Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans (home video)

Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is an independently produced spin-off from Doctor Who featuring the Sontarans and the Rutans, which directly tied into a Virgin New Adventures novel published at the time.

Synopsis
A Rutan has escaped into the space ship Tiger Moth; it was being pursued by a group of Sontarans. The Sontarans have captured the human crew of Tiger Moth and use them to find and destroy the Rutan. Since this is the first time we see the Rutan and Sontarans together, we also find out that the Rutan is more cunning and tricky to find. It can also use its disguises as some kind of defence; as a Sontaran shoots, it destroys the disguise but not the Rutan.

In the end, all the Sontarans are dead; the Rutan nearly escapes but is destroyed by a Sontaran bomb.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Captain Lisa Deranne - Jan Chappell
 * Kurt - Brian Croucher
 * Zorelle - Carole Ann Ford
 * Mari - Sophie Aldred
 * Nikos - Rory O'Donnell
 * Robar - Michael Wisher
 * Commander Steg - Toby Aspin
 * Lieutenant Vorn - Tom Finnis
 * First Sontaran Trooper - Jonathon Saville
 * Other Sontaran Troopers - Keith Dunne, Derek Handley, Julian Jones, Stephen Mansfield

Production crew

 * Stunts - Jason Haigh-Ellery, Jonathon Saville

Story notes

 * A number of the the actors in Shakedown had previously appeared in Doctor Who or Blake's 7. As well as playing Borg in the Doctor Who story The Robots of Death, Brian Croucher had appeared on Blake's 7 as the recurring villain Travis, while Jan Chappel had played the character of Cally. Carole Ann Ford had appeared on Doctor Who as Susan Foreman, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Michael Wisher had played several guest roles, most notably Davros in the character's debut story, Genesis of the Daleks.
 * Shakedown was novelised as part of the Virgin New Adventures series, fleshing out the story with a backstory and a resolution involving the Seventh Doctor and his companions.
 * The unlicensed nature of the Dreamwatch production meant that they could not even refer to the character of the Doctor by name, hence Kurt's recollection of a man who "Called himself the Professor, or the Dentist, or something..." For the same reason, in BBV Productions' video spin-off drama Auton (1997), Lockwood is heard to refer to the Doctor as "Dr. John Smith".
 * Similarly, the copyright to the Sontarans was acquired, but not the specific rights to their appearance, and so they have been redesigned for this story.
 * Although the longstanding war between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host was frequently mentioned in Doctor Who, this video marks the only occasion in which the two opposing species appear on-screen together.
 * Mark Ayres who had previously worked on Doctor Who as a composer was co-producer and post-production sound designer.
 * The shoot and production of this story took four months to complete a final product.

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
The video was shot entirely on location aboard the Second World War-era Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Belfast, permanently moored at Symon's Wharf on the River Thames since 1971.

Production Errors
to be added

Continuity

 * NA: Shakedown contains the 'full version' of this story. This video element takes up the 'middle' of the novel.

DVD, video, and Other releases
to be added

Novelisation

 * Main article: Shakedown


 * A novelisation of the film, written by Terrance Dicks, was published in 1995. As the Target Books line had been retired by this time, it was published as part of the Virgin New Adventures line. It is one of only two independent (non-BBC) productions to be so adapted (the other being Downtime). The novel greatly expands the film's story to include the Doctor. It also includes a photo section.