Doctor Who: Timelash Effects Comparison 

I really like the new effects inside the Timelash, when the Doctor is trying to retrieve the crystals. The new version gives the impression that he’s struggling against forces which could drag him down, whilst the original… just looks like him abseiling down a glittery wall…

I never understood the negative opinions associated with this story -- it's perfectly fine and a lot of fun.

Heaven forbid they tie the other end of the rope to something secure while they dangle the Doctor in the Timelash 😂

Only a wet behind the ears Time Lord academy graduate would think the Time Lash had tinsel inside it. It’s obviously Vortex Moss.

Fun fact: In 2001 Jonathan Morris and Lance Parkin pitched a novel called _Destination: Bandril_ to BBC Books' Past Doctor Adventures range that would've been the off-screen Third Doctor adventure to which _Timelash_ is a sequel. _Destination: Bandril_ would have been an *extremely* meta story - the idea was that it would deliberately strongly echo elements from _Timelash,_ as if _Timelash_ was actually a highly derivative sequel that recycled ideas and plot points from its predecessor (what _Attack of the Cybermen_ was to the 1960s Cybermen stories.) _Destination: Bandril_ would've been divided into six "episodes" with one "episode" being based on the board game in the 1973 Doctor Who Annual. Many familiar tropes from the Third Doctor era would have been incorporated into the plot. A minor unseen character in _Timelash_ (Maylin Renis' wife Tola) would've had a major role in _Destination: Bandril,_ the meta-joke being that she doesn't appear in _Timelash_ because she was played by Penelope Keith who declined the offer to return for the sequel. The pitch was rejected by range editor Justin Richards, Morris suspects that it was because Richards thought it was an elaborate practical joke rather than a genuine pitch.

I think that's a much better realisation of the Timelash.

Hmm i was intrigued how they would update the inside of the timelash, just cover up the set with a blur effect. Still looks much better. I like how the new effect for the entrance to the timelash looks like a bright version of the circular time tunnel effect from pertwee’s second intro

Does anyone else get major Tom Baker tunnel vibes from the new Timelash?

All these improvements are great. Funny acting throughout espesh Darrows freeze on every sentence, love that.

Definitely largely in keeping with what would’ve been possible at the time, some reminiscent of Pyramids of Mars, which was great! Nice spill. I do feel like when The Doctor’s inside the giants causeway set it’s just a little overkill, but only coz you lose all the details of the set. More fluctuations in its density may’ve helped this, its only in the side by side I saw all the work they’d done on the set. Trying to make it work, otherwise great. If you’d played me the new ones without a side by side I may not have even thought it. As I’d have struggled to remember the originals either way. Great job, elevates it just enough.

The Timelash looks so much better. Yay technology!!!!

Nicely done stuff!

This story needs all the help it can get.

So much better

Of all the serials in season 22 to get this treatment, Timelash is the last I'd choose, given it's widely disliked, but looking at this, the effects do look good, so whoever did this work did an amazing job. Just a shame the serial is still Timelash, tbh.

Unpopular opinion: Timelash isn’t as bad as everyone says it it.

Can't believe they tried to hide all that lovely tinsel

Nice!

There appears to be a lot of unrefined chroma-keying on the Doctor's jacket in the Timelash. Part of me hopes that it's just a design choice that only LOOKS like a failed chroma-key but honestly that might be an even worse reality. Everything else looks pretty good though, just that Timelash sequence... Oof.

As a labour of love by a fan this is v impressive, wish I had half the skills of the effect artist. However, I'm not convinced this is up to a commercial standard. The lighting effect around the edges of the entrance to the timelash is v jarring. It would be less distracting to watch the original version. The rotoscoping could use some more work as well. The space scenes are nice though!

Mixed bag. The decision to blur all the shots inside the Timelash and add weird fuzzy lights is questionable, I actually think staring at tinsel was preferable. But for the most part the timelash looks better on the outside and the establishing shots of the planet are very good.

I thought the entrance to the timelash was rather good in the original. However the work done on the inside is a definite improvement.

A lot of these are hit or miss for me. A lot of them look pretty good but I really hate the effect for inside the timelash. The original isn't great but the new one just looks so weird and cheap. Looks like just a bunch of stacked blur effects.

The Timelash effect doesn't work for me as they've made it a tunnel where all the physical reaction regards it as a pit to fall into. I've only just noticed that the blu-ray doesn't include an isolated score for Timelash - I was sure it would do. I'm a bit narked about that. It's not the greatest score and certainly doesn't compliment the visuals but it would have been nice to have.

As someone who's seen the original I'm impressed with the new effects, though there's a few where you can barely tell the difference. The ones in the Timelash (crystal search bit) look like they could've been done differently

It's great to see a 1985 Doctor Who episode updated to 2005 state of the art home Adobe effects in 2022!

8:19 Is that Jon Pertwee behind the door?

Timelash is a guilty pleasure. Not great @ all, but I don't mind it.

Amazed they didn't use some Vaseline on the lens in 1985 an get the same blurred images the old fashioned way.

Is that version of the opening titles theme new to this set? Since it's the best version of the Howell theme I've heard.

Much better but the morlox creature in the cave was still crap lol

8:36 Goofy ahh alien from the 80s

No replacement for the Bandrill or the Morlox 😞

I prefer the styrofoam and tin foil effects.

You know it isn't good when you think "This is pretty bad, even for Timelash"

Massive improvement but from what I can tell the main thing they did was blur stuff out. The less clearly you saw the story, the better. I didn't see any bandril pictures, so I'm guessing that they kept the sock puppet.

At least they got rid of the tinsil.

aaaaaargh!

Massive improvement for most effects, but dreadful chroma key (mostly on the coat) inside the timelash.. Unfortunately, that whole bit was just a bit too flashy for the eyes. Overall though, I'd rather watch the episode with the new effects.

LET'S DO THE TIMELASH AGAIN!!!! You can never polish turd, but you can enjoy a stinker in an other wise enjoyable season, bar the dodgy Sontarans in The Two Doctors.

I love babelcolour new episodes of doctor who

Thinking 1985 was looking ok

No amount of elbow grease can polish that turd. 😱😱

Cunningmunki did it better.

Don't know. Kinda prefer the original in most shots

I just watched Timelash for the first time, and I just have to wonder why people talk about it as though it were the nadir of the Colin Baker era. Sure, it's no classic, but is it really any worse than Attack of the Cybermen or Mark of the Rani?

As usual, some of the new effects are pointless and worse than the originals! Thanks for the comparison video. Saves me having to watch the rubbish now!

The you version here is just terrible 3:50

There is nothing that can improve that story even if they tried!, well they did try and it's a big no for me..

You can’t improve the awful story and the bee keeper outfits sadly

Why bother with this? This episode is so bad the best VFX in the world couldn't save it