Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Doctor Who: Shada: The Lost Adventure by Douglas
Adams
by Gareth Roberts, Ace 2012
Reviewed by James F. McGrath
I recently finished reading Doctor Who:
Shada: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams, completed as a novel by
Gareth Roberts. The novel has all the comedy you would expect from
a Doctor Who episode written by Adams and starring Tom Baker. For
those who may not be familiar with it, the Doctor Who episode Shada
was partially filmed in 1979 when a strike brought production to a
halt, so that it was never completed and thus never aired. The
book's opening paragraph indicates a "theological" theme in the
book which is just what one might expect from Adams:
"At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did
not exist. The revelation tends to make most people in the universe
who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.
Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, Wait a second. That means
there's a situation vacant."
The story follows the attempt of Skagra to do just that - create
a universal mind by extending his own mind into every other in the
galaxy, forming "one godlike entity."
For longtime fans, the novel explores the show's mythology about
the time lords and their history. But if you are not a regular
viewer or fan of Doctor Who, but love Douglas Adams, you should
still appreciate this novel. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
almost gets a mention in the novel at one point!
- James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament
Language and Literature, Butler University.