The Wrong End of Time

In the Beginning

In early 1970, Ruth Boswell, a refugee from Nazism who travelled alone across Europe to Britain and went on to become a television and film producer, developed a format for Timeslip with her husband, James. Although she was merely credited as script editor she had, in fact, created it. "I am very interested in the way you can use time and magical realism to show up people's character," she once said – and this was apparent in the series' young protagonists. James worked with her on the series, and its paperback novel adaptation, just before his death in 1971.

Bruce Stewart, born in Auckland, New Zealand who moved to London in 1955 and began working in television and radio as an actor, was commissioned to write the scripts for the first six episodes. (He went on to write the following six of the second story and seven of the eight-part third story).

Until that point, Stewart's experience of writing science fiction had been limited to three episodes of the anthology series Out of the Unknown (1962) and an adaptation of Andover and the Android (1965), Kate Wilhelm's darkly comical story of a super-android that could pass as someone's wife.

Experienced adult actors were cast, including the excellent Denis Quilley, already a veteran of over 80 screen productions, Iris Russell (Matron Mary Stevenson in Emergency-Ward 10 from 1957 to 1967), prolific character actor Derek Benfield and Sandor Elès, a Hungarian actor who played the character Paul Ross in Crossroads. John Alkin, who played the young Frank would go on to appear in The Sweeney, and almost seventy episodes of Crown Court.

Auditions for the roles of Liz Skinner and Simon Randall consisted of one small scene of the characters travelling back to 1940. It is not known how many actors were seen but, in the scripts, Liz was meant to be twelve or thirteen years of age. Cheryl Burfield had been a child model and was eighteen at the time. Cheryl improvised at her audition and attended it dressed as a tomboy with her hair up in pigtails! She impressed the producers so much that they revised the age of the character to fifteen to accommodate her.

Sixteen year old Spencer Banks was still attending school when he heard that he’d been cast as Simon. He later said that he could easily have passed for eleven or twelve and when Cheryl Burfield first saw him, she exclaimed "My God, I shall look positively matronly beside him!" However, by the time the series completed he was taller than her and his voice started breaking during the series which, he said, "caused everyone amusement."

The series debuted on 2 October 1970 in the London region and immediately before it began it was introduced by ITN's then science correspondent Peter Fairley who said, "Have you ever had the feeling that you've been here before and yet everyone tells you that you can't have been? Or perhaps you've felt that this has all happened to me before, just like it's happening now, and I know what's going to happen next. A lot of people do get those sensations and nobody can explain them. They seem somehow to involve the mind travelling forward or backwards in time. And that is what this new series, Timeslip, is all about. Children projecting themselves forward or backwards in time. It's fiction, of course, but it's very close to theory which scientists are working on to explain the Universe and Time. Today's science fiction so often becomes tomorrow's science fact."

The premise wasn't lost on the cast either according to Spencer Banks, who said that the cast and crew used to have "long discussions" trying to work out what was right and what was wrong. The shooting of Liz was one huge topic of debate. "When Liz was shot in that scene, it was explained that because the bullet was fired in 1940 it couldn't hurt her. But someone suggested that, in that case, in thirty years’ time the bullet would catch up with her and she'd fall down clutching her side." 

Despite a modest budget, the series made effective use of setting, lighting, and sound to create atmosphere. The eerie screeching sound that draws the children into the time barrier is genuinely unsettling.

The opening serial of Timeslip, The Wrong End of Time, was highly praised upon its original broadcast in 1970—and for good reason. It stood out from other children’s television of the era due to its bold storytelling, emotional intelligence, and thought-provoking science fiction themes.

The Wrong End of Time was successful because it treated its young viewers with respect, offered genuine suspense, and tackled sophisticated themes rarely explored in children's programming. It set a high bar for the rest of Timeslip, proving that science fiction for younger audiences could be both entertaining and thought-provoking.

The Wrong End of Time (spoiler light)

At an abandoned naval base in the village of St Oswald, a warning sign declares: “Ministry of Defence. Keep Out.” But Sarah, a young girl with learning difficulties, is unaware of the danger. Drawn by a strange screeching noise, she wanders toward the base. Watched by local drunk Arthur Griffins, she walks between two concrete posts—and vanishes without a trace.

Later that day, Arthur recounts the strange event to George Bradley, the local pub landlord. His tale is overheard by a mysterious man named Traynor. Also staying in the village are Frank and Jean Skinner, their daughter Liz, and Simon Randall—a boy grieving the recent death of his mother. The Skinners are taking a short break in a nearby caravan to help Simon recover, but Jean confides to Traynor that the village gives her an uneasy feeling, and they plan to leave the following day.

While playing near the naval base, Liz and Simon hear the same screeching sound that lured Sarah. As they step between the concrete posts, they too vanish.

Unaware of what’s happening, Frank and Traynor are deep in conversation. Frank reveals he was stationed at the base during World War II but has no memory of that period of his life.

Meanwhile, Liz and Simon find themselves on the other side of the barrier, surrounded by barbed wire—and it is now night. Liz notices that stepping back through the posts returns them to daylight. But before they can investigate further, they are forced to hide as a unit of German soldiers marches past.

Back in the present, Frank and Jean grow anxious when the children fail to return. Jean suddenly hears screaming in her head. At the same time, Liz and Simon are discovered by a young British naval rating, who believes they’ve cut through the perimeter fence. He arrests them and takes them to a fully operational naval base—functioning as it was during wartime, complete with top-secret radar experiments.

They are brought before the base’s commander, who turns out to be a much younger version of Traynor. He becomes suspicious when the children call him by name. Meanwhile, back in 1970, Jean begins speaking fluent German in her sleep—a language she has never learned.

When Traynor threatens to arrest them, Liz bursts into tears. The young naval rating tries to comfort her and asks her name. On learning it’s “Skinner,” he is shocked—it matches his own surname. He reveals that he’s Frank Skinner, born in 1923—the same year as Liz’s father. Simon quickly realises they’ve travelled back to 1940.

Simon tries to warn Traynor and young Frank about the German soldiers nearby, but neither believes him. By the time they realise the threat is real, it’s too late. The Germans have overrun the base and taken the radar room, holding its operators at gunpoint. Traynor escapes and instructs young Frank to dismantle the experimental equipment. The German commander, Kapitan Helmut Gottfried, confronts Traynor, revealing he knows the base isn’t just a clerical centre—it’s a critical research facility.

In the present, Traynor shares a theory: in places where immense energy has been released, remnants of the past might still exist—accessible to children who are especially sensitive to these “time bubbles.” Frank dismisses this as nonsense—until he collapses, struck by a sudden vision of blinding light.

Back in 1940, Frank completes his mission, but in doing so, activates a powerful energy pulse. Blinded, he staggers from the room and collapses. Liz sees the 1970 versions of her father and Traynor outside the window and calls out, but they cannot hear her.

Meanwhile, Simon is caught tampering with the radar equipment. Like Traynor, Gottfried is disturbed by how much this strange boy seems to know. Fearing he might inadvertently give away too much, Simon devises a plan. He tells Gottfried that Sarah saw someone bury equipment near the fence. He uses the distraction to help Sarah, who is also being held at the base, and Liz escape through the barrier back to 1970—though he is caught before he can follow.

Back at the inn, Sarah and Liz lie, saying they got lost on the moors. But Traynor isn’t fooled. He needs confirmation that young Frank successfully hid the equipment, since the technology he worked on in 1940 is being revived and could influence the current arms race. If Gottfried obtained any part of it, the consequences could be disastrous.

Reluctantly, Liz agrees to return to 1940. She finds young Frank again, but now he doesn’t remember her. Meanwhile, a German soldier named Graz begins to mistreat Simon. When Liz and Frank intervene, Graz shoots Liz in the stomach. At the same moment in 1970, Jean—standing near the time barrier—has a vision of the shooting and collapses. Traynor and Frank find her unconscious. When she comes to, she tells them: “My daughter is dead!”

But back in 1940, Liz wakes up uninjured. Gottfried, confused, finds no wound. Traynor later explains to Jean that Liz cannot be harmed in the past—she only exists there in a “subjective” sense.

With the mission in 1940 a failure, Gottfried prepares to flee the base, intending to take Traynor back to Germany. But when he tries to force Traynor through the fence, the commander turns a gun on him. Gottfried, who is a pacifist at heart, simply walks away.

Now free, Liz and Simon return to the fence and climb through the hole. But instead of returning to the familiar world of 1970, they find themselves in a frozen, desolate wasteland.

Laurence Marcus