Timelash (1985)
Review
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Review
This serial was first broadcast between 9 - 16 March 1985. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: when the Doctor and Peri decide to go on holiday they end up in an episode of "Blake's 7" and meet H.G. Wells.
Though this isn't a good serial, it's not entirely bad either. Some good things:
- the incidental music is unusual and excellent
- the scene in part one where the Doctor first meets Herbert and Vena stands out. Colin Baker is very likeable here, he gets some good lines, and the Victorian set looks fantastic
- the 'underworld' of Karfel where Peri finds herself after escaping from her would-be captor in episode one looks good, even if the monster that inhabits it does not
- the Borad is one of Doctor Who's better hideously deformed villains (with the added bonus of the actor giving a nicely understated performance) and I liked the design of the android
Some still somewhat good things:
- the scenes in episode one that introduce us to Karfel are bad in a rather enjoyable way. The dialogue is almost 100% exposition (I'm getting out of the city to join the rebels who are camped in the hills nearby, are you with me?... no, the city is too heavily guarded by the evil tyrant who rules us, so I will stay and try to start the revolution from within...) but the actors make the most of it, giving the whole thing an almost Shakespearean feel
- Paul Darrow's performance as Tekker is completely over the top, but the script gives him so little to work with (and the audience so little to take in) that this becomes a good thing. The long wig he wears here (presumably meant to remind us of Olivier's Richard III) is even worse than any of his bad haircuts in "Blake's 7"
The big problem, however:
- the script is a mess. It's padded, there's no tension, there's no characterisation and the dialogue shows very few signs of intelligent life
My verdict:
Kind of fun, in a weird sort of way.
More about Doctor Who
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Doctor Who reviews: 1984 - 1986
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Original version of this review:
08/12/31
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