Timelash

"He's dangling on the edge of oblivion..."

Writer: Glen McCoy 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 9th - 16th March 1985

Season: 22.04

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis 

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...

Verdict 

Timelash was a very good Doctor Who serial and another one of Colin Baker's stories that is wrongly mistreated in my opinion. The general opinion from Doctor Who fans seems to be that this is only slightly better than The Twin Dilemma which I think just isn't correct. Those two stories should get ranked a lot higher in the DWM polls and it just seems that even after thirty years and the incredible effort Colin Baker has put in for the audios, that they still hold his incarnation in sour taste. It's just wrong. Colin Baker was absolutely brilliant in this story and I do love his Sixth Doctor very much. He's definitely the best incarnation on audios and he's right up there for me on screen. He's not too dissimilar from our current Twelfth Doctor and he really does have some similarities to Peter Capaldi. The TARDIS scenes with Peri were magnificent and I love how he just knows he's the most intelligent man in whatever room he steps. I do love Peri but she just seems to let herself get bullied about in this serial which is a slight shame. I did enjoy how she demanded that she came with the Doctor when he was intending on setting off. As if Peri wasn't enough to keep the Doctor occupied, we had Herbet enter the TARDIS on more than one occasion in quite humorous circumstances. He was fantastic throughout the story with his relationship with the Doctor the particular highlight. They couldn't be two more contrasting figures! The revelation at the end that Herbet turned out to be HG Wells was stunning. These events must have inspired his writing of The Time Machine - a book I am desperate to read but time really is limited at the moment. This is the first time I've been able to blog since moving out from South Wales to Bath for university and after settling in and things calming down, I'm hoping a sense of normality is drawn. Whilst the new series is currently airing every week, my aim is to blog two other stories each week but with lectures due to begin next week I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick to that. I will certainly try my best! The idea of this story being a sequel to an unseen adventure with the Third Doctor and Jo (and another mysterious companion) is one I'm usually not a fan of. The Face of Evil was similar in that respect but the explanation in the novelisation was stunning so I didn't mind that. And I didn't mind it here for some reason! Usually my thoughts are that there's just so much to watch/listen/read etc do we really need hints of more adventures not yet brought to life? Seeing the portrait of the Third Doctor was wonderful though and at the time I bet that was a really nice moment. Jo Grant getting a nice little mention was nice as well, though I was surprised that Peri knew who she was and what she looked like. The Sixth Doctor doesn't seem the sort of character to remiss on old friends! I really liked the character of Vena, she was my favourite of all the guest cast. She was determined to hold onto that crystal! Her relationship with Herbet was also very nice. Tekker was quite a comedic bad guy though I'm not sure that was the aim. The Borad was a decent villain and I liked his grotesque appearance, the explanation of which wasn't very appealing at all! An amalgamation of two species doesn't sound the best of things. The fact he wanted Peri to be the same was mightily disturbing, but she would always reject him. The concept of the Timelash itself was good though I'm not sure I was too keen on the way the Borad was dealt with and the hints regarding the Loch Ness monster. Where does that leave Terror of the Zygons? But anyway, overall a very good story and one that despite its flaws, is still treated a lot worse than it should be. 

Rating: 8/10