content: The Doctor has had it with Peri - her truculence and unwillingness to join in his unfocussed joi de vivre means that he decides to drop her off back on Earth. But on the way they run into a Kontron Tunnel, and so they investigate. One end is Earth, 1179 AD and the other on the planet Karfel, a planet with which the Doctor is familiar. But the situation on Karfel is rather more complicated than they might have expected...'Timelash' is, put simply, a bit of a mess. The Doctor and Peri don't actually become fully involved in the story until about half-way through, and the villain of the piece is pretty clichéd, including deciding to make Peri his mate. The political situation on Karfel could have been quite interesting, but sadly its carboard cut-out intrigue.The advantage of the novel over the TV serial is that you are spared both the dreadful sets and the even more dreadful overacting of Paul Darrow in the role of Tekker.Not one to seek out actively.