Timelash is the fifth serial of the 22nd season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 on 9 and 16 March 1985.
The TARDIS is ensnared by a Kontron tunnel (similar to a time corridor) and is drawn to its source on the planet Karfel, which the Doctor has previously visited.
His law is enforced by blue androids; and all rebels are dealt with either by summary execution or dispatch via the Timelash - exiled down a corridor of Time and Space.
At the time of the Doctor's return, the neighbouring planet of Bandrils are posed to invade after the Borad rescinds the grain supply treaty which underpinned the relationship between the two civilisations.
The Doctor arrives to confront Tekker and the Borad, recognising the latter as Megelen, a crazed scientist he encountered on his previous visit to Karfel and exposed to the Council for unethical experiments on Morloxes.
His plan has been to provoke a war with the Bandrils that will result in their use of warheads which will wipe out all the Karfelons – but leave the Morlox and himself alive – allowing him to repopulate the world in his own image.
A likeness of the Third Doctor is revealed behind a section of wall panelling in the Timelash control room, while Peri recognises a photograph of Jo.
This serial makes several references to Wells' novels: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau.
[5] Graham Sleight noted that Timelash is "widely regarded as one of the worst series ever broadcast as part of Doctor Who", claiming the story has "a weak script, cheap-looking design, unimaginative direction, laughable special effects and some appalling performances".
[7] Tat Wood described it as "a grindingly dull story only memorable for being made as a school panto with belated New Romantic 80s fashion errors".
In his view, the serial was "codswallop served cold: boring Tardis scenes are intercut with stultifying political machinations on Karfel, a drab planet ruled by a lethargic lizard-man and about to be obliterated by glove-puppet Bandrils".
[13] Timelash was released on VHS on 5 January 1998,[14] and on DVD on 9 July 2007[15] with a commentary provided by actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Paul Darrow, and Robert Ashby along with a selection of other features.