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Colin Baker
Timelash
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Synopsis


The Doctor, Vena, HG Wells and Tekker
The Doctor, Vena, HG Wells and Tekker
 The Tardis gets caught in the Timelash - a powerful time corridor that brings The Doctor and Peri to the troubled planet of Karfel. The planet is on the brink of war and ruled by an insane and much feared dictator, who punishes Karfelons by throwing them into the Timelash.

 But why is their leader never seen in person? And what links Karfel with 19th-century Scotland? The Doctor arrives just in time to find out…

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Twenty Two
Production Code: 6Y
Story Number: 141
Episode Numbers:636 - 637
Number of Episodes: 2
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: December 1984 - January 1985
Broadcast Started: 09 March 1985
Broadcast Finished: 16 March 1985
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: BBC Television Centre (TC4 and TC8)
Location: None
Writer:Glen McCoy
Director:Pennant Roberts
Producer:John Nathan-Turner
Script Editor:Eric Saward
Production Assistant:Jane Whittaker
Production Associate:Sue Anstruther
Assistant Floor Manager:Abigail Sharp
Designer:Bob Cove
Costume Designer:Alun Hughes
Make-Up Designer:Vanessa Poulton
Lighting:Henry Barber
Visual Effects:Kevin Molloy
Incidental Music:Liz Parker
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Dick Mills
Studio Sounds:Andy Stacey
Title Sequence:Sid Sutton and Terry Handley
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Peter Howell
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Nicola Bryant (Peri) Guest Cast: Paul Darrow (Tekker) Additional Cast: Eric Deacon (Mykros), Jeananne Crowley (Vena), David Chandler (Herbert), Neil Hallett (Maylin Renis), Robert Ashby (Borad), David Ashton (Kendron), Peter Robert Scott (Brunner), Dicken Ashworth (Sezon), Tracy Louise Ward (Katz), Martin Gower (Tyheer), Christine Kavanagh (Aram), Steven Mackintosh (Gazak), Denis Carey (Old Man), Dean Hollingsworth (Android), James Richardson (Guardolier), Martin Gower (Bandril Ambassador)Setting: Planet Karfel and Scotland (1885) Villains:Tekker and The Borad

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
636Part 109 March 198545'00"6.7PAL 1" colour videotape
637Part 216 March 198544'36"7.4PAL 1" colour videotape

Total Duration 1 Hour 30 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.0
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)45.26%  (Position = 157 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)42.37% Lower (Position = 199 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)45.22% Higher (Position = 238 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 7 out of 8


Archives


 Both episodes exist as PAL 1" colour videotapes. Also held in four 25-minute format episodes.



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Notes


This story was inspired, somewhat, by the works of H.G. Wells. "Timelash" actually features the one and only appearance of this famous science fiction novelist (in his early life prior to him becoming a writer) and is a sequel to an untelevised story for the Third Doctor and his companion Jo Grant.

The writer chosen for "Timelash" was Glen McCoy - his first and only Doctor Who story.

Glen McCoy had written several short stories and episodes of the television series Angels when he submitted a storyline featuring the Daleks to the Doctor Who production office in early 1983. This though was rejected, but Eric Saward asked author Glen McCoy to resubmit it without them. This resulted in what would finally become "Timelash".

However, due to Glen McCoy’s limited experience in television, much of the dialogue had to be softened by Script Editor Eric Saward. Examples of some of the changes made by Eric Saward include: Maylin Tekker undergoes no change of heart in McCoy's original script and is instead murdered by the Borad in the process of shooting The Doctor. Bizarrely, Glen McCoy also had the Borad reject his earlier inclination of mating with Peri towards the end of the story (because he can now make as many clones of himself as he desires), a reference Eric Saward deleted entirely.

The director assigned to this story was Pennant Roberts, who had last worked on the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Warriors of the Deep". Producer John Nathan-Turner had hoped that the pairing the veteran director with the novice writer would help make up for any of the shortcomings of Glen McCoy’s script, but Pennant Roberts was dismayed by what he perceived as a poor-quality offering. He therefore insisted that Eric Saward perform further rewrites which the Script Editor - then working on completing the next story into production, "Revelation of the Daleks" - agreed to undertake.

Of particular concern to Pennant Roberts was the more hostile relationship between The Doctor and Peri that was in the original scripts. Eric Saward therefore softened much of their dialogue as a result. Also the original scripts had been set over the course of several days, and Eric Saward pruned this down to a matter of hours.

Also of concern was that it was felt that the first episode would overrun while the second episode would be too short. Therefore Eric Saward attempted to rebalance both scripts to account for this. He also ensured that only one android would ever be present in a given scene, so that only one actor would have to be hired for the role.

Eric Saward also removed the explanation for the destruction of the Bandril missile - that the bendalypse was neutralised via contact with the TARDIS's time field - and replaced it with The Doctor’s vague, off-screen, assurance that he will explain it to Peri later.

Another element changed from Glen McCoy’s original script was the details of The Doctors previous visit to Karfel (the script also refers to the planet as ‘Karfelon’, and to its inhabitants as both ‘Karfelons’ and ‘Karfelites’) during his third incarnation. In the original scripts, Katz’s amulet - given to her grandfather by the Third Doctor - was to contain a reference to Gallifrey, which Peri identified as The Doctor’s home planet in order to gain Sezon’s trust. Eric Saward replaced this with a picture of Jo Grant in a locket.

The image of the Third Doctor seen in a painting behind a wall on Karfel (supposedly a legacy of The Doctor’s previous visit) was the work of American fan artist Gail Bennett and was based on an image of Jon Pertwee from the 1974 story "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", while the picture of Jo Grant was an image of Katy Manning that was a publicity still taken during the making of the 1972 story "Day of the Daleks".

It has been rumoured that in Glen McCoy’s original script that it was the First Doctor, along with Susan, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, who visited Karfel.

Even before recording ended, it became apparent that Eric Saward’s efforts to correct the lengths of the two episodes not been completely successful. The First episode was six minutes too long, while the second was four minutes too short. Rather than simply shifting the cliffhanger back to the Guardoliers’ attack on the rebels, inserting reaction shots to imply that Peri had been killed instead of Katz, as suggested by Pennant Roberts. Instead, it was decided to move some of the material involving Peri being taken to the Morlox cave to the second episode. Minor scene cuts would then shorten the first episode to its proper length. John Nathan-Turner also authorised a remount in order to record extensions to the two TARDIS scenes in the second episode, which were written by Eric Saward. David Chandler, who had played Herbert, was rehired and the material was taped in January 1985, at the start of the second studio block for "Revelation of the Daleks".

The main gimmick of this story was that it features a young H. G. Wells (referred to until the very end of the story simply as ‘Herbert’ to preserve the surprise). Also included are a number of references to H. G. Wells’ literature. Most obviously is "The Time Machine" (Vena is a corruption of the Eloi name Weena, the monstrous Morlocks became the Morlox, and of course the TARDIS itself owes a great debt to the H. G. Wells novel). Other concepts from H. G. Wells’ novels were used: "The Island of Dr Moreau" (the hybrid nature of the Borad), "The Invisible Man" (The Doctor becoming essentially invisible using the Kontron Crystals) and "War of the Worlds" (the Bandril/Karfel war).

Paul Darrow, familiar to millions as the anti-hero Avon, star of Blake's 7, played the part of Tekker. This is Paul Darrow’s second appearance in the show as he had previously appeared as Captain Hawkins in the 1970 Third Doctor story "Doctor Who and the Silurians".

Colin Baker had previously appeared in the Blake's 7 story "City at the End of the World" and in the same story Jeananne Crowley (who played Vena in "Timelash") also made a guest appearance as the Princess.

Actor Denis Carey, who played the face of the Borad, previously played the part of Professor Chronotis in the aborted Season Seventeen story "Shada" and The Keeper in the 1981 Fourth Doctor story, "The Keeper of Traken").

Martin Gower who played Councillor Tyheer also provided the voice of the Bandril ambassador which was represented by a hand puppet. This was essentially a cost-saving move, reducing the number of actors needed by one.

The music for this story was provided by Elizabeth Parker who had formerly contributed the special sound for Blake's 7. A selection of this music was released on the Silva Screen audio CD "30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop".

When The Doctor tells Peri that the Kontron tunnel is a ‘time corridor in space’ she is heard to ask ‘Didn't the Daleks have one of those?. This is a clear reference to the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Resurrection of the Daleks". However, Peri only joined the TARDIS after this adventure. Also in "Revelation of the Daleks" she doesn’t recognise a Dalek by its appearance. It is presumed that The Doctor may have told her a tiny detail of a previous adventure but neglected to describe what the main adversary actually looked like. Peri also recognises a photograph of Jo Grant but again no explanation is given as to how she knows this.

It is revealed that during the untelevised Third Doctor/Jo Grant story that The Doctor visited Karfel and saved the planet from some unspecified disaster. He then reported the scientist Magellan to the presidium for unethical experiments on the Morlox creatures. Tekker at one point also notes that the Sixth Doctor is travelling with ‘only one’ companion, suggesting that somebody else (presumably a member of UNIT - maybe Captain Mike Yates or Sergeant Benton) accompanied the Third Doctor and Jo.

This untelevised Third Doctor/Jo Grant story has yet to appear in any of the spin-off media although the Virgin Books’ The Missing Adventures novel "Speed of Flight", by Paul Leonard, mentions that the Third Doctor and his companions, Jo Grant and Mike Yates, are on their way to Karfel at the start of that particular story. Jo Grant also references this incident herself in The Sarah Jane Adventures spin-off story "Death of The Doctor".

In the first episode, The Doctor contemplates taking Peri to the constellation of Andromeda, which was last visited in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Castrovalva".

The line ‘To be perfectly frank, Herbert’ was Colin Baker’s nod to the Dune creator.

The android’s line ‘Yes indeed she was’ is in the same pitch as the communication music in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

At the end of this story, the Borad is thrown back in time to 12th century Scotland. The Doctor speculates that the Borad will become the Loch Ness Monster. This gives a second explanation, in Doctor Who, for this creature as in the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Terror of the Zygons", it is revealed that the legendary creature is a cyborg weapon of the Zygons. In the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "The Taking of Planet 5", however, the Borad is revealed to have been killed by agents of the Celestis - Time Lords who cut themselves out of time to escape the Future War - shortly after his arrival in the past as part of their efforts to eliminate temporal anomalies on Earth.

This story contains an error as when Maylin Renis, whilst adjusting some control dials in the power room, is seen to pull one of them off and then hurriedly replace it.

Despite being designed as to have two 45-minute episodes this story, like many for Season Twenty Two, was sold to other countries (such as Australia, America and New Zealand) with its episodes edited into four 25-minute episodes.

This story marked Pennant Roberts’ final contribution to the show. He continued to work in television, directing episodes of a variety of series such as Juliet Bravo, Tenko and Howard’s Way.

This story is generally regarded as another of the weakest Doctor Who stories, and frequently appears near the bottom of opinion polls.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first Doctor Who story to be written by Glen McCoy.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 The last Doctor Who story to be written by Glen McCoy.

 The last Doctor Who story to be directed by Pennant Roberts.


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
The Doctor
The Doctor

The once prosperous and peaceful planet of Karfel stands on the brink of destruction. It is ruled by a ruthless dictator, the Borad, whose insane leadership has brought the Karfelons to the edge of a war they cannot win against their former allies, the Bandrils. But some of the citizens within the Citadel cannot understand why their mysterious leader, whom they only ever see on video screens, should want to provoke a war. Any spark of unrest amongst the people is quickly crushed by the blue-faced androids which do the bidding of their cruel ruler.

When Maylin Renis, the current second-in-command to the Borad, is killed for insubordination, his daughter Vena is horrified. Her fiancé, Mykros, tells her that the Borad’s power lies in the symbolic amulet worn by the Maylin. When Tekker announces himself as Renis’s successor, Vena rips the amulet from his neck and, in doing so, accidentally falls into the Timelash. This is a Kontron tunnel - a time corridor - into which the Borad banishes those who would fight his will, and which the Karfelons fear more than death itself.

Meanwhile The Doctor, and his travelling companion Peri, are arguing about their next destination, when the TARDIS is suddenly ensnared by the Kontron tunnel. The Doctor tries unsuccessfully to free the time machine when without warning Vena passes through the TARDIS as she travels down the time corridor. The corridor originally terminated on Earth in the year 1179, but the TARDIS’s presence has the effect of diverting her to 1885.

Peri
Peri

The Doctor decides to visit Karfel to see what is going on. When they arrive they are warmly welcomed by Tekker - as it seems The Doctor is remembered with affection from a previous visit he made during an earlier incarnation, when he saved the Karfelons from a disaster. While they are being entertained by Tekker, Peri is surreptitiously given a cryptic message: ‘Sezon at the Falchan Rocks’. Tekker, unaware of this, suggests that she take a look around. When she has gone, he uses threats against her in order to blackmail The Doctor into going in search of Vena in the TARDIS.

Vena arrives safely at the end of the time corridor and finds herself in a small cottage in the Scottish Highlands near Inverness. The cottage is currently the residence of a young writer called Herbert who, although startled by her sudden appearance, is enough of a gentleman to try to help her when she collapses. The Doctor then arrives in the TARDIS, scaring the writer even more, and persuades Vena to return to Karfel with him. Having noticed that there are no reflective surfaces in the Citadel, he also appropriates a hand-mirror.

Tekker
Tekker

Peri meanwhile is chased by Guardoliers - the Borad’s force of guards - and finds herself in the caves under the city. She is rescued from a Morlox - a reptilian creature with a long, snake-like neck - by Katz and Sezon, rebels who explain that the Borad plans to wipe out all the Karfelons by instigating a war with the Bandrils. However, the rebels are attacked by Guardoliers and taken prisoner. Peri is confined in a cell while the others are sentenced to death by Timelash.

The Doctor returns to Karfel with Vena, the amulet and also Herbert, who stowed away on board the TARDIS. Once Tekker has the amulet he orders that The Doctor be thrown into the Timelash. The Doctor, however, uses the hand-mirror to distract the android guard and the rebels attack the Guardoliers, seizing and securing the Timelash control room. The Borad orders an attack using the power from his time-web.

The Doctor determines that he needs some Kontron Crystals and, attached to a rope, enters the Timelash to obtain them. He gets two crystals and converts one into a ten second time break so that he can be sent ten seconds into the future while projecting an image of himself in the present. He uses the other crystal to create a device which will reflect any weapon’s power back to its source. Shortly after testing the device the control room comes under attack from the Guardoliers and from the Borad’s android, but the android is destroyed and The Doctor’s time break sends it into the past. During the battle, a section of wall panelling is smashed, revealing underneath it a large painting of The Doctor in his third incarnation.

Meeting Tekker
Meeting Tekker

The Doctor goes to confront the Borad and discovers that he is the mutated form of a scientist named Megelen, whom he had previously reported to the inner sanctum for unethical experimentation on the Morlox. Megelen admits that he had been experimenting further when he was accidentally sprayed with a substance called Mustakozene 80; this excited a Morlox into attacking him and resulted in spontaneous tissue amalgamation, forming the combined mutant creature which he has now become. The Borad explains that he now intends to wipe out all mammalian life on Karfel. When Tekker, who has been listening, objects to this, the Borad kills him.

The Borad then reveals to The Doctor that Peri has been tied to a stake within the tunnel system with a canister of Mustakozene 80 strapped to her so that she can be transformed into a Morlox mutant like him and will therefore become his mate. The Doctor uses the Kontron Crystal first to avoid the Borad’s ageing time-web ray, then to reflect it back at the Borad, killing him. Herbert, who was left by The Doctor to watch the confrontation from a nearby window, is told to go and rescue Peri. He arrives just in time to frighten off a Morlox with a burning torch.

Meanwhile the Bandrils have launched an attack on Karfel by firing a missile at the planet. The Doctor therefore leaves in his TARDIS, with Herbert again as an uninvited passenger, and positions the time machine in the missile’s path, thereby saving the planet. Meanwhile the Karfelons, who believe The Doctor and Herbert to have been killed, contact the Bandrils and start peace negotiations. The Bandrils agree to send an ambassador to Karfel. While everyone is indulging in mutual congratulations, Peri is suddenly grabbed by the Borad. The Doctor having not killed him after all, but merely disposed of one of his clones.

The Borad wants the Bandril’s spaceship captured but is distracted when The Doctor and Herbert return, having survived the missile attack unscathed. The Doctor smashes the painting of himself on the wall, revealing a mirror beneath it, and the Borad recoils in horror at the sight of his own reflection, causing him to release his grip on Peri. The Doctor then quickly activates the Timelash and pushes the Borad into it, surmising that he will arrive on Earth in the twelfth century and live for a thousand years or so in Loch Ness. After tossing the Kontron Crystal into the Timelash, which blows itself up, The Doctor then prepare to leave so that they can return Herbert back to his own time on Earth. As Peri is about to enter the TARDIS, The Doctor shows her Herbert’s calling card, which identifies him as H. G. Wells, the famous novelist.

 
The Android and Vena
The Android and Vena
The Rescue Party
The Rescue Party
Peri in Danger
Peri in Danger
Borad
Borad
 
Katz with The Doctor
Katz with The Doctor
Vena
Vena
Bandril
Bandril
Herbert George Wells
Herbert George Wells




Quote of the Story


 'The stories I've heard about you. The great Doctor, all knowing and all powerful. You're about as powerful as a burnt out android.'

Tekker



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Audio
CD
30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop1993BBC CD 871Photo-montageSound effects
Video
VHS
The Colin Baker YearsMarch 1994BBCV 5324PhotoClip only Introduced and commented on by Colin Baker
Video
VHS
TimelashJanuary 1998BBCV 6329Photo-montage
Video
DVD
TimelashJuly 2007BBCDVD 2333
Audio
CD
The 50th Anniversary CollectionDecember 2013Photo-montageOriginal Television Soundtracks
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22 (Limited Edition)June 2022BBCBD 0555Photo-montageBlu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22 (Standard Edition)June 2024BBCBD 0599Photo-montageBlu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
TimelashMay 1986Target No. 105Glen McCoyDavid McAllisterISBN: 0-426-20229-5
CD
CD
TimelashMarch 2022Target No. 105Glen McCoyDavid McAllisterAudio version of the Target Novel read by Colin Baker.
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision)Issue 83 (Released: March 1999)
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 98 (Released: March 1985)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 99 (Released: April 1985)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 231 (Released: October 1995)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 395 (Released: May 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 410 (Released: July 2009)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 141 (Released: May 2014)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companion

 
Colin Baker
The Sixth Doctor

   

 
Nicola Bryant
Peri
 
   




On Release

Sound Effects CD Cover
Sound Effects CD Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Colin Baker Years VHS Video Cover
Colin Baker Years VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover
The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover

BBC
AUDIO
The Collection Season 22 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 22 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 22 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 22 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO



In Print

Target Book Cover
Target Book Cover

Target
NOVEL
 
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
   


Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 83
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 83

CMS
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 98
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 98

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 99
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 99

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 231
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 231

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 395
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 395

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 410
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 410

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 141
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 141

GE Fabbri


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