VHS : Doctor Who - Timelash [1985]

Rating: - Mostly harmless and fun
This is probably the most harmless and innoffensive of all Sixth Doctor stories. Sure it is pure pantomime with the boo-hiss villain Borad tying Peri to railway tracks (or similar!) and a campy performance by sub-villain Paul Darrow, but the whole thing is made much more entertaining than your usual christmas panto by Colin Baker who looks like a blonde parody of Tom Baker and acts like Basil Fawlty, berating and belittling the enthusiastic and ernest Herbert at every opportunity. Herbert is an endearing English twit who turns out to be H.G Wells in a fun twist. All in all, colorful, cheesy pantomime, but harmless and highly enjoyable. It only seems to offend those who insist that Dr.Who must be a dark, serious, gritty, realistic space drama at all times. It never was, right from the start, with Web Planet and Underwater Menace, Who always did panto, and this is one of the most memorable, interesting and enjoyable pantomime Dr.Who outings of them all! Enjoy it...for what it is!

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Rating: - A great pantomime with a morally sound Doctor!
Some people forget that Dr.Who is part shakepeare, part detective drama, part horror movie, part historical drama and part pantomime. They see the pantomime as the thing to be particlularly ashamed of or embarrassed about. I disagree. Warriors of the Deep was a tragic pantomime with a morality play at the core, Twin Dilemma was pantomime with a black heart, and this story is a pantomime that restores the sense of adventure and compassionate heroics to the Colin Baker era. Here we see the Doctor at his most moral and noble, ready to give his life to save the people of Karfel from an evil dictator and the bomb attack he's provoked. Aided by quirky and enthusiastic Herbert, a likeable guy who turns out to be H.G. Wells, this is a pantomime with a good heart (or two!) and a lot of color, wit and fun. The boo-hiss Borad is a little ordinary, but does the villain thing okay. The references to Wells' literature is clever and ultimately ironic, because his book The Time Machine influenced the creation of the whole Dr.Who series, and this story suggests the writer got his book ideas from his adventures with the Doctor! Witty, literate and not bad for a panto, hey?
Definitely one of the more upbeat and enjoyable Colin Baker stories! Taken for what it is, (instead of criticising it for what it is not!) this is a great Dr.Who story.

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Rating: - Colin Baker is not as bad as you think!
We all know that Colin Baker is not everyone's favourite Doctor Who. However - and I'll get straight to the point - this is easily one of the best Doctor Who stories ever written. For one thing, Colin Baker is not as violent. In fact his performance brings back fond memories of Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker. The Borad is a particularly good villian, but his dialogue at times can be a bit boring. For me, the best thing about this story is the character of Herbert. He is funny, likeable and not as unwatchable as some temporary companions of the 1980's. More importantly for the regulars, The Doctor and Peri are not at each others throats the whole time - as in most of the other Colin Baker stories - but have in fact grown closer together.

One final note - keep an eye out for the superb painting of The Doctor, but it isn't Colin!

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Rating: - Bad
This is not only the worst Colin Baker story ever, it's the worst doctor who story ever.
Timelash is poorley scripted poorley acted and poor sets and effects.
For the first fifteen mins it average a plain and nice Doctor Who opening but then it loses the plot and wanders off.
The maylin and bandril costume are below standards for any BBC programme.
Poor and cheap would sum it up

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Rating: - Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Timelash is a very nice simple Doctor Who story. Maybe it is a bit of a weak script but looking at it again there some very comic moments in it.