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Amazon.co.uk Review
Believe the vocal Doctor Who fanbase, and you’d have Timelash’s card marked as a story to steer clear of. But thanks to the perspective of time, and another smashing DVD, this really is a whole lot better than you may be expecting.
Timelash is a tale from the undercooked Colin Baker era in the TARDIS, and on face value, there are lots of problems that were symptoms of this period of the show: hammed up acting, unconvincing monsters and a script that could have used a good deal more work are all present and correct here.
But--whisper it--Timelash is actually good fun. Really. There’s the always-likeable Peri, H G Wells, an overarching sense of entertainment and ultimately a breezy 90 minutes to enjoy. Even those who don’t usually warm to Colin Baker will find him in a calmer state here, although perhaps that’s more to do with the hideously over-the-top performance from Paul Darrow.
There’s never likely to be a revisionist call to instate Timelash as a classic piece of television, but time has at least proven that it’s an enjoyable one. Factor in a DVD that features a commentary track (including Darrow!), a 25-minute documentary and assorted notes and listings, and it’s hard to feel shortchanged. --Jon Foster
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As a self-confessed Doctor Who fan for the past twenty five years I am duty bound to be as positive as possible about any story from the programme's long history. Therefore I will not begin this review by carping about production values - it is a well-documented fact that during the mid-1980s Doctor Who received little support from the BBC and by the time this story was produced it was considered to be tired and irrelevant show that needed to be consigned to history - but will instead focus on the positives whilst remaining objective; surely the whole point of this review system.
Accompanied by Peri and a young HG Wells, the Doctor returns to the planet Karfelon, which is now secretly being ruled by the Borad; a scientist horribly mutated into a cross between a human being and a Morlox (the planet's reptilian inhabitants). The Borad intends to provoke a war with Karfelon's neighbours, the Bandrils. In the wake of the conflict, he will start a new race on Karfelon - a race of mutants like himself, of which The Doctor's companion Peri will be the first.
At the time it was made, the Script Editor (Eric Saward) seemed to be aiming to combine political comment with knockabout humour; a combination that tried the patience of most viewers. On top of this the writer, Glen McCoy, was a TV novice and this led to extensive re-writing of the scripts; the resultant 'disjointed' feel to many parts of the story obviously only served to highlight its limitations.
The story is also guilty of being a little too self-referential, something that would never happen nowadays. The third Doctor is referred to as having visited the planet sometime ago (or after!) and a somewhat bizzare portrait of him is unearthed in episode two.
Overall this is clearly not a classic slice of 'Who' but is nonetheless an enjoyable romp with madcap villains, stilted robots, wobbly sets and over-the-top performances. What more could you want?
Accompanied by Peri and a young HG Wells, the Doctor returns to the planet Karfelon, which is now secretly being ruled by the Borad; a scientist horribly mutated into a cross between a human being and a Morlox (the planet's reptilian inhabitants). The Borad intends to provoke a war with Karfelon's neighbours, the Bandrils. In the wake of the conflict, he will start a new race on Karfelon - a race of mutants like himself, of which The Doctor's companion Peri will be the first.
At the time it was made, the Script Editor (Eric Saward) seemed to be aiming to combine political comment with knockabout humour; a combination that tried the patience of most viewers. On top of this the writer, Glen McCoy, was a TV novice and this led to extensive re-writing of the scripts; the resultant 'disjointed' feel to many parts of the story obviously only served to highlight its limitations.
The story is also guilty of being a little too self-referential, something that would never happen nowadays. The third Doctor is referred to as having visited the planet sometime ago (or after!) and a somewhat bizzare portrait of him is unearthed in episode two.
Overall this is clearly not a classic slice of 'Who' but is nonetheless an enjoyable romp with madcap villains, stilted robots, wobbly sets and over-the-top performances. What more could you want?
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When the booklet that accompanies the DVD claims "Timelash isn't that bad!" you know you're in trouble. When the making of extra merely reels off a list of reasons for why the story was rubbish, rather than discussing the actual making of the serial, you can't be too hopeful.
However Timelash is much better than its reputation would suggest. The story is pretty simplistic but decent enough. The acting isn't too bad except for Tekker, but I don't feel I really need to comment on that. There are some scenes which are so clearly placed for padding, principally the doctors argument with Perri at the end, which serves no other purpose whatsoever. The blue android thing was squeaky and so pretty ineffective as a menacing villain. The design in the serial was also poor, the interior of the Timelash was effective only for its comedy value. The fact that the terrifying Timelash could easily be climbed into ruined the premise f its use as punishment. Also the poor positioning of the prop meant that people had to throw themselves into the Timelash rather than being thrown into it. Colin Baker was only the Doctor for two full seasons and with such a high percentage of his stories falling short of the mark you can see why he was unpopular with the BBC bigwigs, however Baker is a good actor and could have been an excellent doctor, his performance here (excepting the cringeworthy TARDIS scenes) is a highlight, the design of The Borad is also good.
Another massive problem is the glaring plot holes displayed at the end. The explanation of the Borads escape is improbbable and unsatisfactory, and the fact that the doctor decides not to explain how he prevented the bomb shows weakness in the writing.
I have to say although I have managed to reel off a long list of faults with the serial I did enjoy it when I watched it. I have given it a low rating because it is hard to give it more when so many superior stories exist. However it is a budget release and I wouldn't warn people off picking it up for a cheap price. But with Genesis of the Daleks, Earthshock, Spearhead from Space, The Hand of Fear and other classic serials being released for bargain prices maybe you should shy away from this one.
However Timelash is much better than its reputation would suggest. The story is pretty simplistic but decent enough. The acting isn't too bad except for Tekker, but I don't feel I really need to comment on that. There are some scenes which are so clearly placed for padding, principally the doctors argument with Perri at the end, which serves no other purpose whatsoever. The blue android thing was squeaky and so pretty ineffective as a menacing villain. The design in the serial was also poor, the interior of the Timelash was effective only for its comedy value. The fact that the terrifying Timelash could easily be climbed into ruined the premise f its use as punishment. Also the poor positioning of the prop meant that people had to throw themselves into the Timelash rather than being thrown into it. Colin Baker was only the Doctor for two full seasons and with such a high percentage of his stories falling short of the mark you can see why he was unpopular with the BBC bigwigs, however Baker is a good actor and could have been an excellent doctor, his performance here (excepting the cringeworthy TARDIS scenes) is a highlight, the design of The Borad is also good.
Another massive problem is the glaring plot holes displayed at the end. The explanation of the Borads escape is improbbable and unsatisfactory, and the fact that the doctor decides not to explain how he prevented the bomb shows weakness in the writing.
I have to say although I have managed to reel off a long list of faults with the serial I did enjoy it when I watched it. I have given it a low rating because it is hard to give it more when so many superior stories exist. However it is a budget release and I wouldn't warn people off picking it up for a cheap price. But with Genesis of the Daleks, Earthshock, Spearhead from Space, The Hand of Fear and other classic serials being released for bargain prices maybe you should shy away from this one.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Contains spoilers. Sometimes I feel that, when watching certain Doctor Who, notions of bad and good become more complex. Is this good? Is it so bad it's good? Is it just bad? These are questions I find difficult to answer regarding Timelash. I must be honest, I enjoyed it much more than I expected. It's certainly much, much better than the dreadful "Twin Dilemma". Yes, it's ludicrous, but the ludicrousness is entertaining, particularly Paul Darrow, and the ridiculous tinsel climbing frame thing that is supposed to be the inside of the Timelash. Also, the bit where Peri goes away "to be by herself for a bit" and then ends up in the grip of the Borad clone-thingy genuinely surprised and shocked me (sort of). The worst bits are the second main batch of TARDIS bickering between the Doctor and Peri - totally pointless and just annoying, and the slightly dodgy plot - how did the Doctor survive in part two? That isn't adequately explained, nor is the cloning of the Borad. Yes it's pretty rubbish of course, but I was thoroughly entertained for most of it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Boring Borad
In my opinion, this is the worst Colin Baker story! However, I haven't seen the supposedly rubbish The Twin Dilemma! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. D. P. Metcalfe
Flawed, but plenty of fun!
In a 2009 reader poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, this story was voted as the "second worst Doctor Who story of all time". Read more
Published 14 months ago by E. Thomas
feckin' brill
i lurve this dvd soo groovers and really good! i recommend this to anyone who likes doctor who. and most ppl say the 6th doc ain't so sexy, i for one disagree i think hes sooo cool... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John Crowley
Welcome to Tinseltown
!!!WARNING. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
The Planet Karfel(or maybe the city of Karfel, it's never made clear) is ruled by a merciless dictator called The Borad who deals... Read more
The Planet Karfel(or maybe the city of Karfel, it's never made clear) is ruled by a merciless dictator called The Borad who deals... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. Jonathon T. Beckett
Classic Doctor Who at its worse
I never thought I'd write those words in the heading but to say anything praise worthy would be a lie... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2010 by Bryan
NOT MUCH OF A SCENE
this episode must be one of the most rubbishest episode's ever, there was never much going on in the story and the end of the story was nothing but a push into the votex but still... Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by Mrs. D. Wilson
Blake's 7, starring Dr. Who
S'okay, Timelash... When I saw it for the first time, a few weeks back, I tried to keep the negative press at bay. I think I succeeded. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2009 by D. De Gruijter
the not very good, the bad, and the ugly
a doctor who story made in 1985. It comes on a single disc dvd, and the story runs for two episodes of forty five minutes in duration. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2008 by Paul Tapner
Absolute pantaloons!
No no no no no! This story should have had John Nathan Turner in his superior's offices, nervously explaining why it is so bad. Followed up by his immediate sacking. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Mr. C. J. Iredale
TIMELASH
This is the worst dr who ever, i can not understand why the bbc and 2entertain spent their time and money in making this DVD. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2008 by Mrs. S. A. Craven
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