Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952, and was
educated at Brentwood School, Essex and St. John’s College,
Cambridge, where he read English. As well as writing all the
different and conflicting versions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy, he has been responsible for Dirk Gently’s Holistic
Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and, with
John Lloyd, The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff. In
1978-79, he worked as Script Editor on Doctor Who. He wrote three
scripts for the show: “The Pirate Planet,” “City of Death” [under
the name David Agnew], and “Shada.” Adams died in May 2001.
Gareth Roberts was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1968.
His scripts for Doctor Who on television include “The Shakespeare
Code,” “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” “The Lodger,” and “Closing
Time.” He has also written many scripts for the spin-off series,
The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as scripts for such television
shows as Emmerdale and Randall & Hopkirk [Deceased]. He has written
nine previous Doctor Who novels, and lives in West London.
“Roberts . . . does a great job of maintaining Douglas Adams’s
voice throughout the story, with his trademark satire and humor
firmly in place. Fans of Doctor Who, particularly those who loved
the Tom Baker years, will enjoy this little trip back into that
world.”—Wired
“There’s a lot to like about Roberts’s version of the story,
particularly for fervent Doctor Who fans . . . He
clearly knows and loves the series, and fills the book with winking
references and in-jokes . . . Most importantly,
Roberts captures the bantering, cheerful relationship between the
eccentric Doctor, upbeat Romana, and loyal K9 as fans will remember
it from the TV series.”—The A.V. Club
“Shada is an entertaining read...Roberts manages a zippy,
fast-paced writing style that nods to Adams without ever trying to
do any Adamsian acrobatics across the page . . .
Fans of Douglas Adams will find this probably the most palatable
way to sample one of his most famous lost works, and anyone who
enjoys both the big heart and the boundless silliness of Doctor Who
will be pleased with what Roberts has managed to put together
here.”—io9
“Shada is funny . . . Roberts has a turn of phrase
that complements Adams’s dialogue, without slavishly copying his
style; various witty asides would sit very comfortably in a
Hitchhikers novel . . . Roberts both adds his own
jokes and works Adams’ perfectly. Any new fan reading the book,
having not seen or heard any of the other versions of the story,
would have a very hard time picking out which bits were by Roberts
and which Adams.”—Doctor Who Reviews
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