According to the DWM Mighty 200, there is only one story worse than Timelash. That’s probably a harsh way of describing it but to be honest, Timelash is not a good story. Even with people including myself re-evaluating Colin Baker’s time as the Doctor, Timelash is one story that doesn’t deserve to go up in anyone’s opinion. Written by Glen McCoy, this story is the weakest story of Colin Baker’s first full season as the Doctor. The stories in this season were 45 minutes in length which resulted in more time been given to the build up. That’s why it’s such a long time before the Doctor and Peri arrive on Karfel. Karfel is a planet that is been run by the Borad who is a dictator. People are trying to rise against him but are thrown into the Timelash. As well as this there is a war with the Bandrils.
The story is worth watching just to see Paul Darrow as Tekker. The Blake’s 7 actor hams it up throughout the two episodes but is very entertaining to watch. With a studio full of bland and dull characters, Darrow brings just enough to make this story watchable. Robert Ashby was very good as the Borad. I thought the prosthetics was well done in this and Ashby’s voice was perfect for the character. I did find Vena (Jeananne Crowley) to be an irritating character. I didn’t really care about her. That’s the problem with the rest of the supporting cast, they are either dull or irritating and in a drama that’s a huge problem.
The person that people think of the Borad is a fake. The real Borad is actually a sinister figure that sits in a chair and the identity is held back until the half way point of Episode 2. It’s revealed that the Borad is actually Megelen. The Doctor reported Megelen for his experiments presumably during his visit as the third Doctor. Megelen started of looking human but during a scientist experiment there was an accident and Megelen became deformed. The Timelash is rubbish. Its meant to be this fearful thing that people are banished to but in reality its just a big box with a bit of tinsel at the background. When they go inside the Timelash it looks ok. It’s not brilliant and clearly the budget went into other stories.
The one big confusion is the revelation that the Doctor has been to Karfel in his third incarnation. This was a convolution and unnecessary plot point. It didn’t really offer much to the story and would have worked just as well without it. Another problem was the introduction of H.G.Wells. Not only does he look nothing like the real H.G.Wells but he is incredibly annoying. It made the Doctor’s sarcasm aimed at Herbert a big highlight.
Timelash deserves its poor appreciation. Compared to other stories from Season 22, this story suffers from poor characters, a very sterile set and some dodgy special effects show that this story wasn’t as good as perhaps it should have been. Pennant Roberts was a very good director but this isn’t one of his finest.
The story is worth watching just to see Paul Darrow as Tekker. The Blake’s 7 actor hams it up throughout the two episodes but is very entertaining to watch. With a studio full of bland and dull characters, Darrow brings just enough to make this story watchable. Robert Ashby was very good as the Borad. I thought the prosthetics was well done in this and Ashby’s voice was perfect for the character. I did find Vena (Jeananne Crowley) to be an irritating character. I didn’t really care about her. That’s the problem with the rest of the supporting cast, they are either dull or irritating and in a drama that’s a huge problem.
The person that people think of the Borad is a fake. The real Borad is actually a sinister figure that sits in a chair and the identity is held back until the half way point of Episode 2. It’s revealed that the Borad is actually Megelen. The Doctor reported Megelen for his experiments presumably during his visit as the third Doctor. Megelen started of looking human but during a scientist experiment there was an accident and Megelen became deformed. The Timelash is rubbish. Its meant to be this fearful thing that people are banished to but in reality its just a big box with a bit of tinsel at the background. When they go inside the Timelash it looks ok. It’s not brilliant and clearly the budget went into other stories.
The one big confusion is the revelation that the Doctor has been to Karfel in his third incarnation. This was a convolution and unnecessary plot point. It didn’t really offer much to the story and would have worked just as well without it. Another problem was the introduction of H.G.Wells. Not only does he look nothing like the real H.G.Wells but he is incredibly annoying. It made the Doctor’s sarcasm aimed at Herbert a big highlight.
Timelash deserves its poor appreciation. Compared to other stories from Season 22, this story suffers from poor characters, a very sterile set and some dodgy special effects show that this story wasn’t as good as perhaps it should have been. Pennant Roberts was a very good director but this isn’t one of his finest.
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