The Time Tunnel: The Complete Series

At last a fabulous HD version of The Time Tunnel has been released. Is it worth getting on Blu Ray? Yes it is. I have viewed the entire Disc one and it looks much better on Blu Ray. The Picture is sharper and clearer and colours are vibrant. The show has never looked better than this before. There is the choice of original mono sound which is excellent, or a new 5.1 sound mix which is really good. All 30 episodes are in correct transmission order and Revelation have corrected the stupid error they made with the DVD release in that after each story we see the cliff hanger start of the next episode just like when it was originally transmitted. The bonus extra features are the same as the DVD edition. The series is spread over 6 discs with the special features on disc seven. There are subtitles for the hard of hearing The screen ratio is 16.9 with side matting and plays with the picture in its original 4.3 size (square. Not wide screen as you should expect for a digital HD image of a programme that was recorded in 4.3 in an age where there was no widescreen television. The good news is they haven’t tried to create a 16.9 image by cropping the image. The set is contained in one plastic blu ray case about an inch thick. The Art work is similar to the DVD version. The box states that it is region B for UK and Europe. For me the most important thing is that the Picture is really a good improvement on anything previously. The DVD edition was released a few years ago on Region 2 and company releasing it in the UK, Revelation, cut off the cliff hanger beginning of the next story. This was a mistake and not how it was remembered during its TV transmissions. That has been corrected on this edition. The Blu Ray edition was supposed to come out in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. It was on pre Order on Amzon but on the release dates there was nothing. Once again here in 2018 it appeared on Amazon pre order but thankfully this time it has been released. Its a long time coming. Time Tunnel is a classic series produced by Irwin Allen in the mid 1960s. It is one series of four successful shows. The others being Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. There are UK DVD editions of all four series. There is a US Blu Ray edition of Lost in Space that states it is Region A but does play on any region. Dr Doug Phillips and Dr Tony Newman head a team working on a machine that can transport people back or forward in time. They work at a research centre, hidden beneath the Arizona Desert. They have perfected how to send something into time and locate their position but not how to bring it back. Time Travel is possible through "The Time Tunnel". Doug and Tony need more time to perfect it but a government official arrives to inspect the progress of the project and decides that he may recommend closing down the project. Tony desperately enters the Tunnel to prove that it works. He finds himself transported back to 1912 on board the Titanic the day before it sinks. Knowing that they cannot bring him back, and that Tony is in danger, Doug follows him into the Tunnel. Every episode takes the pair to different and famous events in time. The Time Tunnel was created by Irwin Allen in 1966. It was set two years into the shows future 1968. The series has a glossy big production feel about it even though it was made with limited studio sets and old cinema footage from the cutting room floor. Irwin Allen bought up these un used clips from big blockbuster historical movies and incorporated them into the action of the show. It is a series of pure escapism and great fun. The historical stories can be a little informative when you forgive the added fiction of Doug and Tony's role in them. There are other stories that are science fiction in origin with aliens from space and magical powers of Merlin. Some of the dialogue is a bit weak and simplistic so as to appeal to the whole family including the kids. For example things are often explained by some characters when it is very obvious what is happening anyway. But despite this element of the dialogue it is all a bit of fun. You cannot take any of it seriously. The beauty is that it is like that. It is just escapist fun. Originally the episodes had a cliff hanger ending. At the end of each story our two heroes would tumble into the next adventure and we would get a taster of the story of the next episode. This would then leave us just as Doug and Tony were in terrible danger. This is a good classic science fiction series that is pure indulgent fun. If you are a fan of Time Tunnel it is worth re buying it on Blu Ray and if you don’t have any version go for this one. Time Tunnel is better than ever in HD

Such a great blu ray box set, I’ve love The Time Tunnel series since the mid to late 1970’s when I was really young. It’s also a great HD scan from original 35mm film prints!

This is one of my favourite TV shows of all time. I was bought up on the Irwin Allen TV series with 'Lost In Space' being another favourite of mine. I am now nearly 60 years old & remember BBC 1 showing seven of the Time Tunnel episodes between July and October 1968. I was hooked even back then. Then ITV (London Region only) showed 11 episodes in a Sunday afternoon run from July 1970. Successive runs in 1973 & 1974 eventually showed all 30 episodes. The series had still not played in all ITV regions until ITV picked up the rights, again, in 1989. It has also been shown on Channel 4. I have owned the series in all video formats over the years - have still got the old VHS copies that I recorded from the run on Channel 4. I have the region 1/NTSC DVD collection brought out several years ago by 'Pioneer DVD' of Japan. The image quality of these DVD's is excellent (some of the best DVD mastering ever) so I was sceptical as to whether or not these Blu Ray episodes, from Revelation, would be an improvement. I decided to take the plunge (like all fans of this show would) and bought it. The result is absolutely superb - the image quality is far better than the DVD set, which I thought would not be possible. However 'Revelation' have done a great job with all the episodes - EXCEPT ONE! This brings me back to the title of this review - the persistent flaw. Episode 29 (Raiders from Outer Space) still has the very obvious print damage present for all to see!! The damage displays itself as multiple vertical black lines which persists for almost 10 minutes (time frame 8mins 30 seconds through to 18mins 27seconds). We are not simply talking about small speckles/blemishes here and there - it is really bad! This damage has plagued this episode since the late 1970's - unsure how it happened - but it is so severe that, understandably, some TV channels omitted it from their re-runs as they deemed it of such poor quality as to be not suitable for broadcast - for them to do that it had to be bad - and believe me it is! It is very distracting on what is, unfortunately, one of my favourite TT episodes. The move to Blu Ray actually (rather sadly) makes the print damage worse/stand out more than before. It really is a shame that 'Revelation' did not make any attempts to clean up/correct the print damage on this episode which is what I was hoping for on this Blu Ray release - but I was sadly disappointed!! So if you are a purist/nerd regarding this series be warned this 'fatal' flaw in episode 29 really takes the gloss off what is a superb Blu Ray outing for this cult Irwin Allen series. Could have been perfect - but it is not. This is a great opportunity missed!!

I bought this Blu-ray set, already having the two volume DVD sets from years ago, as it is one of my favourite TV science fiction series. It's certainly better quality than the DVD sets but, unlike the DVD sets, there's no booklet hence very little information on the episodes, a constant problem with blu-rays ever since their inception. The supposed new 5.1 mix isn't up to much either so, overall, I'd advise saving your pennies and sticking with your DVD editions, unless you don't have them, which is the only reason to buy the Blu-ray, as it's cheaper than the two DVD volumes.

Absolutely love this tongue in cheek sci fi series set in their time of the 1960s. I got blu ray as i wanted quality for something that age and it didn't disappoint. Clear vivid picture you would never guess the quality is better now then when it was shown in the uk! This the complete series and includes the actual pilot of the series, this is on the last disc so i am waiting to finish that series and then watch the pilot as it coukd be very near the first episode that was shown, but i have no idea, so looking forward to that. Excellent quality, great fun, you will, if like me, enjoy something i watched when i was a kid.

Just as i remember, awesome box set … watching the series took me back in time, to the good old days when life was so much simpler if you know what I mean : )

Boring. The first two disks kind of OK due to novelty, but then same all over each episode. Two guys stuck in the past and the "ground-crew" don't get their time machine under control. Pathetic. There is no personal development. Neither in the 2 guys flipping through history nor in the ground crew which could have been an interesting angle. Loads of fist fights and the 2 time travelers either being distrusted, hunted or worshiped. Then the ground crew finally finds the right buttons to press and off they go to a different time and place. Rinse, leather, repeat. About twenty episodes and not an inch closer to get them home. Truly pathetic, how are you not making any progress up there getting that time tunnel thing under control? It gets old rather quickly. Started out promising, on the Titanic, American historical events, Troy, Pearl Harbour etc. Worked well, but they stick to their formula too much. Way to predictable. Oh, its with the mongols now, next some in the Wild West, then with some knights maybe. Yeah alright, whatever.... Killed by rigid story formula and lack personal development. Minor nitpick : the 2 heroes never sleep, rarely eat and each time they travel through time and space they are back in well dressed, well groomed shape. Whatever, if you believe the time travel angle, then yeah maybe its them from the first time they traveled back again. The series makes no attempt to explain any of this. Maybe a good thing, at least they don't mess it up that way. One episode kind of breaks the mold, when they are in the 1950's behind the iron curtain where someone tries to build their own version of time tunnel. Honourable mention of a more engaging episode. That could have become a re-occurring theme in the series. Chance missed... Another weird one with silver aliens that are capable to space travel, but cannot make protein to feed their people and hence want to steal cows in 19 century Wild West. Once they get involved with astronauts flying to mars in the 1970's - future to the time the series was made. The rest of the episodes is same old formula : get into some historic event, where they get involved with historic figures. People not trusting them and loads of fist fights. Last minute they are transported off to a different place. And oh, for some reason they could not be brought home again. Yes, alright. The lady on the time tunnel controls having her moment and bold science guy saying smart things. Kind of sums up 90% of episodes. But I repeat myself like the story-line in this miserable series.

I have seen the time tunnel 1968 years ago on TV and have enjoyed every moment of it on television and now I have it on blu ray, I can treasure it for a lifetime. I have already watched 2 episodes and the sound and picture quality is outstanding. Definitely worth buying the blu ray. Thank you Amazon for your great service