Season 17 was intended to follow the same format as had every season since Season 13, with five 4-part serials and a 6-parter closing the season out. However, the planned final serial of the season, Shada, was affected by an industrial dispute involving the BBC's technicians; while the location filming and the first studio recording session were completed, strike action by staff meant that the planned second studio session had to be cancelled. Although the dispute was resolved and plans were put in place to continue work on the story, it was eventually shelved, as the BBC was concerned that its Christmas productions might be affected. A BBC historian has suggested that by cancelling completely instead of finishing what little was required, the management could demonstrate that the strikes had consequences.[1] Ironically, the viewer ratings of Season 17 were also affected by a strike, with the BBC's main rival, ITV, off air due to a dispute.
The TARDIS lands the Fourth Doctor and Romana on a strangely familiar planet. There, they meet the android Movellans, who are locked in a war with the Daleks. The planet is Skaro, and in a bunker sits an enemy long thought dead — Davros, creator of the Daleks.
On the planet Chloris, the Doctor and Romana soon find themselves caught up in a long and secret enmity between the Lady Adrasta, who rules the planet in fear, and the mysterious creature that she keeps in a pit.
The TARDIS lands at the site of a hyperspatial collision between two spacecraft – as a result of which, neither ship is dimensionally stable, risking the lives of all those aboard.
After colliding with a spaceship, the Doctor, Romana and K9 learn that young natives from a peaceful planet called Aneth are being transported into a great labyrinth called the "Power Complex".
The story revolves around the lost planet Shada, on which the Time Lords built a prison for defeated would-be conquerors of the universe. Skagra, an up-and-coming would-be conqueror of the universe, needs the assistance of one of the prison's inmates, but finds that nobody knows where Shada is anymore except one aged Time Lord who has retired to Earth.
Broadcast
Part 4 of The Horns of Nimon saw the last appearance of the diamond-shaped logo that had been used since The Time Warrior in 1973.
The entire season was broadcast from 1 September 1979 to 12 January 1980.
^Shada was initially left unfinished due to a strike. The serial was eventually completed using animation, and released digitally in November 2017. Shada was later broadcast on 19 July 2018 by BBC America in a feature length edit.[4]
References
^Ley, Shaun (12 December 2009). "Shelved". BBC Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
^ abAinsworth, John (2018). Wright, Mark (ed.). "City of Death, The Creature from the Pit, Nightmare of Eden and The Horns of Nimon". Doctor Who: The Complete History. 31. Panini Comics, Hachette Partworks: 45, 82, 115, 143.
