My Guilty pleasure: ‘Timelash’

 The time I defended Timelash in the Ark in Space Facebook page:

My Guilty pleasure: ‘Timelash’

Timelash was first broadcast on the 9th March 1985. It was broadcast in two 45-minute episodes. It was written by Glenn McCoy and directed by Pennant Roberts. Timelash, sandwiched between two popular Sixie outings, ‘The two Doctors’ and ‘The Revelation of the Daleks’ has always been considered the poorest of the three bedfellows. Conventional wisdom has it that this tightly budgeted story with its hastily rewritten extra scenes, is at best thought of as something to watch once, at worst something to be embarrassed about: a story bedevilled by cheap sets and hammy acting. These two great albatrosses of criticism seem to circle around this particular story determined to send it to a watery grave. Critics point to the poor special effects of the Timelash itself; the acting choices by Paul Darrow; the filler scenes in the TARDIS and some of the poor creature effects to claim that this is what happens when they ‘get it wrong’ in Who. However, I disagree.

I can remember first watching Timelash at my Nan’s house in 1985. I was beginning to warm to the Sixth Doctor. I felt that the rapport between him and Peri was growing. I felt that the programme was reconnecting with its roots again. What did I enjoy about it then? Well, I liked the reference to the Third Doctor and his visit to Karfel; the idea that we didn’t see all of the Doctor’s adventures on screen was quite appealing. Remember in the eighties it was relatively rare to see a previous Doctor (no VHS run at this point and DVD still years off) the Two Doctors and the repeats from the Five faces of Doctor Who a few years before had whetted my appetite to see more of the earlier Doctors so seeing a picture of Jo Grant and Three was a particular joy for me. I really enjoyed the idea that Herbert Wells, as a youngster, had travelled with the Doctor and his travels influenced his writing. I enjoyed the portrayal of Herbert by David Chandler: he seemed to encapsulate a childlike sense of wonder which I’m sure we would all feel if we had the opportunity to travel with the Doctor. I thought the Borad was effective: the quietly spoken voice with ‘a degree of sinister’ as Robert Ashby would put it worked for me. Menacing and calculating, he seemed the perfect one off adversary for the Doctor. I was pleased that Avon, from Blake’s Seven was making an appearance. At 14 years of age, ham was something to be enjoyed in a sandwich and was not on my radar as an adjective to describe someone’s chosen method of acting. I found the character Tekker to be effective and along with Borad a suitable threat for our intrepid hero.

In the mid noughties, the arrival of Nu-who to our screens reignited my interest and passion for all things Who. I joined a few Fora and became semi involved in Fandom. To my great surprise, I found that Timelash was considered poor. ‘Hold on a minute: I liked that story’ I thought to myself. When the DVD came out, I must admit I was unsure: would I be influenced by what I had read in the forums? Was it a case of my memory playing tricks on me: would I watch it and despise it? Was I remembering the story through a rose-tinted Prism? With a certain amount of trepidation, I purchased the DVD from a local Forbidden planet store, took it home and put it into the DVD player. 89 minutes later, I was still a fan of the story. True, I could see why it wasn’t every one’s cup of tea: some of the effects in the Timelash itself would have benefitted with a cash injection, one that was simply not available at the time, and the scenes in the TARDIS did feel a trifle long. However, I liked Darrow channelling Olivier’s Richard III and found the character enjoyable to watch.  I am glad he didn’t adopt the hump and limp because that might have tilted it over the edge into unbearable TV- I am sure, however, that Darrow was joking with that remark in the accompanying documentary. Maybe there was the occasional smirk towards the camera from Darrow which might irritate some, and would me if this happened in every story, but I found the delivery suitable for the tone of this particular story.  You know that he is going to get it when he underestimates the Doctor: “The stories I’ve heard about you. The great Doctor, all knowing and powerful. You’re about as powerful as a burnt-out android.” I enjoyed that line: I knew the inevitable would happen and he wouldn’t survive the story. The simplistic plot: the use of binary opposites: Doctor/Peri good and Tekker/ Borad bad was a pleasing antidote to the growing trend of exploring the Doctor’s darker side. This story seemed to herald back to a simpler time when the Doctor was undoubtedly the good guy fulfilling his modus operandi stated by Troughton in ‘Moonbase’ to fight evil: ‘There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things, things which act against everything that we believe in. They must be fought.’ I do like stories such as this when the Doctor is on his crusade against evil. The Borad was still, during this viewing, an effective foe for Colin’s Doctor and there was enough going on in the story to sustain interest. I liked the way we are held back from seeing his face straight away to build tension and I still liked Robert Ashby’s voice which brought sufficient tension to the character. I did feel that the Bandrils, represented by one forlorn looking puppet, and the Morlox were rather disappointing. However, considering the budget limitations imposed on the story, it is understandable that not all visual effects were going to be realised.

To summarise, I have found Timelash to be undeserving of the reputation it has. Sure, it has some short comings due to budgetary issues but it has plenty to like: the introduction of the idea of non-televised Doctor stories, in which this was a sequel of; Some memorable one-off villains: Borad and Tekker; an enthusiastic young HG Wells inspired by the experience of Time travel in the TARDIS and a slightly warmer depiction of Sixie and Peri. Ladies and Gentleman, I would like you to raise a glass of your favourite tipple in recognition of Timelash.