Time Tunnel, the
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Time Tunnel, the
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| Episodes: | 30 |
| Year: | 1966-1967 |
| Country: | United States |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | (1) 30 |
| Category: | Time Travel |
| Colour: | Yes |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | Irwin Allen Productions, Kent Productions Inc. and 20th Century-Fox Television |
| Creator: | Irwin Allen |
| Run Time (mins): | 50 |
| Language: | English |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | ABC |
| First Aired: | September 9, 1966 |
| Last Aired: | April 7, 1967 |
Summary
Among Irwin Allen’s four science‑fiction television productions, The Time Tunnel is often regarded as the most nostalgically remembered, despite receiving comparatively limited contemporary exposure. Its reduced visibility is generally attributed to its shorter episode count relative to Allen’s other series. The programme centres on two American scientists who become involuntary travellers through successive historical eras, transported unpredictably from one period to another.
The device responsible for their displacement, known as the Time Tunnel, is situated within an extensive subterranean research complex located beneath a desert region in the western United States. At the outset of the series, governmental funding for the project is on the verge of termination, even though the system itself is nearing operational readiness. In an effort to demonstrate its viability, Dr. Tony Newman, distinguished by his youthful appearance and casual attire, initiates an unsanctioned test and is projected onto the RMS Titanic shortly before its sinking. When retrieval efforts fail, Dr. Doug Phillips, older, formally dressed, and serving as Newman’s colleague, enters the tunnel to join him, bringing foreknowledge of the impending disaster. Although the two attempt to avert the ship’s fate, they are ultimately rescued by the project’s control team moments before perishing, only to be displaced into another historical period rather than returned home.
The series adopts a largely formulaic narrative structure. Newman and Phillips typically arrive shortly before a significant historical event, where they are frequently mistaken for spies and detained, often by sympathetic parties who dismiss their warnings. The protagonists either escape or persuade their captors of their intentions, occasionally influencing local conflicts, before the control team re‑establishes contact and redirects them to another era. Despite their foreknowledge, they are consistently unable to alter the major disasters they encounter. Notably, each episode begins with the pair once again dressed in their original clothing, irrespective of what they were wearing when last transported.
Most episodes are set in the past, enabling extensive use of stock footage from earlier films to depict various historical settings. Occasional excursions into the future, or encounters with extra-terrestrial beings in ostensibly historical periods, provided opportunities for the reuse of props and sets from Lost in Space, another Irwin Allen production.
Cast
Dr. Tony Newman JAMES DARREN, Dr. Doug Phillips ROBERT COLBERT, Dr. Ann MacGregor LEE MERIWETHER, Dr. Raymond Swain JOHN ZAREMBA, General Heywood Kirk WHIT BISSEL, Sergeant Jiggs JOHN ZAREMBA, Jerry SAM GROOM.
Tags: Time Travel, United States, 1966, English
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