Shada (webcast)

Produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the Doctor Who franchise, Shada was a remounting of the television story of the same name, which was originally planned to end Season 17 in 1980, but abandoned before completion due to industrial action at the BBC. The original version featured Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, but was rewritten to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, with Lalla Ward and John Leeson returning to voice Romana and K9, respectively with their own characters modified to coincide with the continuity established in the Big Finish Productions audio drama range and the Eighth Doctor Adventures book line.

Synopsis
Where the Fourth Doctor left off, the Eighth Doctor comes to finish the job. With Romana and K9 by his side, they have to stop the evil Skagra.

Plot
to be added

Cast & Characters

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Romana - Lalla Ward
 * K9 - John Leeson
 * Professor Chronotis - James Fox
 * Skagra - Andrew Sachs
 * Chris Parsons - Sean Biggerstaff
 * Clare Keightley - Susannah Harker
 * Wilkin - Melvyn Hayes
 * The Ship - Hannah Gordon
 * Professor Caldera - Barnaby Edwards
 * Krarg Commander - Barnaby Edwards
 * Krarg - Stuart Crossman
 * Police Constable / Hapless Motorist - Stuart Crossman

Story notes
To be added

Original Website Release/Broadcast

 * Episode 1 - 2nd May, 2003
 * Episode 2 - 9th May, 2003
 * Episode 3 - 16th May, 2003
 * Episode 4 - 23rd May, 2003
 * Episode 5 - 30th May, 2003
 * Episode 6 - 6th June, 2003

Myths
to be added

Production Errors

 * The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey is described in dialogue as a "red book," but in the webcast illustrations the book is brown in colour.
 * Due to the limited animation in the webcast the character images are frequently mirrored, reversing details such as clothing and hairstyles.
 * Chronotis' smiling mouth frequently extends beyond the boundaries of his face.

Continuity

 * This webcast attempts fill in the holes left by the unfinished serial 'Shada'. The Eighth Doctor recalls the events of the story presumably to the point where the filming was first disrupted. It would suggest that due to the events of DW: The Five Doctors, the fourth Doctor and Romana were left with amnesia, with no recollection of how things turned out. How the Eighth Doctor and Romana therefore avoid running into their earlier selves is left unclear (suggesting this may occur in a different timeline). It may be the case that the events of The Five Doctors wiped most of the original Shada from the timeline.
 * Romana is Lord President of Gallifrey, in keeping with her character's continuity as featured at the time in the various Big Finish audios and Eighth Doctor Adventures novels in which she had appeared in recent years. It's unclear whether this occurs before or after her years of imprisonment by the Daleks (BFA: The Apocalypse Element), although she is illustrated in Shada looking somewhat more mature than the image used to represent her on the cover of The Apocalypse Element.
 * Gallifrey and the Time Lords have been restored following the events of The Gallifrey Chronicles.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles
 * This story occurs before ST: The Time Lord's Story

DVD, Video, CD and Other Releases

 * Big Finish released an extended release on CD; see Shada (audio release) for more information. The webcast itself has yet to be issued on DVD.