Title
Sequences
Opening Titles
Timeslip's title sequence is one of those simple yet iconic visuals
that sixties and seventies television is still famous for.
Three dimensional blocks of computer lettering (specifically the
‘Retail’ font) spell out the series title as a rapidly
moving overhead light source casts shadows, short and long, across
them depicting the rapid passage of time…
This simple and short graphic was re-filmed several times during
the course of the series… notably during the first episodes
of The Time of the Ice Box and The Year
of the Burn Up. For The Wrong End of Time,
the lettering (placed on a neutral white background) was erected
for taping on a table within the lounge set of the Bull Inn. (See
picture below).
Each time it was re-shot, subtle differences occurred. The letters
are further apart and the light source moves faster for The Year
of the Burn Up whilst for The Time of the Ice Box, the second
'I' is upside down! (see colour screencaps)
After the main title, there would be a cut to a caption depicting
the story title followed by another depicting the writer's credit.
At no point during the series run were episode numbers given out
on screen.
(reconstruction) |
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For The Wrong End of Time,
the captions were superimposed over shots of the derelict
naval station.
The title appeared over the fence posts that marked out the
position of the time barrier whilst Bruce Stewart's writer
credit is shown over a shot of an out building. |
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The Time of the Ice Box used
two simple stock shots of ice fields. |
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A specially made graphic depicting the sun was
used on The Year of the Burn Up.
Story title appeared on the left of the screen as the camera
panned across the glowing sun to reveal Stewart's (and later
Victor Pemberton's) credit on the right. |
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The Day of the Clone displayed
its title captions over a static shot of a diagram of a human
male; a diagram that Traynor finds in a later episode.
From part two, the captions appeared blurred at first before
being brought sharply back into focus. |
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Commercial Break
The commercial breaks were not included in the nineties video
releases. Occasionally though, sloppy editing revealed their
position through the tailing off of the theme music.
Usually the music used was shorter edits of the opening and
end themes. |
End Credits
The end titles remained virtually the same throughout the series'
run. Only the background images changed to reflect the story. The
Timeslip logo filled the top quarter of the picture and the cast
and production credits rolled upwards and disappeared into it.
The Wrong End of Time invariably used a neutral
black background though episode one saw the credits rolling over
a static studio shot of a radar screen, which formed part of the
episode's cliffhanger.
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For The Time of the Ice Box,
it was the same photographic slide of ice fields that was
used under the story title caption at the episode's start
that formed the background. |
The Year of the Burn Up used a selection of
similar shots of jungle foliage. As the serial progressed the
foliage was seen to become more and more dry and dead looking
until episode seven when a version of the opening sun graphic
was utilised. Episode eight's end credits rolled over a black
background.
The Day of the Clone saw the human male graphic
used from the opening whilst the final episode's credits (fittingly)
rolled over the final shot of the Ministry field as the cast slowly
walk away from the time barrier.
(B&W captions re-coloured by Andy Thompson)
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