Timeslip

I was six when Timeslip was shown, but it has really stayed with me. I am surprised that no-one has published anything about it on the WWW, and yes, I have indeed been sad enough to search for it. Hell, there is even a Double Deckers page, so why not Timeslip!

Some things I remember are:

*some episodes were in colour, and others in black and white. Might this be why it has not been reshown?

*that the scary blary ATV sig tune blended perfectly into the theme music: da-da-da-da-DAAAAAA.....

*the way Liz and Simon would feel along the gap in the wire netting to find the Time Barrier.

*thinking how freaky it was when Liz met herself in the future (probably 1988 or something), but that she was called Beth.

*I used to have the novelisation, and there was also the comic strip version in Look-in (someone needs to do a Look-In website, by the way).

Does anyone know if Timeslip is available on video? I have never found it and would love to see it again.

This was actually released on Video quite a few years ago, and I bought the first three series, but somehow missed out on the fourth. This is a classic children's sci-fi drama which gripped tea time viewers during 1970. Comical in parts, and quite dramatic in others, particularly the cliff hangers which left you waiting for the next episode. Those who love Cult TV would have really enjoyed this. Perhaps now is the time for a re-release, perhaps on DVD.

The DVD of the entire series was released by Carlton Visual Entertainment Ltd on Monday 19th July 2004. Spread over four discs, the release features all 26 episodes including the sole surviving colour episode (not included on the original VHS release.) Both the colour episode and the black and white film recordings of the show have been totally re-mastered and cleaned up and, as such, feature much better picture resolution and sound than the poorly sourced VHS versions.

Also included in the package is an essay on the background to the show, the merchandise and brief biographies of the show's regulars together with a map of St.Oswald's and an exclusive gallery featuring never before published photos.

There are four TimeSlip video sets, long out of pring, and the series is currently on DVD with a colour episode (how careless that the original colour tapes have been wiped).

The special effects are quite primitive - but it's the ideas that strike a chord when you watch the stories today. The second and third stories are set in the "future" - of 1970, which is now our past. 1990 must have seemed the distant future back then - long enough for many changes to have happened.

We see ideas that do concern us today - cloning, putting faith in computers, virtual reality, and global warming. Perhaps some borrowed elements, e.g. from The Prisoner - the boy as an adult has just a number in the third story.

It should be said that the series is not by any means perfect. It is slow in places, the acting sometimes is a bit creaky, and Liz and Simon's parents don't seem to quite be old enough when another 20 years is added on. The 1970 visualisation of a 1990 computer was always unlikely to be correctly guessed, after all pocket calculators were a few years off, and home computers in any form were easily eight years away.

The first story, set in World War II, has some genuinely inspired moments, and the story as a whole is never completely finished - I think there was always a possibility of them coming back for a fifth series.

Personally, I've only had the opportunity to find the first complete story, "The Wrong End of Time." I found it quite enjoyable, seeing past the 'children's show' facade and enjoying it as I would a Pat Troughton Doctor Who adventure. Timeslip is a completely different concept of time travel as compared to most programmes/movies, and with an even lower budget than Tomorrow People, the creators have thus far managed to instill a minor obsession in me to find the remaining stories.

If you are looking for vintage British SF without the gloss, then by all means find a copy of this wonderful show. Fans of classic Doctor Who will be very impressed, I think.

The only drawback to the story is the child acting, although it improves a great deal as the story progresses. Also, there is a mild amount of padding, but that is to be expected in a serialized programme. The theme song is VERY reminiscent of another, extremely popular british SF series, as well.