     Shada.
Companions: 4th Doctor, K9 and Romana.
Air Date:        Never.

The story revolves around the lost planet Shada, on which the Time Lords built a prison for defeated would-be conquerors of the universe. Skagra, one such inmate, needs the help of one of the prison's inmates. He finds nobody knows where Shada is anymore except one aged Time Lord who has retired to Earth, where he is a professor at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge. Luckily for the universe, Skagra's attempt to force the information out of Professor Chronotis coincides with a visit by the professor's old friend, the Fourth Doctor.

Shada is the famous lost story. It was set to be the finale of the current season of the show but was canned when a BBC strike took place mid production. The episode was canned. It was eventually released on VHS and DVD with the completed footage and Tom Baker narrating the unfilmed elements. I include it here for completeness. It also eventually was turned into an audio drama for the 8th Doctor and a couple of scenes stolen for use in The Five Doctors.

The story was written by Douglas Adams and it does show. Some of the dialogue is especially odd and unusual. Some of it, Romana talking about being a "time tot" is just cringe worthy. The rest of the story deals with an alien criminal seeking the location of Shada, a prison used by the Time Lords to hold their worst criminals. He uses an alien device that resembles the bouncing ball from The Prisoner TV show to drain knowledge from a target. Despite the strangeness of the writing and some of the dialogue the episode is worth a watch.

One reason why I enjoy this story is that the outdoor scenes were filmed just down the road from me in Cambridge. I have walked down the very streets where it was filmed and it gives me a bit of thrill to think of that. It is just a shame that the story was never completed at the time.

If you get a chance to watch this I recommend doing so.