In 1979,The Hitchhiker ’s Guide to the Galaxyauthor Douglas Adams was muster in to pen a script for the finale ofDoctor Who ’s seventeenth season . Titled “ Shada , ” the instalment saw The Fourth Doctor ( Tom Baker ) and his companion Romana ( Lalla Ward ) land the TARDIS in Cambridge to facilitate a retired Time Lord halt an malevolent alien from whoop into the secrets of a lost planet - turned - prison for evildoers .
The hand was written , and film for the episode commenced … but then there was a BBC staffer rap , and filming was desolate . Now , almost 40 years after its intended aviation date , Whovians will at last get to see the episode — just as Adams wrote it and with Baker step back into the role .
BBC News reportsthat “ Shada ” will finally see the light of twenty-four hour period when the original footage is mixed with animated recreations and freshly recorded voiceovers from both Baker and Ward to complete the episode .
Baker , for one , is thrilled to see the episode last get hold of audiences ; he told BBC News that it was one of his favoriteDoctor Whostories .
" I have many warm memory board of shooting the locating scenes in Cambridge , and it was disappointing not to finish the story in studio apartment , ” Baker enunciate . “ I ’m so glad that BBC Worldwide have found a way to bring fans a complete visual reading . ”
It ’s not the first meter the connection has recreate one of the serial publication ’s former episode . In November 2016 , “ The Power of the Daleks ” obtain fresh life sentence in animated grade 50 eld after it first aired , and more than 40 years after its original transcription was destroyed .
At this point in time , “ deep in thought ” episodes are as much a part ofDoctor Whocanon as doctor regenerations . When the sci - fi serial first begin airing in 1963 , small mentation was chip in to how — or why — there would be any reason for the BBC to stockpile the original recordings of their shows when they could just reuse the same tape to save money .
While fans have helped the internet toreassemble partsof the lose catalog , more than 100 of the serial publication ’ original instalment remain lost to time . Fortunately , “ Shada ” will no longer be one of them . The instalment will be usable for digital download on November 24 and released on DVD and Blu - ray on December 4 .
[ h / t : BBC News ]
