Timeslip

[Foxbat]

This Region 2 DVD box set retails at £29.99 and contains four discs – each containing a story made of 6 half-hour episodes.



This series was first aired in 1970 and was an attempt to bring Science Fiction to a young audience. The first tale is the story of a boy and a girl (Liz and Simon) who find a way to enter a ‘Time Bubble’ that they discover near an old naval base. Taken back to 1940, they have the chance to uncover the mystery of Liz’s father and his lost memories. Other storylines included Global warming and Cloning. It also has a particularly impressive and complicated character in the form of Charles Traynor – the old base commander, whose duplicitous nature is slowly uncovered with each passing episode. Considering its target audience, it dealt with these issues in a very intelligent manner with some sharp dialogue and a degree of acting that might seem a little wooden now but was acceptable for its time.



Some scenes look a bit dodgy – particularly in the first story where much of the action happens outdoors at night. There is a lot of hatching distortion on the picture and light trails in the wake of fast movement. I suspect, however, that this is more a shortcoming of filming in these conditions at the time rather than the digital format as none of this interference takes the form of pixelisation or relics. It is only the night shots that are affected in this manner and the rest of the episodes are quite acceptable in quality.



All in all, a good, thought provoking series which adults as well as children can enjoy. A show that deals with new technology and concepts in an imaginative and yet believable manner. Definitely worth investing in.



Worth looking at is www.timeslip.org.uk