Shada by Gareth Roberts : Is it worth reading ? Yes says SFX

2012 will be obviously a great year for all Douglas Adams fans and particularly march 2012 with not less than the Douglas Adams 60th Birthday Party (the 11th March), the broadcast of the new TV episodes of Dirk Gently (from the 5th March) and... the publication of "Shada" the 15th March !

Shada is a famous Dr Who story that Douglas Adams wrote but whose filming was never completed due to a strike at the BBC.

"Numerous attempts have been made to “finish it off” over the years. A 1992 video release edited together the existing footage with linking narration; Big Finish produced a webcast starring Paul McGann’s Doctor in 2003; there’ve also been a couple of fan-written novelisations. This officially-sanctioned adaptation by new series scribe Gareth Roberts attempts to create a definitive version" writes SFX.

According to SFX, the book is quite good : http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/03/02/doctor-who-shada-book-review/

I'll try to post a review on my site as soon as i can get a copy.

"Shada" will be novelized and published in march 2012

That's great news for Douglas Adams and Dr Who fans. "Shada" is a lost story written by Douglas (it was partly filmed but it was stopped because of a strike). In 1992, its recorded footage was released on video using linking narration by Tom Baker to complete the story (with a booklet of the full script). Part of the shada storyline was included in the first Dirk Gently book.

According The Guardian, "Large parts of the story had already been filmed on location in Cambridge before industrial action at the BBC brought production to a halt. The drama was never finished, and in the summer of 1980 Shada was abandoned – although various later projects attempted to resurrect it.

Douglas Adams's Doctor Who series are among the very few which have never been novelised, reportedly because the author wanted to do them himself but was always too busy. Gareth Roberts, a prolific Doctor Who scriptwriter, has now been given the job.

Publisher BBC Books declared the book "a holy grail" for Time Lord fans. Editorial director Albert De Petrillo said: "Douglas Adams's serials for Doctor Who are considered by many to be some of the best the show has ever produced. Shada is a funny, scary, surprising and utterly terrific story, and we're thrilled to be publishing the first fully realised version of this Doctor Who adventure as Douglas originally conceived it."

Ed Victor, the literary agent representing the Douglas Adams estate, said: "The BBC have been asking us for years [to allow a novelisation of Shada] and the estate finally said, 'Why not?'" Having Roberts novelise the Adams script was "like having a sketch on a canvas by Rubens, and now the studio of Rubens is completing it," he added. The book will be published in March 2012 as a £16.99 hardback."

 Good news is that Gareth Roberts is an experienced writer who already wrote a lot of doctor who stories and who also worked a little in comedy for the Fast Show.

 Last october, 2|entertain announced that they will release Shada on DVD.

Big Finish has also released an audio version in 2003 with Paul McGann as the doctor.

'The Doctor and Douglas' on Radio 4 the 2nd april

 The documentary 'The Doctor and Douglas' will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 on Friday 2nd April. The host is John Culshaw and the interviewees are: Steven Moffat, Lalla Ward, Nev Fountain, Frank Halford, David Fisher, Anthony Read, Michael Hayes and John Lloyd.

Now you can listen to the documentary on the BBCiplayer.

Upcoming Douglas Adams & DrWho doc on Radio4

Simon Barnard of Wise Buddah productions is currently working on a documentary "The Doctor and Douglas" about Douglas Adams and his relationship with Doctor Who. It should be broadcast in March/April on BBC Radio 4.

He will probably talk to most of the people who worked with him on Who, but also other figures from Douglas Adams' life including his former teacher Frank Halford