Douglas Adams’ lostDoctor Whostory becomes rather a fun book

Hitchhiker ’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams wrote three Doctor Who scripts — but only two of them made it to the filmdom . The third , “ Shada , ” was kill halfway through film by one of the strikes that the British used to be famous for . And since then , we ’ve had a terrible VHS discharge , a script al-Qur’an , an animated web version , and a fan - writtennovelizationto give us glimpses of Adams ’ lost story . ( Plus , of trend , Adams ’ own Dirk Gently novel which borrows from “ Shada . ” )

But now , at last , there ’s aproper book version , write by Doctor Who writer Gareth Roberts . And , somewhat shockingly , it ’s rather an entertaining read . Minor looter forwards .

Why should it be shocking that Shada , the Bible , is an entertaining read ? Well , first of all , “ Shada , ” the television installment , never front like it was going to be that right , if it had been finished . issue forth on the cad of the masterful “ City of Death , ” “ Shada ” looks like it would have been a recollective , dim version of the same thing — the positioning filming in Paris is replaced with freehanded scenes of Cambridge , in which Tom Baker and Lalla Ward are understandably having more playfulness than the viewer . or else of Julian Glover ’s fantastic Scaroth , “ Shada ” is saddle with the eloquent - lame - wearing , somewhat prissy Skagra , who does n’t quite get any line as honorable as , “ My lamb , nobody could be as stupid as he seems . ” The secret plan involves a plenty of Time Lord mumbo - jumbo , something the show had distinctly overused at that point . And so on . To watch the last footage of “ Shada ” and record the ( patently former ) circulating script draft is to feel a scrap of a tragic disappointment .

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And second of all , you may easily conceive of how Roberts — who is an entertaining novelist in his own right , I highly recommend his Who novel The Highest Science — would get stuck trying to do a potpourri of Douglas Adams ’ inimitable prose mode . And that could have gone very , very ill indeed .

But in fact , Shada is an entertaining read , which prise Adams ’ original story without being afraid to plug some immense mess and make some much - needed improvement . Roberts manage a lively , fast - paced penning style that nods to Adams without ever trying to do any Adamsian aerobatics across the page . The expo is kept pretty line of work - like , and the teller ’s main business organisation is yield an amusing windowpane into the land of the minds of the characters , both major and minor . In fact , Roberts ’ penning style , in Shada , owe just as much to classic Terrance Dicks — other Dicks , not later on Dicks — in that he ’s not afraid to end a subdivision of the novel with a short one - time paragraph , crowned with an exclamation tip . The way in which very small-scale grapheme , who appear on CRT screen for a few seconds before dying , get fleshed out in the novel feel very Dicksian .

In Shada , the Doctor and his companion Romana are summoned to Cambridge in 1979 to inflict Professor Chronotis , a retire Time Lord who ’s now living as a Cambridge don . Chronotis turns out to have “ borrow ” a very special Bible from Gallifrey , the home planet of the Time Lords , and now he want the Doctor to give it back — but the evil Skagra is look for this same Good Book , because it contains the key to one of the Time Lords ’ greatest secrets , which could fuel Skagra ’s design for cosmopolitan supremacy . And regrettably , Skagra is arm with a judgment - suck arena that can erase your retention and indistinguishability , leave you a hollow eggshell . Plus an army of rock ‘n’ roll creatures calledKrargs . ( Roberts take a firm stand on spell their name “ Kraags , ” which has shattered my domain - view . )

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So you ’re belike in one of two camp here . Either you ’re conversant with “ Shada , ” in one of its many former embodiment , in which casing you ’re wonder if Roberts has helped it reach its potential for greatness . Or you ’re a fan of the unexampled serial , who ’s vaguely aware that Douglas Adams pen for classic Who , and mayhap you ’ve seen “ City of Death , ” and you ’re wondering if this is a good agency to explore further into Adams ’ Doctor Who legacy . And I ’d say the answer to both questions is a pretty solid “ Yes . ”

Adams work up a lot of clever melodic theme into the original “ Shada ” — without giving away too much , Skagra ’s plan for universal domination is in reality quite clever and conform to together passably neatly in the destruction . And Professor Chronotis is one of the neat Douglas Adams characters , full of dotty mannerisms and a certain amount of amiable absurdity . There are some adorable gear up piece and a becoming amount of quotable dialog .

But what Roberts has done , in a nutshell , is flex it into a strong story . For the first time , the villain Skagra has a backstory and a bit more of a rounded personality than he make do to get in Adams ’ original script . Not only does Roberts work hard to secure some of the Brobdingnagian logic holes in Adams ’ scenario , but in the process he also creates more sense of forward-moving momentum with the storytelling , and an increased mother wit of the stakes . ( Roberts has obviously spend hours thinking through questions like , “ Why does n’t the Doctor ever notify the Time Lords that this super - powerful privy account book has give way missing ? ” )

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But the best part of the al-Qur’an is almost certainly the work Roberts has done on shoring up the two human supporting characters , two graduate scholar identify Claire and Chris . As Roberts himself note in afterword , Claire and Chris seem like they ’re go to be of import characters too soon on in the story , but they presently get lost in the shuffle and devolve into extra pairs of hand and opportunities for exposition . Roberts approaches Claire and Chris as an extra pair of companions , giving them the sort of discourse that Russell T. Davies or Steven Moffat might have fit in them — and yes , that admit a love tale .

give that Roberts has drop a line for the fresh Doctor Who serial , plus a lot of episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures , it should get along as no surprise that there ’s a definite “ unexampled Who ” find to the Koran — include a few short moments , here and there , that lend out the emotion that was always justly there , just under the control surface , in Tom Baker ’s episode with his St. Brigid - to - be Lalla Ward . rooter of the newer episodes will appreciate the moments of added character ontogenesis , but even if you ’re a die - tough traditionalist who ’s decline to watch any episode since they got rid of Bessie , you ’ll distinguish the Doctor at his romantic best .

All in all , it ’s a passably fun read — and give that we ’re in the midst of a long period with no new Doctor Who , it ’s a gracious extra story to channel you over . ( Oh , and speaking of which — there aresome young set photo featuring some noteworthy invitee stars , which are going in tomorrow ’s morning spoilers but you could check them out now . ) Fans of Douglas Adams will find this probably the most palatable way to sample one of his most famous lose works , and anyone who enjoys both the big spirit and the boundless giddiness of Doctor Who will be pleased with what Roberts has manage to put together here .

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