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Doctor Who - Timelash [DVD] [1985]
 
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Doctor Who - Timelash [DVD] [1985]

DVD ~ Colin Baker
3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Doctor Who - Timelash [DVD] [1985]
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Product details

  • Actors: Colin Baker
  • Directors: Pennant Roberts
  • Format: PAL
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: U
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 9 Jul 2007
  • Run Time: 89 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000NVI2G0
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,449 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

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

Synopsis
The planet Karfel is ruled by a cruel tyrant, the Borad. When the Doctor arrives he is asked to rescue a woman, Vena, who has been cast out through a time tunnel known as the Timelash. If he refuses, the life of his companion, Peri, is forfeit.

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Customer Reviews

43 Reviews
5 star:
 (14)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars "He's dangling on the edge of oblivion!" , 7 Jul 2007
By Hector Lerbioz (London) - See all my reviews
  
TIMELASH's status amongst DR WHO fans has always been unenviable. The consensus was that the story lived up to the anagram of its title to which Colin Baker makes reference in the DVD commentary. (For those of you who were unaware, the letters of the story's name can be re-arranged into 2 four letter words, the first of which is LAME, the second of which is a profanity containing the letters H,I,T and S).

I hadn't really watched this story for about 10 years and before I put the disc into the player was expecting to be cringing with embarrassment whilst being mildly amused by the poor production values despite the fact that there appears to be a new consensus emerging of the story. A fair few of the reviews here seem to be saying:"it's not that bad". This too is reflected in the cheerful DVD commentary and the "MAKING OF" featurette. Again, early on in the commentary, Paul Darrow suggests that "it's so bad it's good!" Well possibly.

My now revised view is that the serial is very much like its mixed-up mutant villain, the Borad. It's a sometimes uncomfortable blend of the hideously awful and the fascinatingly imaginative, that is far from the disaster that its reputation suggests and in many ways is a kind of metaphor for the way that DR WHO manages to combine absurd nonsense with a touch of genius. TIMELASH has a strange entertainment value as despite the occasionally clunky dialogue the cast are given, horrible Karfelon costumes and sets (apparently tinsel is a gateway to a time/space corridor),as well as the very silly Morlox creature that poor Nicola Bryant's Peri has to scream at so much, there is a definite sense of fun, of the show revelling in its own B-movie cliches. One may not love it, it may be silly, but no-one could accuse it of being boring. Any show with a performance as outrageously camp as Paul Darrow's portrayal of Tekker would be worth a look, but TIMELASH is so much more than the amusement value of hammy acting and Ed Wood-style production values. Yes, it looks cheap, but it shares this quality with plenty of far more highly regarded adventures from the 1st 26 years of the show. Perhaps it is the tinny sounding synthesizer score that makes up Liz Parker's incidental music which contributed so much to TIMELASH's initial reputation. This for me, more than almost any other aspect gives a sense of the show being cheaper and nastier than it actually is.

On the other hand Robert Ashby is a fantastic villain, his make up looks excellent and he has one of the most chilling voices I can remember in the whole history of the programme. David Chandler's wide-eyed Herbert is really rather sweet and when not arguing in the TARDIS (some of the most grating and least successful scenes of the story) Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are excellent. Baker particularly excels in his confrontations with Ashby as if he has to raise his game to match such a great performance.

As for the extras, the commentary is one of the best for a while. Colin Baker's impressive array of behind-the-scenes facts and evident enthusiasm allows himself, Nicola Bryant and Paul Darrow to laugh and joke about the story without sounding as if they're being patronising or sneering. The feature: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is simply excellent and does a good job in somewhat redeeming TIMELASH from the unfair label of "one of the worst stories ever".
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge This On Prior Reputations., 9 Mar 2007
By Scott Fraser "A Likely Lad" (Sheffield, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This story has the unfortunate reputation as being one of Doctor Who's all-time clunkers. The story was hated by fans after it's transmission in 1985, including myself.

However in the 20 years since I have began to revise this opinion, the story is still no classic but looking at it again through the distance of time I have come to the conclusion that it is nowhere near as bad as the fans once thought.

The story deals with a dictator who resides on the planet Karfel and a group of rebels trying to overthrow him, anyone caught is sent to the Timelash which is a kind of portal to the space/time continuum with random coordinates, in other words they can end up anywhere and anywhen, this action is therefore a death sentence. Throw in elements such as H.G. Wells in person and aspects of his novel The Time Machine, the Loch Ness Monster, lots of tinsel and damsells in distress and you have the making of an enjoyable but slightly camp adventure.

The Doctor is played by the very underated Colin Baker who was usually dismissed as rubbish and second rate by the fans at the time, it is only recently that Doctor Who fans have come to realise just how good Colin actually was in the part and are reasessing his time on the show, the attitudes towards Colin Baker in a way mirrors the attitude to this story.

The worst aspect of the show is without a doubt the contribution of the actor Paul Darrow of Blake's 7 fame, here is someone who is usually consistantly good in just about everything that he does, except this. He hams up the part for all that it's worth and goes over the top on many occasions and is quite honestly painful to watch. Paul has gone on record in saying that he didn't like the story, well maybe not but that's no reason to treat it like a pantomime and why did he take the part in the first place if it wasn't to his taste. He at least does take part in the audio commentary and it will be very interesting to hear his side of the story.

So there we are this is certainly not the best Doctor Who story ever made but it isn't the worst either, this is just a fun filled adventure that does no harm at all and exists simply to fill 90 minutes of time.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not that bad., 7 Aug 2007
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars 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 2 months ago by Mrs. D. Wilson

2.0 out of 5 stars 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 4 months ago by D. De Gruijter

3.0 out of 5 stars 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 10 months ago by Paul Tapner

2.0 out of 5 stars 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 13 months ago by Mr. C. J. Iredale

1.0 out of 5 stars 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 15 months ago by Mrs. S. A. Craven

3.0 out of 5 stars Prepare the Timelash!!!!!
Often regarded as the worst Dr Who story ever made, Timelash is actually not half bad if you're in the right mood for it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by M. Evans

4.0 out of 5 stars "Plan 9 from Inner Space"
I lked this story when it was 1st shown and gave it a positive review in a fanzine. Having seen it again more recently, boy have the years been spiteful to it! Read more
Published 16 months ago by Bob Marlowe

5.0 out of 5 stars Timelash Reappraised
This story doesn't deserve the major criticism it got. It shows how underrated Colin Baker's doctor was. He is a good actor and holds your attention. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Lee Middlehurst

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Story, Excellent Doctor
Timelash is a very underrated classic Doctor Who story. Among Doctor Who fandom this is regarded as a duff story, but I would have to disagree. Read more
Published 20 months ago by S. Barnes

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best, but by no means the worst
Although Timelash is only a two episode story on a budget, it is not a bad story. The Doctor and Peri don't shout at each other (too much), and the scenery isn't all bad, evin if... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Doctor When

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