.
"TWO AMERICAN SCIENTISTS ARE LOST IN THE SWIRLING MAZE OF PAST AND FUTURE AGES,DURING THE FIRST EXPERIMENTS ON AMERICAS GREATEST AND MOST SECRET PROJECT - THE TIME TUNNEL.TONY NEWMAN AND DOUG PHILLIPS NOW TUMBLE HELPLESSLY TOWARD A NEW FANTASTIC ADVENTURE,SOMEWHERE,ALONG THE INFINITE CORRIDORS OF TIME."
THESE WERE THE WORDS AT THE START OF EACH EPISODE OF IRWIN ALLEN'S THIRD OFFERING OF T.V. SCIENCE FICTION(THE FIRST TWO BEING 'VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA' AND 'LOST IN SPACE')
THE TWO SCIENTISTS ALWAYS MANAGED TO FIND A CLASSIC MOMENT IN HISTORY WHERE SOME MONUMENTAL CATASTROPHE WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.FOR EXAMPLE ,THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC IN 1912,AND THE SEIGE OF TROY.
THE TIME TUNNEL CONTROL CENTRE WERE ABLE TO KEEP A FIX ON TONY AND DOUG,AS THEY WERE COATED IN RADIATION BEFORE ENTERING THE TUNNEL,BUT THEIR TIME FIXES WERE NOT ALWAYS STABLE..THIS ENABLED A CLIFFHANGER STYLE OPENING AND ENDING TO EACH EPISODE.
THEY HAD NO CONTROL OVER WHERE THEY WOULD END UP NEXT,OR ANY ABILITY TO BRING THEM BACK TO THE PRESENT DAY.,AS THE PROJECT WAS STILL IN IT'S EARLY STAGES,AND CONSEQUENTLY THE TUNNEL WAS PRONE TO POWER FAILURES,EXPLOSIONS ETC.
3 STRIKING FEATURES OF THE SERIES WERE,THE VERY SIXTIES SET(THE
TUNNEL
ITSELF IN PARTICULAR APPEARED TO STRETCH A LONG WAY BACK,BUT YOU CAN
SEE
SHADOWS FALLING ON A PAINTED BACKDROP WHEN ANYONE GOES IN OR OUT!!)
SECONDLY,WAS THE FANTASTIC EFFECT OF TONY AND DOUG COMING OUT OF
THE TIME VORTEX INTO THEIR NEXT DESTINATION.QUITE OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE
ONLY
JUMPING OFF A CHAIR OR A SIMILAR OBJECT JUST OFF CAMERA,AND THEN GOING
INTO A SERIES OF EXAGGERATED ROLLS AND DIVES.WATCH IT ,IT'S QUITE
AMUSING!!
THIRDLY,THEY ALWAYS GOT INTO AT LEAST ONE FIST FIGHT IN EACH EPISODE
,USUALLY AT THE BEGINNING,OR WHEN THEY TRY TO ESCAPE FROM THEIR
CAPTORS,WHOEVER
THEY MAY BE AT THE TIME.
BUT OVERALL THE SERIES WAS A GOOD LAUGH AND RAN FOR 30 EPISODES
ORIGINALLY
SHOWN IN THE U.S. IN 1966/67.
LACK OF FUNDS CAUSED THE SERIES TO LAST FOR THE AMOUNT OF EPISODES
THAT IT DID,WITH THE LAST EPISODE ENDING WITH TONY AND DOUG GOING FULL
CIRCLE AND LANDING ON THE DECK OF THE TITANIC AGAIN!!
REGULAR CAST:
James Darren - Dr. Tony Newman
Robert Colbert - Dr. Doug Philips
Lee Meriwether - Dr. Ann MacGregor
Whit Bissel - General Heywood Kirk
John Zaremba - Dr. Raymond Swain
Wesley Lau - Sergeant Jiggs
EPISODE GUIDE
WITH U.S.TRANSMISSION DATES
1.Rendezvous with Yesterday 9 Sep 66
2.One Way to the Moon
16 Sep 66
3.End of the
World
23 Sep 66
4.The Day the Sky Fell
In
30 Sep 66
5.The Last
Patrol
7 Oct 66
6.Crack of
Doom
14 Oct 66
7.Revenge of the
Gods
21 Oct 66
8.Massacre
28 Oct 66
9.Devil's
Island
11 Nov 66
10.Reign of
Terror
18 Nov 66
11.Secret
Weapon
25 Nov 66
12.The Death
Trap
2 Dec 66
13.The
Alamo
9 Dec 66
14.Night of the Long Knives 1 6
Dec 66
15.Invasion
23 Dec 66
16.The Revenge of Robin
Hood
30 Dec 66
17.Kill Two by
Two
6 Jan 67
18.Visitors from Beyond the Stars 13 Jan
67
19.The Ghost of
Nero
20 Jan 67
20.The Walls of
Jericho
27 Jan 67
21.Idol of
Death
3 Feb 67
22.Billy the
Kid
10 Feb 67
23.Pirates of Deadman's
Island
17 Feb 67
24.Chase Through
Time
24 Feb 67
25.The Death
Merchant
3 Mar 67
26.Attack of the Barbarians 10 Mar 67
27.Merlin the
Magician
17 Mar 67
28.The
Kidnappers
24 Mar 67
29.Raiders from Outer
Space
31 Mar 67
30.Town of
Terror
7 Apr 67