On a New York-to-London flight, British Airways' Concorde Golf Victor Foxtrot vanishes from radar screens. Arriving on the scene The Doctor (Davison), accompanied by current "companions" - displaced Australian airline stewardess Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), a young aristocratic woman from the planet Traken - are enlisted to help in the investigation.

The Doctor gets permission to fly another Concorde, Golf Alpha Charlie, to trace the other plane's course with a skeleton crew, including Captain Stapley (Richard Easton), and with The Doctor's time-traveling TARDIS put in the cargo hold for safe-keeping. At first they seem to end up back at Heathrow Airport, but soon it becomes apparent that the TARDIS has landed 140 million years in Earth's past, and that Heathrow is merely an illusion. They later find the missing plane, her crew and passengers, but they're all under a form of mass hypnosis with the single exception of British Professor Hayter (Nigel Stock), who has resisted the mind control.

At a nearby, inexplicable citadel they find the remains of an alien spaceship and lively blob like balls of sentient energy-based creatures called Plasmatons. Meanwhile, at the citadel, the band encounter a Fu Manchu/Arabian magician type named Kalid (Leon Ny Taiy) who has brought the Concorde passengers to earth's prehistoric past to work as slaves for some unknown purpose. At the end of the second episode, it's revealed that Kalid is actually an old nemesis from The Doctor's past.

From here things get awfully convoluted, crammed with the kind of sci-fi techno-babble writers turn to when they can't resolve plot plots clearly and logically, in this case especially during the mostly lame climax. The reason the story's villain (whom I won't identify here) disguises himself as a green-faced, bald-headed Fu Manchu wannabe is never explained and certain character motivations and actions don't hold up to scrutiny.

Nonetheless, incorporating the popular supersonic aircraft in a time-travel story was a novel idea, and the use of a real Concorde for exterior shots on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport lends the story an epicness that's appealing, even if it meant using stock footage of the aircraft in flight for some shots, along with some pretty pathetic models for the scenes on prehistoric Earth. (The live action soundstage sets are no better, resembling something out of a 1970s Saturday morning kids' show.)

The mass hypnosis experienced by most of the cast is likewise intriguing; Peter Grimwade's teleplay treats this with considerable good humor even as they work as slaves, everyone believes they're onboard the Concorde, settled in for an enjoyable flight. Later, when everyone is trying to escape, Tegan's apology to the passengers about the delays in the flight is so absurd yet tinged with a degree of recognizable truth that it becomes quite funny.

The Doctor's companions have almost nothing to do this time around, though Stock (in one of his last roles) and Easton especially are good in standard supporting character roles.

Video & Audio

"Time-Flight" is presented in its original full-frame format, a mix of videotape (for studio interiors) and 16mm color film (for location exteriors). The mono sound on all eight shows is okay. Optional English subtitles are available, including on all the extra features.

Extra Features

The most interesting supplement is "Mouth on Legs," a spirited portrait of Janet Fielding, during which both the actress and the featurette are admirably honest about her stormy relationship with various actors and BBC executives. The show is 16:9 enhanced, featuring pillarboxed clips from numerous episodes.

Davison, Fielding, Sutton, and script editor Eric Seward provide the usual fun audio commentary, which can be listened to in conjunction with Information Text which appear like subtitles and provide gobs of background on both the series and this particular episode.

Also included are outtakes, deleted scenes, and something called "Jurassic Larks," actually footage captured by the studio cameras between takes. This footage is annotated with interesting text explaining what's going on while providing little tidbits of trivia about the show. Writer Grimwade, who died in 1990, appears in an archival interview.

Additional extras include an extensive photo gallery and PDF DVD-ROM features: a Doctor Who Annual and Radio Times Listings.

Parting Thoughts

Despite its terrible reputation I found Doctor Who - Time-Flight more involving than the weaker Tom Baker shows (Baker having preceded Davison as The Doctor) and far superior to the Colin Baker years (who followed Davison in 1984), this despite many obvious failings. The DVD presentation, as has become the norm, is terrific what with all the fine extras, so fans shouldn't be too disappointed. Recommended.

Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV's most recent essays appear in Criterion's new three-disc Seven Samurai DVD and BCI Eclipse's The Quiet Duel. His audio commentary for Invasion of Astro Monster is now available.