Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
VHS Release cover
Production
Writer	Terrance Dicks
Director	Kevin Davies
Producer	Mark Ayres Kevin Davies
Executive producer(s)	Gary Leigh
Length	1 episode, 55 mins.
Originally broadcast	1 December 1994 (release date)

Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is a film spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video in 1995 and was produced by the independent production company Dreamwatch Media, a division of Dreamwatch magazine. Initially available only through mail order and specialty shops, it was subsequently released to retail by Reeltime Pictures in 1997. It features two races of aliens, the Sontarans (first introduced in the Third Doctor serial The Time Warrior, and appearing in several subsequent stories) and the Rutans (who were first mentioned in The Time Warrior, and appeared in the Fourth Doctor serial Horror of Fang Rock). The Sontarans and Rutans were licensed from the estate of their creator Robert Holmes, although the appearance of the Sontarans had to be modified to avoid legal complications with the BBC, which owned the design of the creatures.

Due to licensing restrictions, the character of the Doctor does not actually appear, nor do any other characters from the series. However several actors from the Doctor Who series do appear in different roles, including Carole Ann Ford, Sophie Aldred and Michael Wisher. Also starring in this production are Blake's 7 alumni Jan Chappell and Brian Croucher.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Notes 3 See also 4 Novelisation 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Reviews 6.2 Novelisation 6.3 Reviews

[edit] Synopsis

When a state-of-the-art racing yacht is attacked by a group of aliens during its shakedown cruise, it is up to the captain of the yacht and her crew to prevent an alien invasion.

[edit] Notes

1. The video was shot almost entirely on location aboard the Second World War-era Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Belfast, permanently moored at Symon's Wharf on the River Thames since 1971. Some scenes were also shot at Pinewood Studios.^[1]
2. The unlicensed nature of the Dreamwatch production meant that they could not even refer to the character of the Doctor by name, hence one character's remembrance of a man who "Called himself the Physician, or the Dentist, or something..."
3. Although the longstanding war between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host was frequently mentioned in Doctor Who, this video marks the only occasion in which the two opposing species appear on screen together.
4. The initial idea for Shakedown came from producers Kevin Davies and Mark Ayres. They would produce, on behalf of Dreamwatch Media, a low-budget film for direct-to-video sale featuring some alien monsters from the BBCtv series Doctor Who and a cast drawn from Who and its stablemate Blake's 7.^[2]

[edit] See also

Other creator-authorised Doctor Who spin-offs include:

• Downtime
• Wartime

[edit] Novelisation

Doctor Who book
Shakedown
Series	Virgin New Adventures
Release number	45
Featuring	Seventh Doctor Benny, Chris, Roz
Writer	Terrance Dicks
Publisher	Virgin Books
ISBN	ISBN 0-426-20459-X
Release date	December 1995
Preceded by	The Also People
Followed by	Just War

In December 1995 a novelisation of this film, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Virgin Publishing as part of their New Adventures line; the title was shortened to Shakedown. It expands greatly on the original story and features many differences in plot, most notably the inclusion of the Seventh Doctor and his companions since, unlike Reeltime, Virgin had the rights to use the character. However, rather than drastically altering the events of the video, Dicks novelised the Doctor-less events of the script in the middle section of the book, with the new plot of the novel taking place around it. It also forms a sequel to the Virgin Missing Adventures novel Lords of the Storm by David A. McIntee.

This was the final Doctor Who-related novelisation by the prolific Terrance Dicks, who had been writing the books since 1973, until the BBC-published novelisation of The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Invasion of the Bane" was published over a decade later in late 2007. Dicks has, however, continued to produce various original Doctor Who novels not based on scripted material.

Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, its relationship to the ongoing story of the television series is open to interpretation.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans at the Internet Movie Database
• Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans at The TARDIS Library

[edit] Reviews

• Shakedown reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

[edit] Novelisation

• Shakedown at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Cloister Library - Shakedown
• Shakedown (novelisation) at The TARDIS Library

[edit] Reviews

• Shakedown reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Shakedown reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

v • d • e Doctor Who: Sontaran television stories Third Doctor The Time Warrior Fourth Doctor The Sontaran Experiment • The Invasion of Time Sixth Doctor The Two Doctors Tenth Doctor "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky" The Sarah Jane Adventures The Last Sontaran • Enemy of the Bane Minor appearances Logopolis • The End of Time Novels Lords of the Storm • Shakedown • The Eight Doctors Other A Fix with Sontarans • Destiny of the Doctors • Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans See also Rutan Host