The Legacy Boxset (Shada & More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS) - coming 2013

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Incidentally, there's some confusion over the Planet of Giants quote as well. People now aren't sure whether she said she'd done such a project, or was about to, or accidentally spoke in the past tense when she meant to say it in the future, or what. But 2|entertain have denied such a recording has taken place - and also said they're "looking into" making one. Which would also suggest that such a recording hasn't taken place elsewhere either. And I've heard nothing about Ian Levine or anyone else actually having made one (although that wouldn't necessarily be a surprise) ... so on the whole, this is a very confusing situation!

I was going to ask about this. I take it there's been nothing said on GB about it (other than speculation). Maybe Carole Ann did say it was going to happen in future although I certainly came away with the impression it had already taken place but I honestly can't remember her exact words. I was sitting with her through a very long signing session that over ran so much she didn't have time to do her interview panel and quite frankly we were both very tired by the end of it. The only thing I do remember was that she did say it would feature a new cast although I assume William Russell would also be involved. Obviously Planet of Giants is not on the immediate radar for release so it is possible that 2E (who don't have a great track record with providing information to the Doctor Who News Page) are trying to keep certain things under wraps for the time being.

[Andrew Curnow]

A good article, JR, and very fair to all/both parties concerned. I'm a big season 17 fan, so I'll be very interested to see what happens...

[Perry Vale]

I think someone should remake Ian Levine, with Peter Kay.

[Awesome Wells]

If Ian Levine is happy to spend money in this way, fair enough. If people like the idea of an animated, non-Baker voiced, completion of an old story that was never finished, fair enough. It's a free world, right?

Personally, I think it's a colossal waste of time and money and would be flabbergasted if such a patently substandard product were ever released by 2Entertain. The animation may be of a high quality, but the mixture of young Lalla and old Lalla would be difficult enough to stomach; a mixture of young Tom and professional voice artiste is a dismal notion. This isn't The Invasion; it's not even Big Finish's Lost Stories range. It's a vanity project with no genuine worth whatsoever.

Just my opinion, you understand ...

[J.R. Southall]

Just one thing, how do you know it's "patently substandard" if you haven't seen it? Surely you've no idea of how well or how badly it works?

And to say it has no genuine worth is surely a value judgement (of something you're in no position, presumably, to make a judgement of any kind) - it might be of no interest to you, but I'm sure it has a significant value to a lot of others.

[J.R. Southall]

Sorry. Reading that back it sounds 'angry'. It wasn't intended to.

[Awesome Wells]

No offence taken; and as I said, if people like the idea ... fair enough - I ain't judgin' them, it's their right. I'm merely stating what I think: that not having Tom Baker involved in the recreated parts (and other members of the cast reprising their roles three decades on) is not of an acceptable standard for 2Entertain to release. It doesn't matter - in my opinion - whether the animation is of a high quality or not.

[J.R. Southall]

Okay then, here's the link to the review I wrote after having been invited to watch Ian Levine's Shada earlier in the week:

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/rev...ctor-who-shada

I also saw Mission to the Unknown and am currently talking to the chief animator, with a view to doing a feature on that sometime in the next week or two.

[SiHart]

Well... This was tweeted today:

Chris Chapman
So with Reign and Shada done, our remaining production slate for @classicdw is Secret Project 2, SP3 and Greatest Show in the Galaxy!

So there's a documentary done in Cambridge...

[SiHart]

And this from Classic DW:

Plans are to release the SHADA fragments together with MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS in a box filled with other content goodies! Likely 2012.

[Anthony Williams]

Hurrah!

I can't wait for more details - I wonder if it will be the Ian Levine version, or something different?

[Paul Clement]

It's not the Ian Levine animated version. It looks as if Dan Hall said no to his project.

[Anthony Williams]

It's not the Ian Levine animated version. It looks as if Dan Hall said no to his project.

After JR's absolutely glowing review of it, it's an absolute shame.

[SiHart]

The mention of fragments obviously means they've decided not to go with the Ian Levine version. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. I don't suppose I'll ever get a chance to decide one way or another now either. hey ho. Let's just hope they put everything on the DVD that they can- it'd be great to see multiple takes and all that.

[Fatso the wombat]

To summarise what's been said on the GB thread;

Ian's version of Shada isn't going to be released on DVD.

Ian had agreed to a number of changes to be made, including having Tom do his lines himself.

Dan Hall was "trying very hard to make it work".

The reason for it not being included is not known.

[Fatso the wombat]

Oh, and this is what I posted elsewhere;

Free the Shada Six!

Ian very kinldy allowed me to see this new version of Shada, which is by my count the fourth version of the tale (80s version with text, Tom narration, McGann effort) and it is without a doubt the best version yet. I don't really have the time to write a proper review of it, citing good and bad points (the former outweigh the latter considerably! ), but I think at this time it's sufficient to say the following; if I had bought a DVD from 2E with his animated version of Shada on it, I would definitely feel I had got my money's worth. It's as close to how it would have appeared in 1980 as we'll ever get. And, as a big Season 17 fan that makes me very happy indeed. I thank Ian most sincerely for his sterling work in getting this production completed.

As previously mentioned, some polite tweeting will be in order;

Free the Shada Six! @classicdw #ShadaAnimation #doctorwho Please reconsider and release Ian Levine's Shada.

[SiHart]

PS- I have merged the previous thread about Shada and this one in preparation for the DVD release, so this should be the one place to talk about all the various issues that are coming!

[J.R. Southall]

We might know later today what Dan Hall's reasons were; he's appearing at the DWAS event and doing a Q&A. Likely the Q&A session will be filled with questions about Shada! (It wouldn't surprise me, in fact, if Dan was a no-show after the events of this week.)

The idea of a "fragments" DVD, when we could have had a 'complete' version, fills me with disappointment, though. I think 'Fatso' will agree, the animated version, while far from perfect, opened up a whole new way of seeing the story. I certainly think of it as amongst the best of Season 17 now, and I certainly didn't before.

[Fatso the wombat]

We might know later today what Dan Hall's reasons were; he's appearing at the DWAS event and doing a Q&A. Likely the Q&A session will be filled with questions about Shada! (It wouldn't surprise me, in fact, if Dan was a no-show after the events of this week.)

I doubt he'll be a no-show; most likely scenario is someone will ask him a question about it, he'll give a brief answer, and declare it all he will say on the matter.

The idea of a "fragments" DVD, when we could have had a 'complete' version, fills me with disappointment, though. I think 'Fatso' will agree, the animated version, while far from perfect, opened up a whole new way of seeing the story. I certainly think of it as amongst the best of Season 17 now, and I certainly didn't before.

Indeed; there were certainly a few places where I thought the animation could do with tweaking, or even redoing from scratch. And as good as PJ is, I'd very much prefer to have Tom do his lines. But, on the whole, it was really good. The animation overall is a decent enough standard (I mean, it's not Akira, or Toy Story, or Snow White...) to be released. Heck, looking at some of the animation that's on the telly it easily passes the quality threshold...

It's the first time I've ever been satisfied by a version of Shada, that's for sure.

Whilst we don't yet know the full details of the release, the use of the phrase "Shada fragments" doesn't exactly fill me with a sense of optimism.

[Fatso the wombat]

The following comes from a post at GB by Mark Humphries, re questions about Shada at the aforementioned event;

Yes I asked him the question and he did answer.

He said it was never a 2Entertain commision and was always just Ian's project. As to why it was not being used he did not want to draw to much attention to the reasons why but he praised the work and congratulate Ian on the achievement of getting it done.

I did ask if Ian would ever be allowed to show it at all either online or at conventions.

He said it was not up to him, that it would have to be between Ian and the BBC but he hopes one today it may be seen be a wider audience some how.

What I got from the above is that I don't think the final call was down to Dan and the call not to included it came from higher up.

I did thank Dan for answering my question.

[J.R. Southall]

Sadly, that looks like that. We're not going to be given the reason, but we can assume that the animation itself wasn't the problem and that whatever the barrier to getting it released is, it's not something that's going to be bypassed. So the "fragments" version is possibly the best that Dan Hall and 2|entertain are left with for the DVD. Incredible shame.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm wondering whether 1) the budgets won't run to it; or 2) the long-standing problems between Ian and certain factions within the BBC or 2|entertain aren't still rumbling on.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I'm wondering whether 1) the budgets won't run to it; or 2) the long-standing problems between Ian and certain factions within the BBC or 2|entertain aren't still rumbling on.

Or possibly both of the above. It probably didn't help that Ian went ahead and produced without prior permission from the BBC.
As much as it is a shame I would be lying to say it had come as a surprise.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Now that it's very much in public domain I think I can safely mention that Kevin Davies mentioned some time ago in my hearing that he'd heard his More Than Thirty Years documentary would be released alongside Shada. I'd almost forgotten this until the twitter announcement last week. I'm certainly looking forward to having a nice shiny DVD version (possibly with outtakes and other VAM?).

[SiHart]

Is it wrong to be more excited about the documentary than Shada itself? Despite being a huge fan of Season 17, Shada has never been a huge favourite of mine, whereas More Than 30 Years is something I've watched loads of times. I'd like to see some of the things they cut from the original broadcast version put back in- especially the ending with the TARDIS opening with a variation of the Trial theme playing. And an isolated music track!