Timelash was the fifth and penultimate serial ofseason 22 ofDoctor Who. It was notably the last story of the classic era to revolve around an adventure with a historical figure,H. G. Wells, and kept his identity a secret until the very end. Previously, his presence in theDoctor Who universe had been alluded to when one of his books,The War of the Worlds, was seen being read bythe Master inFrontier in Space and would later be acknowledged again when theSeventh Doctor and post-regenerativeEighth Doctor readThe Time Machine, another of his works, in the1996 TV movie.Professor Chronotis was also seen reading the latter book inShada.

The story also gave a nod tothe Doctor's past adventures back when he was travelling withJo Grant in histhird incarnation and retroactively addressed that they had been in an adventure off-screen involving the main antagonist of this story. Oddly, the viewers were witnessing a sequel to this as-of-yet unseen conflict; thus, the Doctor could conveniently and reasonably demonstrate a history and knowledge of the alien species and theplanet central to the story, and the writers relied heavily on exposition about these past events to carry the serial forward.

Coincidentally, this story aired right after amulti-Doctor story where theSixth Doctor andPeri Brown hadan adventure with hissecond incarnation and his then-companionJamie McCrimmon, resulting in two consecutive retrospective looks of bygoneDoctor Who eras over the course of the same season.

Synopsis[[edit] |[edit source]]

On the planetKarfel and in1885Scotland, theSixth Doctor andPeri, together with a young man namedHerbert, become entangled with the machinations of the despoticBorad.

Plot[[edit] |[edit source]]

Part one[[edit] |[edit source]]

The Doctor andPeri are arguing over their next destination whenthe TARDIS is ensnared by aKontron tunnel, atime corridor in space. After the Doctor fails to free the ship, he and Peri strap themselves in. The TARDIS approaches the corridor and is nearly torn apart by the impact, but stabilises once it has entered the corridor. It is navigated to the source of the disturbance, theplanetKarfel, a world the Doctor has visited before. Before they get there, the translucent image of a woman glides through the console room.

On Karfel, the small population of theCitadel is ruled in a rigid hierarchy. At the apex isthe Borad, a sadistic and despotic ruler. The Borad has never shown himself in person, only via security monitors which show a dignified old man, but something in his manner does not ring true. Fear is enforced rigidly through the policing ofandroids. Rebels such asAram,Gazak andTyheer are dealt with either by summary execution or despatch and death via theTimelash - a permanent, and ultimately fatal, exile down a corridor oftime andspace. Below the Borad is theMaylin, in effect a proxy mayor figure, the most senior of the fiveCouncilors of Karfel. These Councillors are more cyphers than people of true council. One of them,Mykros, has grown unhappy with the rule of the Borad. Since the Borad came to power, their people have become disillusioned, rebellious and miserable. Their former allies, theBandrils, are poised to invade. The Bandrils threaten war after the Borad rescinds thegrain supplytreaty, which underpinned the relationship between the two civilisations.

Mykros determines to discover the truth and follows the Maylin,Renis, into the Borad's power chamber. The unhappy Maylin is transferring the power supplies of theKarfelons into the Borad's personal system, despite the danger to his own wife, who is recovering fromhospital surgery. Renis finds Mykros and gives him his blessing in rebellion. However, the Borad finds out and dishes out the usual punishment: the Maylin is aged to death in a deadly beam while Mykros is sentenced to the Timelash. Before he can be sent in, however,Vena, Renis' daughter and Mykros' lover, intervenes to plead for his life. When this fails, she steals an amulet conferring the power to pervert the energy supply from the new Maylin, the sycophanticTekker, and accidentally falls into the web of the Timelash herself.

The arrival of the TARDIS presents Tekker with an opportunity to retrieve the amulet. The clever Maylin greets the Doctor and Peri as favoured guests, but the Doctor is suspicious of a Karfelon society that has made huge scientific leaps in a short time and that does not permitmirrors. When the Doctor refuses to venture into the Timelash again, Tekker explains that Peri has been taken hostage to ensure his co-operation in retrieving the amulet. However, while attempting to capture Peri, she escaped into the caves of theMorlox, large lizards indigenous to Karfel, where Tekker hopes she will die. While cornered by the Morlox, Karfelon rebels,Katz andSezon, arrive and shoot at the Morlox and take her into their company. However, they are soon attacked and captured by a patrol of guards.

To protect Peri, the Doctor returns the TARDIS into the Timelash. He calculates that the normal path of the Timelash would send Vena to1179 onEarth, but the interference of the TARDIS (which she passed through and the Doctor and Peri had seen earlier) caused her to end up inScotland in1885. When the Doctor arrives he finds Vena, the amulet and a justifiably agitated young man namedHerbert. All three depart on their return journey to return the amulet – which is all Tekker cares about when the TARDIS arrives back in the Council Chamber. The Doctor, Vena and Herbert are rounded up with the rebels Mykros, Sezon and Katz and condemned to the Timelash. Brunner reports the Timelash is ready for use, and Tekker tells the Doctor to save his breath for the Timelash. The android grabs the Doctor and forces him to move towards the Timelash. Laughing, Tekker tells the Doctor goodbye as the android forces the Doctor closer to the Timelash...

Part two[[edit] |[edit source]]

ABandril.

They fight back, killing the toadying Councillor Brunner and sealing the chamber doors, determined to hold out in a siege. This buys the Doctor enough time to hoist into the Timelash on a rope and take twoKontron crystals from the wall of the time corridor. He uses this to create a time ruse, allowing him to slip out of the chamber. Herbert follows.

Tekker has fled to the Borad. He blames the setback on the last remaining loyal Councillor,Kendron, whom the Borad executes. Tekker remains at the side of the Borad, now revealed as a hideous amalgam of human and Morlox. Together they watch on a screen as Peri is brought into a cave and strapped down while Morlox gathers to feed. A canister of the chemicalMustakozene-80 is placed nearby. This can fuse together different tissue as one creature. It seems the Borad has taken a liking to Peri and wishes to mutate her like himself. The Doctor arrives to confront Tekker and the Borad, recognising the latter as Megelen, a crazed scientist he encountered on his previous visit to Karfel and exposed to the Counsel for unethical experiments on Morloxes. It seems one of those experiments has now gone wrong and Megelen wishes to replicate its effect to create a partner. His plan has been to provoke a war with the Bandrils withbendalypse warheads, which will wipe out all the Karfelons — but leave the Morlox and himself alive, allowing him to repopulate the world in his own image. This revelation prompts Tekker to rebel, but he is swiftly aged to death. The Doctor uses a Kontron crystal to deflect Megelen's beam back at him, killing the mutant in his wheelchair.

Herbert helps the Doctor rescue Peri from the Morlox. They return to the Council Chamber where Mykros and Vena have identified a Bandril invasion fleet armed with bendalypse warheads. It is close to Karfel. The Bandrils are suspicious of the Doctor's attempts to intervene and prevent a missile strike. He takes drastic action. He materialises the TARDIS in the path of the incoming warhead, risking his own life to save Karfel. He succeeds and returns to Karfel to find Megelen returned from the dead and threatening the Council Chamber — or, rather, the other one was aclone of this original. Megelen is unbalanced by the image of himself in a boarded up mirror, revealing the reason he hid away. He is thrown into the Timelash by the Doctor, who says the Borad was sent to Loch Ness.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Peri prepare to depart Karfel to return Herbert to his own time. Herbert is still outside and the Doctor calls to him to hurry up, before showing Peri Herbert's calling card, which identifies the young man as "Herbert George Wells".

Cast[[edit] |[edit source]]

• The Doctor -Colin Baker
• Peri -Nicola Bryant
• The Borad / Megelen -Robert Ashby
• Old Man -Denis Carey
• Tekker -Paul Darrow
• Mykros -Eric Deacon
• Maylin Renis -Neil Hallett
• Vena -Jeananne Crowley
• Kendron -David Ashton
• Herbert -David Chandler
• Katz -Tracy Louise Ward
• Brunner -Peter Robert Scott
• Sezon -Dicken Ashworth
• Gazak -Steven Mackintosh
• Aram -Christine Kavanagh
• Tyheer -Martin Gower
• Android -Dean Hollingsworth
• Guardolier -James Richardson
• Bandril Ambassador -Martin Gower(voice only)

Uncredited Cast[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Guardoliers -Peter Gates Fleming,Kevin O'Brien,Richard Bonehill
• YoungKarfelon -Chris Bradshaw
• Rebels -Mike Nagel,Brian Melloy

Crew[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Assistant Floor Manager -Abigail Sharp
• Camera Supervisor -Alec Wheal
• Costume Designer -Alun Hughes
• Designer -Bob Cove
• Incidental Music -Liz Parker
• Make-up Designer -Vanessa Poulton
• Producer -John Nathan-Turner
• Production Assistant -Jane Whittaker
• Production Associate -Sue Anstruther
• Production Manager -Alan Wareing
• Script Editor -Eric Saward
• Special Sounds -Dick Mills
• Lighting Director -Henry Barber
• Sound Supervisor -Andy Stacey
• Technical Co-ordinator -Alan Arbuthnott
• Theme Arrangement -Peter Howell
• Title Music -Ron Grainer
• Video Effects -Dave Chapman
• Videotape Editor -Hugh Parson
• Vision Mixer -Jayne Beckett
• Visual Effects Designer -Kevin Molloy

Uncredited crew[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Lighting Chargehands -Ken Rock,Len Wilson (INFO:Timelash)
• Senior Studio Engineers -Gordon Ashford,Ian McLeod,Chas Seamons (INFO:Timelash)
• Booker -Sarah Bird (INFO:Timelash)
• Floor Assistant -Helen Greaves (INFO:Timelash)
• Visual Effects Assistant -Paul Mann (INFO:Timelash)
• Props Buyer -Al Huxley (INFO:Timelash)
• Production Operative Supervisors -Ray Davis,George Griffith (INFO:Timelash)
• Production Operatives -Harry Greek,Brian Green,John Greenham (INFO:Timelash)
• Costume Assistant -Liz Dawson (INFO:Timelash)
• Make-Up Assistant -Wendy Harrison (INFO:Timelash)
• Design Assistant -Francis Boyle (INFO:Timelash)
• Production Secretary -Sarah Lee (INFO:Timelash)
• Graphic Designer -Ian Hewitt (INFO:Timelash)
• Dressers -Lesley Bingham,Liz Dixon,Alan Hatchman,Stephen Smith (INFO:Timelash)

Worldbuilding[[edit] |[edit source]]

Jo in the locket.

• The Doctor says that he was contemplating taking Peri to theconstellation of Andromeda.
• TheThird Doctor andJo Grant have visitedKarfel before this story.
• TheKontron tunnel from Karfel leads toEarth (and the Highlands ofScotland, nearInverness) in the12th century. Whenthe Borad is sent through it, the Doctor comments he'll have "somewhere to swim for the next thousand years." Peri wonders if he'd be spotted, to which the Doctor replies, "from time to time," implying the Borad may be responsible for sightings of theLoch Ness Monster.
• When the Doctor tells Peri that the Kontron tunnel is a "time corridor in space", she asks, "Didn't theDaleks have one of those?"
• Bendalypse warheads are gas weapons that will kill anything with a central nervous system but not the reptilian Morlox.
• Mustakozene-80 is a chemical producingmutation on contact with human skin.
• The Doctor's TARDIS has colour-coded seat belts.
• The Doctor tells Peri, "You don't seem to realise the effect thattime particles colliding within amulti-dimensional implosion field can have."
• Tekker is aged to dust with atime acceleration beam.
• Madric is a Karfelon rebel.

Notes[[edit] |[edit source]]

• The music for this story was provided byElizabeth Parker, who had formerly contributed special sound forBlake's 7. A selection of this music is on track 64 of the CD30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop. The DVD release from 2007 features 8-minutes of her music in stereo (wheres the DVD audio track is mono). Parker is the only woman to date to be credited for the music of aDoctor Who universe TV story.
• This story was broadcast in four twenty-five minute episodes in the USA,Australia,New Zealand,Canada, United Arab Emirates andGermany. Part one ends with the Doctor and Peri arriving on Karfel and exiting the TARDIS, while part three ends with Peri being attacked by the Morlox.
• This story was originally submitted as a Dalek adventure; it was rejected, butEric Saward asked authorGlen McCoy to resubmit it without them. (DCOM:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
• In the original script, it was theFirst Doctor, along withIan,Barbara andSusan, who visited Karfel. Some vestige of this remains in the final version, as Tekker inquires about the Doctor having only one companion with him.
• In viewer polls, this story is often very poorly regarded: the serial was voted into the 199th position by readers ofDoctor Who Magazine in its2009 poll, the Mighty 200. It landed in the second lowest spot of the final results, just aboveThe Twin Dilemma.
• No date is given for the scenes set on Karfel.A History of the Universe andAHistory arbitrarily place it in the year 802701, the same year in which H.G. Wells'The Time Machine is set.
• When playing the role of Tekker,Paul Darrow purposely exaggerated his performance as a way of retaliating againstColin Baker's similar portrayal of Bayban the Butcher in theBlake's 7 episodeCity at the Edge of the World, in which Darrow starred as Kerr Avon. Darrow stated that he felt undermined by Baker's bombastic acting onBlake's 7.
• In the original scripts, Katz's amulet — given to her grandfather by the Third Doctor — was to contain a reference toGallifrey, which Peri identified as the Doctor's home planet in order to gain Sezon's trust.Eric Saward replaced this with a picture ofJo Grant (actually a publicity still taken during the making ofDay of the Daleks).
• The script gave an explanation for the destruction of the Bandril (originally "Gurdel") missile — that the bendalypse was neutralised via contact with the TARDIS's time field — to replace it only with the Doctor's vague assurance that he will explain it to Peri later (and off-screen).Glen McCoy had depicted the action as unfolding over the course of multiple days, butEric Saward pruned this down to a matter of hours.
• In the original script, Maylin Tekker undergoes no change of heart and is instead murdered by the Borad in the process of shooting the Doctor.
• The original script had the Borad reject his earlier inclination of mating with Peri because he can now make as many clones of himself as he desires.
• Nicola Bryant hated the story because Peri spent a lot of time being tied up and it seemed like a step backwards. She also named the first TARDIS scene as her worst acting performance.Colin Baker felt that it didn't quite gel with him, either.
• John Nathan-Turner wanted Paul Darrow to play Tekker as Avon fromBlake's 7. Darrow refused and instead played him asRichard III. According toPennant Roberts, Darrow asked if he could play the part with a hump.
• Eric Saward described Tekker as "a Roman Emperor who's been sniffing glue all day".
• Robert Ashby (the Borad) was given leeway to rewrite his own lines.
• Steven Berkoff,Andrew Burt,Tom Chadbon,Michael Gothard,Ronald Lacey,Patrick Mower andDavid Warner were considered for the role of Tekker.
• Alun Armstrong,Brian Grellis,Prentis Hancock,Tony Osoba,Carl Rigg,Leslie Schofield andMichael Sheard were considered for the role of Bruner.
• David Allister,Michael Sheard andRobin Sloans were considered for the role of Kendron.
• James Bree,Arthur Hewlett,Leonard Maguire,John Nettleton andJohn Woodnutt were considered for The Old Man.
• Tom Chadbon,Michael Cochrane,Christopher Guard,Dominic Guard,Martin Potter,Patrick Ryecart,Paul Shelley andJames Warwick were considered for Mykros.
• John Abineri,James Bree,Frederick Treves andJohn Woodnutt were considered for Renis.
• According toColin Baker,Pennant Roberts was underwhelmed by the script and was disappointed the bickering between the Doctor and Peri was back, but conceded that such scenes are easier to write.
• According toEric Saward, it wasJohn Nathan-Turner's idea that this story be a sequel to an unseenThird Doctor adventure.
• It took three hours to putRobert Ashby's makeup on and he couldn't eat anything during the day.
• John Nathan-Turner tookColin Baker andNicola Bryant out of rehearsals twice to attend a convention and rehearse his pantomime.Eric Saward thought this was unfair on the show and that their performances were sub-par as a result.
• It became apparent thatEric Saward's efforts to correct the lengths of the two episodes had been unsuccessful: part one was six minutes too long, while part two underran by four minutes. Pennant Roberts suggested simply shifting the cliffhanger back to the Guardoliers' attack on the rebels, and inserting reaction shots to imply that Peri had been killed instead of Katz. However,John Nathan-Turner rejected this proposal. Instead, it was decided to move some of the material involving Peri being taken to the Morlox cave to part two. Minor scene cuts would then shorten the first instalment to its proper length. To prop up the concluding episode, Nathan-Turner authorised a remount in order to record extensions to its two TARDIS scenes. Saward wrote the additional material andDavid Chandler was rehired. Saward greatly disliked the new scenes.
• TheRadioTimes programme listing for part one included a small black-and-white head-and-shoulders photograph ofPaul Darrow as Tekker, while the synopsis misspelled Borad as "Board" and the cast list erroneously creditedJames Richardson (Guardolier) as "Gardolier".
• A large-scale invasion was dropped from the script due to budget constraints.
• The Bandrils were originally named Gurdels, while Maylin Renis was originally named Maylin Vena, suggesting thatGlen McCoy intended “Vena” to be a family name.
• Aram was originally a man. It wasPennant Roberts who suggested casting a woman.
• The portrait of theThird Doctor hidden in the inner sanctum was painted by an American fan namedGail Bennett, who had come to the attention of the production team after creating a series ofDoctor Who art cards. For reference, Bennett used an image ofJon Pertwee fromInvasion of the Dinosaurs.
• As the serial developed,Eric Saward became concerned about the quality of the scripts, especially in light ofGlen McCoy's limited experience in television. On the other hand,John Nathan-Turner was reluctant to waste the fees already paid to McCoy, and argued against dropping the serial. Furthermore, the previous two serials had proved costly, so Nathan-Turner wanted a story that could be done on a low budget. Unfortunately, Saward was unable to mentor McCoy, as he was busy working onRevelation of the Daleks. The story then suffered further budget cuts.

Influences[[edit] |[edit source]]

• The Time Machine: The Eloi girl Weena suggested Vena's name and the monstrous Morlocks became the Morlox. Furthermore, the TARDIS itself owed a great debt to the novel.
• The Island of Doctor Moreau: The hybrid nature of the Borad was inspired by Doctor Moreau's beast people.
• The Invisible Man: The Doctor essentially becomes invisible using the Kontron crystals.[1]

Ratings[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Part one - 6.7 million viewers
• Part two - 7.4 million viewers

Filming locations[[edit] |[edit source]]

• BBC Television Centre (TC4 & TC8), Shepherd's Bush,London

Production errors[[edit] |[edit source]]

to be added

Updated Special Effects[[edit] |[edit source]]

The story received anUpdated Special Effects version in the20 June2022 release ofSeason 22 inThe Collection. The effects were done byChris Cassell andJustin T Lee.

Lee and Cassell considered updating theMorlox and theBandril designs, but chose against it. (DWM 579)

Deviations from original serial[[edit] |[edit source]]

• TheTimelash was given a new appearance.
• Karfel was made to beorange instead ofpurple, and given an orangey sky rather than a dark blue one.

Credits[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Special effects -Chris Cassell andJustin T Lee
• Producer -Russell Minton

Continuity[[edit] |[edit source]]

• InPROSE:Speed of Flight it is mentioned that the Doctor and Jo are on their way to Karfel, with the reference to the Doctor only having one companion here explained as CaptainMike Yates was joining them on their trip.
• The never-before-seen safety belts attached tothe Doctor's TARDIS console would not be used again, though similar belts were used on the console of theJunk TARDIS inTV:The Doctor's Wife.
• The Doctor tells the captain of the Bandril ship that he isLord President ofGallifrey. (TV:The Five Doctors)
• The Borad is implied to be the Loch Ness monster, conflicting with theSkarasen inTV:Terror of the Zygons; the contradiction is explained when the Borad is killed by agents of theCelestis inThe Taking of Planet 5, and theTwelfth Doctor later acknowledges that he is aware of the different monsters he is responsible for in Loch Ness. (PROSE:The Shining Man)
• To smother the Borad's delusion that Peri will accept him as the monster he is, the Doctor tells him, "You can't change the brain in her head". Ironically, Peridid later appear to get her brain replaced with theMentorKiv's inTV:Mindwarp.
• Beforethe Borad'scloned body is destroyed, he accuses the Doctor "You have tricked me!", to which the Doctor counters "You tricked yourself." This exchange would be repeated almost verbatim between theSeventh Doctor andDavros when the latter faced the destruction ofhis mothership by theHand of Omega which he had launched. (TV:Remembrance of the Daleks)

Home video and audio releases[[edit] |[edit source]]

DVD releases[[edit] |[edit source]]

This story was released asDoctor Who: Timelash. It was a "Super Value Edition" DVD.

It was released:

• Region 2 -9 July2007.

PAL - BBCDVD2333.

• Region 4 -31 July2007

PAL -

Special features:[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Commentary byColin Baker (The Doctor),Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown) andPaul Darrow (Tekker)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A new documentary looking at the making ofTimelash. Featuring contributions from Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Paul Darrow,David Chandler,Robert Ashby, script editorEric Saward, writerGlen McCoy andPaul Lang fromDoctor Who Adventures. Narrated byTerry Molloy.
• Radio Times Listings
• Subtitle Production Notes
• Photo Gallery with 8 minutes ofElizabeth Parker's music in 24bit 48hz stereo
• Coming Soon Trailer -Time-Flight &Arc of Infinity
• Easter Egg: Continuity announcements. To access this hidden feature, press left at Special Features on the Main Menu to illuminate theDoctor Who logo.

Notes:

• Editing for the DVD release was completed by theDoctor Who Restoration Team.

• 

  Region 2 cover

• 

  Region 1 cover

• 

  Region 4 cover

VHS releases[[edit] |[edit source]]

The story was released on VHS on5 January1998.

• 

  UK VHS cover

• 

  AUS VHS cover

• 

  US VHS cover

Blu-Ray[[edit] |[edit source]]

The story was released on Blu-ray as part ofThe Collection:Season 22 on20 June2022

• 

  Season 22

External links[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Timelash at theBBC's official site
• Timelash atRadioTimes
• Timelash atBroaDWcast
• Timelash at theDoctor Who Reference Guide
• Timelash atShannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• Timelash.com —Doctor Who fan site named after this episode