DOCTOR WHO | Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans (1994) | REACTION 

I think you mentioned you had watched this at some point last year and i have awaited the resulting reaction with both interest and dread. Thirty years ago I spent a week under the waterline on the HMS Belfast playing Sophie Aldred's boyfriend, Nikos. It was essentially my first ever camera acting, and I am fully aware how bad I am! I was, and from then on continued to be, almost entirely a theatre actor, though strangely when I moved into directing it was film rather than theatre. So, to answer a few things I remember you asking. Yes, we were paid. I think I got about the same as a week on the West End show I had been in prior to this, so not bad. I got a little more when the VHS went to a second pressing. I am sure the 'name' actors got a bit more than me! As I said, it was filmed entirely on location on the HMS Belfast in the THames, which I think was an excellent move, giving a sense of weight to the ship. Unfortunately being under the waterline in September it was bloody freezing. I was on tour when the news of Michael Wisher's death came through the following year. It was a big shock and I called Kevin, Shakedown's director, on hearing the news. We didn't share any scenes and I only met him briefly in make-up. He seemed a lovely guy. In our defense on the acting side, there was essentially zero rehearsal if my memory serves me right. We had a read-through of the script (which Sophie wasn't available for, so I met her for the first time on the first day of filming). That read through was the only time I met the writer, Uncle Terry (Dicks), who was really nice, but even then the script felt a bit of a rush job using lines from his previous scripts. As far as I am aware Dreamwatch had the rights to use the Sontaran name from the original writer, but the BBC has all the rights to the costume designs, hence the extreme changes. There are rights issues preventing a DVD release, so that may all be part of it. Believe it or not there was a novel tie-in. I never read it....maybe I should find a copy. Regardless of the results I have very fond memories of the production, and it resulted in a friendship with Sophie which I cherish. Twenty years later she appeared in one of my short films. There is a short video on YT of me chatting with her on set, so you can see how she hasn't changed a bit and I have become a fat, old man! I don't think I can put a link so you can search for "behind the scenes with sophie aldred and raji james", which should find it. And for those interested, I now live in Tokyo and, believe it or not, run a film school here. Very happy to answer any questions you or anyone else may have.

Apparently the Sontaran's colour is because they are from a different region of their homeworld. Polar region if I recall correctly.

There are a different breed of Sontarans.

Michael Wisher is one of the pilots

What happens to that mysterious traveler in time and space known as the Doctor? Marie I'm sorry to say his story ends in absolute terror. Night-night!

Classic Who never did the same Sontaran design twice, so it’s not that unusual to have a new design here. I like this one but it’s certainly different

Yes, the actors were paid for this. All the unofficial tie-ins make use of Doctor Who characters and aliens that were owned by individual writers rather than the BBC, and got permission from said writers. Like all the unofficial videos, these were made on shoestring budgets and were straight to video (later DVD) made by fans who felt the need to fill the gap created by the show's absence. The writers and directors were largely amateurs (though some went on to become professionals), and the amount of time they had available for filming was very limited, limiting the number of takes they could do, which might account for some of the performances coming across as weaker than when they were on Doctor Who. This was filmed on HMS Belfast, so you are right it was filmed on a ship. The reason the Sontarans here look different under the helmets is because while the aliens themselves aren't owned by the BBC, the way they look IS owned by the BBC, so it had to be modified. Who owns what with Doctor Who is complicated - at a basic level, anything created by the full time staff belonged to the BBC, but anything created by individual story writers belongs to the writer, because they count as freelancers. So a lot of companions and aliens belong to the writers who wrote the first story they appeared in, but not all, as sometimes the producers or script editors would come up with a companion and then tell a writer that part of the remit of a story was to introduce that companion. This was one of two unofficial Doctor Who tie in movies that subsequently got adapted as part of the official Doctor Who novel range (the other is Downtime). The novel added a sequence set before this video and after, showing the Doctor's involvement in the story. Per the novel, the character who namechecks "the Dentist" knows it is the name is actually the Doctor, but was being cagey.

i have the original VHS tape of this, dunno if i got the DVD of it or not...cant remember !

❤❤❤❤

This was the result of a challenge issued by a sci-fi magazine, to produce a full length program on a particular budget in a certain period of time. Terrance Dicks was brought in to write the script and it was all filmed on HMS Belfast, which meant they at least had a solid set. I have the VHS at home still, but alas nothing to play it on anymore. I rather enjoyed it, even though there was some gruels awful acting in it.

I really enjoy Shakedown, I think it’s a really solid Sontaran story with a fun design-and it’s still to date the only time Sontarans and Rutans have appeared on screen together! Carole Ann Ford really chews the scenery in it and I love her role 😂 My one criticism of it is that it does an exact reprise of the “Linx discovering human sexual dimorphism” bit from The Time Warrior, which is already unnecessary, but then in this version it becomes weirdly lustful which makes truly no sense at all. It’s also written by Terrance Dicks who, controversially, I just don’t think is very good.

Not seen this for about Thirty years, but always remembered it to be one of the better Wilderness years attempts. Totally agree with you regarding the performances of Carole Ann-Ford and Sophie Aldred. I've never really rated them as actors at all sadly.

In retrospect, what we call the Wilderness Years was a pretty good time to be a Doctor Who fan. The classic stories were still being released on VHS, original novels were starting to be published and we had straight to video productions like this, Downtime and the Auton trilogy being released. Plus BBV produced a line of audio dramas featuring the Sontarans, Zygons, Krynoids and K9, which were often pretty good. And of course towards the end of that era, Big Finish started up. Although I didn't enjoy this story as much as I did Downtime and the Auton videos, I still think it's a pretty decent production. I actually fairly like the Sontaran masks in this, although they are a bit disconcerting when you're used to seeing the original. And I totally agree with you about the actors' performances - the director was dead right to give Jan and Brian the lead roles.

I sm looking forward to your reaction to Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough

I think it often is the writing, but also the director, combined which can cause issues.

As far as I recall - they had the copyright from Robert Holmes's estate to use the Sontarans but the BBC own the the design and they couldn't copy that. My friend bought the video and I recall us having a good laugh when we watched it together - especially at Carol Ann Ford. I don't think that Sophie has a great range as an actress - she had great success as a presenter in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. I think she was miscast here. She has a performance style that works for a certain type of theatre production but she isn't a natural for the camera. Jan Chappell is a solid actress (usually cast as Doctors, Judges, Solicitors), this was made prior to Brian Croucher joining EastEnders for a few years as Ted Hills - brother of Kathy Beale/Mitchell. Terrance Dicks' script is solid but the cheapness of the production works against it. I know that they were really rushed as they only had a limited time to shoot and I think that the rest of HMS Belfast (moored permanently beside Tower Bridge) was still open to the public so there were sound issues. I remember enjoying the making of more than the production - one bit sticks in my mind, how composer Mark Ayres did the sound effect for Ford's character slapping the Sontaran on the head:D

The chap you "didn't" recognise was Brian Croucher,the 2nd Travis🎩

I'm sure I've seen this before, but I don't remember any of it. It's truly awful but it's so over the top that it's fun to watch.

“Shakedown breakdown you’re busted!”

Hmm... Sontarans perverting the course of human history?😅