TIMELASH

>Sarah asked:

>I would love to read comments from others - especially >Mark Davies -
>please? Pretty please? You did say it was your all time
>favourite :-)

>Your right Sarah, it is my favourite.But it'll need some >telling as to why.Including addressing some of the issues >you bring up.

>Give me a few days.

>Regards Mark UK

Time Travel,time displacement,time distortion.What ever term you want to use, the manipulation of time has been one of the staple ingredients of countless science fiction stories both in films and television.

So from amongst all of these what is it that makes TIMELASH,an episode featured in a little known TV series from 1970's so special?
Well to some extent the fact that we're all UFO fans here clearly goes some way to answering the larger part of that question.

wow. well thought out analysis. i sometimes think
Timelash is one of my favorites also because it
exposes Straker's otherness as well. Managing to
survive what he's done to himself, solve the problem
and then have a good chance of coming out of the
chemical induced madness puts Straker on a par with
superhuman. Frequently he's not just obsessed/driven
but more than that. When everyone else is questioning
what he's doing and where they're going, Straker
forges ahead.

I like the fact that Col. Lake was the supporting
character in this one. Even if she was "just a
sounding board" for explanations/theorizing in many
ways, that she managed to keep up with Straker for any
period of time says a great deal about the character,
and not that she's just easy on the eyes ... LOL.
Even though her memory was hazy on what happened
(gone? -- it's been a while since I've seen this ...)
she was of assistance. And she wasn't a "damsel in
distress", which is one of the strengths of UFO. There
were a lot of very strong women's roles.

just my $0.02 <--- why is there no cent sign on a
keyboard????

dragon

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If I remember correctly Straker gave himself and Lake a special medicine which enhanced their concentration and enabled them to fight the effects of the alien time distort. The evil Shado operative(forgot name) also knocked her out which also could have contributed to her forgetting.

Sallie Loftin <[hidden email]> wrote: wow. well thought out analysis. i sometimes think
Timelash is one of my favorites also because it
exposes Straker's otherness as well. Managing to
survive what he's done to himself, solve the problem
and then have a good chance of coming out of the
chemical induced madness puts Straker on a par with
superhuman. Frequently he's not just obsessed/driven
but more than that. When everyone else is questioning
what he's doing and where they're going, Straker
forges ahead.

I like the fact that Col. Lake was the supporting
character in this one. Even if she was "just a
sounding board" for explanations/theorizing in many
ways, that she managed to keep up with Straker for any
period of time says a great deal about the character,
and not that she's just easy on the eyes ... LOL.
Even though her memory was hazy on what happened
(gone? -- it's been a while since I've seen this ...)
she was of assistance. And she wasn't a "damsel in
distress", which is one of the strengths of UFO. There
were a lot of very strong women's roles.

just my $0.02 <--- why is there no cent sign on a
keyboard????

dragon

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Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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Timelash is one of my favorite episodes. When I was 10 I suffered from insomnia. I had a tv in my room and I would watch it with the volume turned down low. UFO was one of the shows that regular tv stations would not touch but one independant station did. I only remembered Timelash of all the episodes I did see at that time. When the Sci Fi station premiered in New Orleans I had high hopes that UFO would be shown again. Unfortunatly it was a premium channel. By the time I could afford it UFO was no longer shown. For twenty yrs all I could remember was the man in the mini car going around and around and around. When I bought my DVD collection I was so happy to see that episode. It has a special part in my heart because otherwise I would not remembered UFO at all.

Mark Davies <[hidden email]> wrote: >Sarah asked:

>I would love to read comments from others - especially >Mark Davies -
>please? Pretty please? You did say it was your all time
>favourite :-)

>Your right Sarah, it is my favourite.But it'll need some >telling as to why.Including addressing some of the issues >you bring up.

>Give me a few days.

>Regards Mark UK

Time Travel,time displacement,time distortion.What ever term you want to use, the manipulation of time has been one of the staple ingredients of countless science fiction stories both in films and television.

So from amongst all of these what is it that makes TIMELASH,an episode featured in a little known TV series from 1970's so special?
Well to some extent the fact that we're all UFO fans here clearly goes some way to answering the larger part of that question.

--- In [hidden email], "Mark Davies" <aonq79@...> wrote:

> To answer Sarah's question ,the UFO that attacks Straker's car is
>the same UFO that is shot down at the end.
 
> As each layer is added,time is fixed for that moment.Six o'clock
>for the studio and Eight o'clock for the next layer etc.At some
>point towards the end of the episode the aliens have spread the
> force field wide enough for them to enter the inner bubble with
>enough control and opportunity to destroy the base,at which point
>Straker cripples it with the molly.

> During the moment when Straker's car was at the side of the
>road,it was unaffected by the UFO radiating its beam
>because,somehow he instinctively said freeze to Col
>Lake.Consequently as neither were moving through time ,they were
>able to operate quite normally within each layer of the bubble.


Thank you Mark! Your theory makes sense....... I never considered
the purpose of the alien beam in this way before :-)


> Now in known scientific terms (and the nature of time is still
>very theoretical with Physicists) most of this would be regarded as
>baloney.But as this is Science Fiction Fantasy ,and it is able to
>drive the story along,who cares?


Very true - it's still interesting to ponder though..... I so wish
there had been a second series! 'Timelash'; 'Mindbender';'The Long
Sleep' et al had the aliens using highly advanced abilities to
manipulate SHADO and those who came into contact with them, I'd have
loved to have seen where it would have gone <sigh>.  


>No, what seperates it as a truly memorable episode is its
>remarkably haunting atmosphere,its original idea of a world frozen
>in time.I cannot recall ever having seen anything remotely similar
>in any film or television series before or since.

The only one I can remember where actors were standing about as
if 'frozen' is a 'Star Trek' OS episode, in which a humanoid species
moved so fast, the Enterprise crew appeared 'stationery', in
relative terms. Kirk was 'speeded up' to their time, for the
purposes of 'introducing new DNA' in order for the species to
survive (how typical!) The only thing the crew noticed was a
high pitched buzz. Spock isolated the substance 'in the water' that
was responsible and developed a counter drug to slow himself and
Kirk back to normal speed, after he had 'expedited repairs' - in "a
wink of the eye" - the episode's title (I think).

Not as haunting or as frightening as 'Timelash', the far superior
show in every respect, imho :-)


Sarah

--- In [hidden email], Sallie Loftin <calebschosen@...> wrote:

<snip> puts Straker on a par with superhuman. Frequently he's not
>just obsessed/driven but more than that. When everyone else is
>questioning what he's doing and where they're going, Straker
>forges ahead.

Well said :-) He was unfathomable and really rather frightening at
times! I'm always impressed that the character was so uncorrupted
by his position of supreme authority, quite an extraordinary quality
and one that was both admirable and reassuring :-)


>I like the fact that Col. Lake was the supporting character in this
>one. Even if she was "just a sounding board" for explanations/
>theorizing in many ways, that she managed to keep up with Straker
>for any period of time says a great deal about the character,and
>not that she's just easy on the eyes ... LOL. Even though her
>memory was hazy on what happened (gone? -- it's been a while since
>I've seen this ...) she was of assistance. And she wasn't a "damsel
>in distress", which is one of the strengths of UFO. There were a
>lot of very strong women's roles.

Again, well said! I liked Col. Lake very much and I think in a
second series, her character could have made quite an impression.

That UFO had women in positions of authority was noticeable, even in
the late 1980s when I first saw it, although TV had fortunately
moved away from portraying women as 'damsels in distress'; the
typical female lead role was powerful, but almost always 'bitchy'
and/ or a 'temptress' - aka Jo Frazer style :-(

But it goes even further than that. Considering both men and women
in UFO were unbelievably sexy, the fact that this did not remotely
affect the characterisations or the storylines shows UFO is *still*
way ahead of it's time, in this respect. If only the real world
were like this.......... :-)


Sarah