Koch Media, out now

Two men thrown around in Time who just happen to catch important historical events…

No, it’s not a prequel to Bill & Ted’s adventures, or even a US attempt to cash in on the popularity of Doctor Who – which hadn’t really got on the radar in America at the time of this show’s creation. This is the Irwin Allen show that ran from September 1966 for a season (so, for comparison purposes, around the same time the Doctor was facing The Smugglers, the Cybermen and the Highlanders), in full glossy colour – which comes alive even more in this new Blu-ray transfer taken from the negatives. Once you’re past the pilot, episodes start to fall into a routine with scientists Doug and Tony arriving in some new place (but never back at their base), realising what key figure it is they’re likely to encounter, getting separated, captured, reunited… all the while the scientists back at the base desperately try to do something. There are plenty of twists – sometimes Doug and Tony are in the future, other times there’s crosspollination of timelines as the scientists try to get clever (resulting in, for example, Machiavelli turning up out of time).

Koch Media’s set has multiple extras as well as the restored episodes – the extended pilot (in HD), the 2002 unaired pilot (it got the thumbs down so Fox could go ahead with Firefly!), Irwin Allen’s 1976 remake movie The Time Travellers, and some Allen home movies (in a UK edit – one wonders what horrors we have been spared!).

The Time Tunnel doesn’t have as good a reputation as Lost in Space or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, probably because fewer episodes were made, but it’s still worth seeking out.

Verdict: A good presentation of an enjoyable diversion of a show. 7/10

Paul Simpson