I'm in the middle of watching the fifth doctor serieal Time Flight, I'm really enjoying it so far but as far as I'm aware it got bad reviews.

What does everything else think about it?

I enjoyed it. Then again I tend to enjoy all Doctor Who.

Interesting concept, unfortunate in that the series budget had mostly gone leaving it looking cheap and tacky. The script could have done with an extra polish too.

I loved at the time of broadcast and still think it's not bad. I like it in the same way that I like Timelash...you wouldn't show them to some not we who had never seen Who before, but you don't mind giving it the odd spin in the DVD when you want a lighter dose of classic!

It still got me why the need for the Master to hide his appearance...

But surely that's true of 90% of his late appearances?

I really liked Time Flight it was a good idea, my only disappointment was the Master being in it 'again' I felt all Master'd out by then!

Loved the nod to UNIT, loved the nod to Castrovalva and (at that time!) was glad to see the back of the mouth on legs

To be fair to it, what it followed, was a hard act to, erm follow!

A few questions to answer about the story once you've watched it fully,
Why did the Master talk and dress like that?
Why did green slime come out the mask?
How could a concord take off over those mountains at the end?
Why did they even try and make this on seemingly £3.50?

The story is so cheap looking its like a school play and Ron Jones (Director) certainly doesn't help. Some of the acting is really wooden and all the 'special effects' look terrible especially the bubble bath around Nyssa etc. Back at that time it must have been quite a shock to watch this directly after Earthshock!

I've always liked it, and never understood the derision it generates in some quarters. It wasn't boring, and that's all I ask of Doctor Who.

If Time Flight had been a simple mid-season story, it would be regarded even more poorly than it is (and it is regarded very poorly).

Its two redeeming features are:[LIST][*]the TARDIS crew are still in shock after Adric's death and this is gently handled through the story[*]it builds up to a shocking conclusion of Tegan being left behind[/LIST]
The story itself is an interesting idea, just badly realised.

I often wonder what they could have done with the story (budget wise) if they hadn't actually used Heathrow nor a real concorde. It could have been any old airfield with a tarmac, stock footage and set.

I like this story. I remember if from its original transmission. Obviously now that I am older you spot the change in scenery from Gatwick Airport to a studio but I quite like the story.

My least favourite Fifth Doctor story, and in my top ten least favourite Doctor Who stories of all time.

'Time Flight' can be a bit of a guilty pleasure at times...

It's shockingly cheap, much of the story makes no sense, and it's very badly acted - we even get Davison corpsing on camera!

But, if you can watch it in expectation of a comedy of errors, then it can be quite entertaining, but was certainly no high-point for the show. I have known some Who fans that regard it as a quality cut-off point for the Classic Series.

I believe it was also the first story to bring in that awful, experimental 'bleepy' incidental music, which certainly bedeviled my enjoyment of the show for many of the stories that followed.

Regards,

Cypher

I understand all of these points but I appreciate the budget was pretty much at it's lowest.

There was one incident where they are obviously infront of a green screen as Nyssa's foot kept disappearing! However that's all I find bad up to this point and I'm onto episode 3 tonight, I'm cherishing the Master reveal but I suppose at that point people did feel "out mastered" as one poster suggested

I'm somewhat astonished by all the love for Time Flight.
I love most of the Davison era, and fondly remember watching all of these stories on first transmission, but right from the start it was clear to me that Time Flight was a steaming pile of poo.

After the breathless excitement of Earthshock, and the genuinely shocking death of Adric, the sheer cheapness of the production, the paucity of the script and the flaccid performances of much of the cast came as a huge let down. The awful prehistoric sets didn't help matters either, but the absolute nadir must be the Master's most pointless disguise ever. I mean, who exactly was he disguising himself from?? And why a pseudo oriental mystic??

One of the posters above mentions the shock of Tegan being left behind - all I can say is at the time this didn't seem the slightest bit shocking, and just seemed to me to be the culmination of Tegan wanting to get back to the airport.

To be honest it was more surprising when she turned up again the next season, shoehorned into one of the most absurd coincidences ever scripted in Doctor Who (namely that her cousin just happens to walk into the very same spooky crypt in which Omega is hiding with his Ergon/Chicken - what are the odds?)

I just finished the Fifth Doctor era a couple of weeks ago and am now about to begin Trial of a Time Lord.
I didn't think Time Flight was as bad as people make it out to be. Yes, it was silly in the extreme and the plot wasn't very good, but it was fairly entertaining.

The Twin Dilemma on the other hand was many times worse than people made it out to be...

It was badly let down by no budget and poor scenery. As a previous poster said How did Concorde manage to take off at the end ?

I remember the writer or producer once being interviewed and asked why the Master had disguised himself as Kalid. And he couldn't explain it. It was just silly nonsense, basically. Although I was heartbroken at the end when poor old Tegan was left behind.

I haven't seen Time Flight since it was broadcast on TV!
I'm determined to buy it on DVD at some point....if only for the commmentaries by the Tardis Crew! I seem to remember thinking it an OK story (?) I was 22 at the time.
I always thought Warriors of the Deep was far inferior!

I really loathe it. It's such a lifeless and dull story in my opinion.

I'm watching Stargate: SG1 on Pick TV at the moment, they're showing it from start to finish. It had some poor episodes, but still I watch.

Same with Who: there are some stories where you wish they'd worn some protection during the story conception, but you watch it anyway because overall you love the programme. It's like when a friend insists they're good at karaoke when they've had a beer or three... you still love them the next day.

Gary

I like it.
It has it's own odd, eerie atmosphere to it.
I'd probably have it in my top 10 5th Doctor stories. Although I find alot of his stories boring, so anything that's a bit different would probably get the thumbs up from me..

I like the reveal of the Master, doesn't he vomit up some weird liquid or something? I always like that bit.

From what I heard, Waterhouse didn't think too much of it either. He said he was glad that he wasn't in it.

But... He was in it