Skip to content

Doctor Who Serial X – Shada

Part One

Wow, this opening is wonderful. “SHADA!” I’ve never seen “Shada” before, so this should be a romp, or it will be terrible. Tom is having a ridiculous soliloquy. I wonder how much of this is going to be Tom Baker talking to himself.

Oh, we get opening credits!

Sleeping with your buddies is fun… More fun when you’re all sleeping around a ball on a glowing pyramid.

Is that Robert Webb? That dude looks a lot like Robert Webb. OH MY GOD! EVERYONE OTHER THAN ROBERT WEBB IS DOING A LITTLE SEAT DANCE!

Professor Chronotis? I’m guessing this guy is a time traveller.

He pulls a book fresh out of a bag from purchasing it, and starts it in the middle? It’s HG Wells’ The Time Machine. So he’s obviously a time traveller.

Damn, Robert Webb. I love your outfit!

There’s a LOT more footage than I expected. Tom Baker just had a quick interjection and it was his first one in 13 minutes.

I want Robert Webb’s outfit, SO MUCH!

Romana just said “I had it when I was a Time Tot.” Time Tot!!!! Why hasn’t NuWho ever used that phrase?

Part Two

I’m now learning that there’s a newer animated reconstruction.

“What’s that thing you strain ice with?” Why would you strain ice? Is he being eccentric or is the past weird?

OH NO! He has a bag of ball!

Beware the spheres! The Toclafane?

“You will give me everything in your mind”

The sphere is chasing the Doctor. This show really loves extremely slow chases.

Part Three

British guy fishing seems to be the most British a fisher could possibly be.

If you knock and no one answers, you don’t just go in. C’mon lady, he could be in the buff.

It’s a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey. Captain Kirk and co. stole it, brought it back to the 20th century, parked it, and are out looking for new whales.

Yikes, that might be the worst chromakey I’ve ever seen.

“I let the sphere believe I was stupid.” That is total Doctor Who, fool electronics by pretending to be dumb.

Part Four

Let’s keep this going! This is gonna be great!

There’s too much exposition provided by Tom Baker to make this interesting to watch, but finally we have an actual scene. They’re using the sphere to read the Doctor’s mind again? This is what’s wrong with classic Who. They try a plot point and then do it again, because the stories are just plainly too long.

Part Five

I sometimes watch Doctor Who and wonder why they’re doing something and what they’re trying to achieve, and not sure if the actors or screenwriters even know. Like the opening scene, the Doctor is falling towards the monster, it swings its arm and attacks the Doctor in slow motion. Why was the Doctor going to get in position to be hit? What were the stage directions?

I forgot Robert Webb was in this.

None of my Doctor Who blog posts make any sense whatsoever.

Director: Okay, I want you to exit this room in such a way that is extremely awkward. Make sure that you don’t show what’s behind the door.

Part Six

“I burst through the nearest door.” He really did burst through that door. Good describing, Tom Baker.

This episode has a lot more narration than the rest of the serial, but that’s not surprising.

I love Douglas Adams, but he was wrong to think that watching two people try to hold levers is interesting.

Leave a Reply