Since early 2011, I've been excited by the prospect of a new version of Shada to be released.
Today, the new book was released written by the author of many Doctor Who books and Head Writer for the first season on Sarah Jane Adventures, Gareth Roberts. An Audiobook was also released. This got me thinking, whatever happened to Ian Levine's version.
Ian Levine, for those who don't know, is one of the most influential people in Doctor Who history. He is the hero stopped the BBC from destroying old episodes, and encouraged them to formally begin the process of recovering the missing ones. He collaborated with the Restoration Team on various DVD releases of old episodes, wrote the theme tune for 'K9 and Company' and was an unofficial continuity consultant for Doctor Who in the 80's.
In 1983, along with Richard Landen, James Russell and Kevin Davies, he put together a reconstruction of the episode 'Shada', written by Douglas Adams, which filming had never been completed on due to strike action by BBC workers. This 1983 version had the footage that had been filmed, with on-screen text describing the missing scenes, and was shown at the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) convention that year, Panopticon 5.
In 2011, Ian Levine announced that he was working on a new Shada project, which incorporated animation sections for the missing parts of the episode. Once it was complete, at the end of 2011, it was due to be released by 2|entertain and BBC Worldwide. Unfortunately, at the end of 2011, Ian vented his frustrations continuously on Twitter when his version of Shada was rejected.
More info about it can be found here:
Tardis Wiki Forum PostAnd tantalising screenshots are here:
Starburst Magazine: Shada Review and
Starburst Magazine: The Shada ManSo, my question is, does anyone know if this Ian Levine version will ever see the light of day. Personally, I really hope so, but I am unable to find any positive evidence... Even Ian Levine's
last tweet on the subject was on the last day of 2011...