Doctor Who: Shada: The Lost Adventures by Douglas Adams

Gareth Roberts

Jun 2012 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

From the unique mind of Douglas Adams, legendary author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, comes Shada, a story scripted for the television series Doctor Who but never produced—and now transformed into an original novel.
 
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Imagine how dangerous a LOT of knowledge is...

The Doctor’s old friend and fellow Time Lord, Professor Chronotis, has retired to Cambridge University, where among the other doddering old professors nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. He took with him a few little souvenirs—harmless things really. But among them, carelessly, he took The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey. Even more carelessly, he has loaned this immensely powerful book to clueless graduate student Chris Parsons, who intends to use it to impress girls. The Worshipful and Ancient Law is among the most dangerous artifacts in the universe; it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.
 
The hands of the sinister Skagra are unquestionably the wrongest ones possible. Skagra is a sadist and an egomaniac bent on universal domination. Having misguessed the state of fashion on Earth, he also wears terrible platform shoes. He is on his way to Cambridge. He wants the book. And he wants the Doctor...

Ratings and reviews

Okay, I'm one of the newer fans of Doctor Who, but since the days when the 9th Doctor took his dying breaths, I have been hooked. I remember one season when I was last hanging during the finale, I actually started crying because I'd have to wait to find out what happened next! Shada was, by no means, any sort of a dissappointment. I'll admit, I was worried when it came to reading a script, adapted into a novel, and written over fifty years ago. My only issue was that we already have video-phones. ;-)

A fantastic reimagining of one of the most (in)famous "lost" episodes of Doctor Who. Roberts captures the clever, meandering, out of focus, and otherworldly brilliant mind of Douglas Adams perfectly and goes well beyond doing justice to his work.

If you loved Adams' writing for Doctor Who episodes like The Pirate Planet, you'll love this gem. Has all of his style of zany dialog and crazy characters. The Doctor is at his funniest and most eccentric when Adams writes him. This story is worthy of being dramatised for TV.

About the author

Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952, and was educated at Brentwood School, Essex and St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he read English. As well as writing all the different and conflicting versions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he has been responsible for Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and, with John Lloyd, The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff. In 1978-79, he worked as Script Editor on Doctor Who. He wrote three scripts for the show: “The Pirate Planet,” “City of Death” [under the name David Agnew], and “Shada.” Adams died in May 2001. Gareth Roberts was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1968. His scripts for Doctor Who on television include “The Shakespeare Code,” “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” “The Lodger,” and “Closing Time.” He has also written many scripts for the spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as scripts for such television shows as Emmerdale and Randall & Hopkirk [Deceased]. He has written nine previous Doctor Who novels, and lives in West London.