'Project Tic Tok' is a secret underground base where scientists have developed time travel. Head of the project is Dr.Tony Newman. Terrified of losing Government funding, Newman decides to test the device, known as 'the time tunnel', using himself as guinea pig. He finds himself on the deck of the Titanic, hours before its destruction. Dr.Doug Phillips follows him into the past, but can the course of history be changed?
I can remember being stunned by the opening episode of 'The Time Tunnel' back in the '60's. Even in black and white, the set looked incredible, a two-tone vortex stretching to infinity. Irwin Allen spared no expense here. As a cost-cutting measure, however, he was forced to plunder old historical movies to provide the settings, but it didn't harm the show as much as it could have. Like his other series such as 'Lost In Space', 'Time' emphasised action at the expense of plot and characterisation. James Darren and Robert Colbert made an exceptionally likable pair of time-travellers, while Lee Meriwether looked glamorous even in a lab coat. Each week, Tony and Doug would arrive at the scene of a famous historical event or disaster, such as Krakatoa or Little Big Horn, and try to survive without changing history.
Perhaps the best episode was 'The Day The Sky Fell In' in which Doug and Tony materialise at Pearl Harbour hours before the Japanese attack. Tony meets himself as a boy, and his father whom he knows will die soon. The ending is deeply moving.
Towards the end of the run, several 'alien invasion' stories appeared, but this didn't help ratings. 'Time' suffered the misfortune of being scheduled against 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', then at the height of its popularity. Despite having the shortest shelf-life of any Allen show, 'Time' is amongst his best, and was his personal favourite.
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