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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Doctor Who-Timelash (1985)

Doctor Who-Timelash (1985)

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Released 3-Jul-2007

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Featurette-Making Of-The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Trailer
Audio Commentary-Nicola Bryant, Colin Baker and Paul Darrow
DVD-ROM Extras-Radio Times Listings
Informational Subtitles
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1985
Running Time 89:43 (Case: 125)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (67:32) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Christopher Barry
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Colin Baker
Nicola Bryant
Paul Darrow
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Ron Grainer


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.29:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.29:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Lamenting the need for a holiday, the Doctor (Colin Baker) argues with Peri (Nicola Bryant) until they find themselves drawn toward a time corridor between 12th century earth and the planet Karfel. The Doctor manages to steer the TARDIS towards the source end of the corridor and the pair find themselves on the planet Karfel, a planet visited by the third Doctor years earlier (though not in any televised adventure) that has since fallen under the dictatorship of a baddie known as The Borad. The Borad hides his dictatorship behind a figurehead leader who goes by the title of Maylin, a role that belongs to Tekker (Blakes' 7 alumnus Paul Darrow) for the most part of this tale.

    A resistance is actively fighting the dictatorship. They are based in tunnels that are under the main city, which they share with some rather silly giant snake-like creatures known as Morlox. The primary punishment for insurgency is to be thrown into the Timelash - the very time corridor device that dragged the Doctor into the equation. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take the Doctor long to aid society in seeing The Borad's demise. The Doctor also manages to make a new friend named Herbert on a quick detour to the late 19th century.

    On paper Timelash seems to have a lot going for it - a notable guest star as well as reasonable concept for both the story and the baddies. Unfortunately the story struggles to find its feet, detouring all over the place before winding up halfway through the second of the two 45 minute episodes then padding the remaining running time with a sequence of several short disasters. The bad guys and sets generally look ridiculous - the military guards look like bee-keepers, except for one "robot" who is a very blonde fellow covered in a quick coat of blue paint, the Morlox are giggle-inducingly silly, the inside of the timelash looks like a primary school art project with lots of hexagons and tinsel pom-poms glued all over the place. Admittedly, The Borad looks kind of cool but he has only a few minutes screen time and is barely able to move in his costume. Worst of all, despite being part of the planet's mythology the Doctor barely fits into the story and is given oodles of painfully awkward "bonding" with Peri to give him screen time.

    Timelash has earned a reputation as being the dud of all duds amongst all the Doctor's adventures. Personally, I loved Timelash the first time I watched it. I was about seven years old at the time. I think it must have been because of all the tinsel in the timelash itself or maybe the blue robot-man. After viewing it again today, I can vouch that my opinion has plummeted. I can think of worse Doctor Who adventures but I would be counting them on one hand. This one is for the completists only!

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The show is presented in its original 1.29:1 aspect ratio and is not 16x9 enhanced (nor should it be).

    The video quality is fair, but looks dated and features a handful of analogue tape recording faults. It video is not quite up to the usual high standard of restoration seen on classic Dr. Who discs.

    The video is a little soft. Shadows look a little washed out. The level of low level noise present varies between scenes. Some scenes feature quite noticeable levels of noise (such as at 32:13 in the first episode).

    The colour is a little pale by modern standards, though that is hardly a surprise for twenty year old material. The colours do look to be evenly balanced throughout the episodes.

    The video has no noticeable MPEG artefacts but a litany of analogue video faults have been picked up in the transfer. Microphony is noticeable in several scenes, such as at 31:03. a handful of scenes have poor visibility due to video noise, such as at 32:25. There is a mild tape tracking fault visible for the duration of a scene at the 20:00 mark. Comet trails and edge enhancement are visible in a few scenes.

    The English subtitles appear to be accurate and reasonably well timed.

    This is an RSDL disc. The layer break occurs at 67:32, mid-scene in the second episode, but was not noticeable on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    An English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) soundtrack is present.

    The dialogue is clearly audible and well timed to the video.

    The music is rather awkward in this episode. The score is a typically cheesy synth affair, but one that sticks out a little more than it should.

    There is no noticeable surround or subwoofer usage.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    The extras are reasonably slim compared to other Dr. Who releases.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Making Of Featurette (25:04)

    This "Making Of" Featurette takes a refreshingly honest approach to the material and is specifically focussed on discussing what went wrong with Timelash. Rather than taking the easy option and laying all the blame on controversial producer John Nathan-Turner, though he does receive his share of finger-pointing, the circumstances of the episode are discussed in wider detail. This is both an eye-opening and interesting featurette.

Audio Commentary with Nicola Bryant, Colin Baker and Paul Darrow

    Three stars give a reasonably entertaining commentary. The three generally agree Timelash is a bit of a mess and are happy to give it a little bit of stick. Colin Baker is the only of the three who attempts any defence of the show and rather half-heartedly at that.

Radio Times Listings DVD ROM

    A two page PDF document containing the Radio Times (Britain's equivalent to the TV Guide) listings from when the episodes first aired. This lot are fairly routine and not terribly interesting.

Informational Subtitles

    One of the subtitle tracks consists of trivia, script excerpts and other assorted tid-bits of information about the episodes. This feature is fantastic and proves an excellent companion to the audio commentary track in this instance.

Trailer

    A trailer for the upcoming release of the Time Flight and Arc of Infinity box set, the next classic Dr. Who release.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    An identical version of Timelash is available in Region 2. Timelash is not yet available in Region 1.

Summary

    One of the good Doctor's greatest clunkers, given a better DVD treatment than it probably deserves. The special features are worth a look even if the episode isn't.

    The video is not quite up to the usual standard of classic Dr. Who releases, but is certainly watchable. The audio is fine.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Adam Gould (Totally Biolicious!)
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Review Equipment
DVDSony Playstation 3, using HDMI output
Display Samsung 116cm LA46M81BD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL).
Audio DecoderPioneer VSX-D512. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX2016AVS
Speakers150W DTX front speakers, and a 100W centre and 2 surrounds, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub

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