The Time Monster [TV/1972.5.20 ~ 6.24]

★★★☆☆

  Atlantis! Actors trying out their best imitations of themselves in slow motion! The most ridiculously silly and entertaining alien costume this side of the Jon Pertwee era! Phallic time sensors, TOMTITs and other vulgar jokes to fly over kiddies' wits! Benton turning into a baby before growing up again and showing us John Levene's lily-white backside! Oh yes, this thing is silly -- but the question is, does it fumble about with its silliness, or does it own up to it and successfully show off how ambitious its ideas are?

  Honestly, I'd put it somewhere around the middle, but further to the side of the ambitious. Watching The Time Monster, I could see why it's one of the Classic era's most poorly received adventures: no one seems quite sure of the material they're given (and George Cormack and Ingrid Pitt especially give pretty unentertaining performances, which is a shame because I've known Pitt from Hammer films and know how good she can be on top form), the effects are pretty wonky, and the middle two episodes are quite a drag. However, I must admit that everything is pretty fun to watch! The abstract notions this serial plays with, the evocative and beautifully coloured Atlantis sets and costumes, the quips between Jo and the Doctor (which is pretty much solid gold by now) and UNIT being total meatheads -- all except Benton, of course. Lovely Benton. When I said the middle two episodes dragged, I also meant that the preceding and succeeding episodes were vastly superior, both in terms of visual ambition and wealth of ideas. Kronos is such a good idea that perhaps could've been executed better, but I sitll adore the fact that the team was willing to try their hand at something this mad. 

  I don't like the idea of saying things like "this is objectively bad, but I love it." Nothing is objectively anything; when it comes to quality, everything depends on the standards you have -- and for me, for its wildly entertaining and fun time, I can proudly say that I think The Time Monster is quite good. Not enough for me to wax lyrical about it for hours and hours on end (like I could for some maligned serials), but it sure doesn't deserve the backlash it constantly gets... not in my eyes, anyway.