User Reviews

This is a decent episode of Time Tunnel. A doctor decides to go back in time to help the sick and injured, rather than live out his days in retirement in the present. That type of human story is always strong in Time Tunnel.

Another positive is the pirate captain brought to the Tunnel complex. He goes on a rampage, threatening Ann's life, before they finally return him to the past. While the pirate is rampaging, there are some stock scenes of the Tunnel complex.

In once scene the pirates captain calls in a bald, chubby guy to beat Gary and Tony to death. The two heroes attack the guy, whose no bigger than Gary, at the same time. But all their efforts prove fruitless. He's in the process of whipping them on the ground when a pirate ship opens fire to warn of incoming American naval vessels. When the camera cuts away from the ships back to the fight, there's no sign of the bald, chubby pirate. Doug and Tony are on their feet, standing in front of the pirates.

There's a lot of Doug and Tony escaping with Armando, the Spanish King's nephew, only to be recaptured by the pirates. It happens at least three times.

Speaking of Armando, the kid is likable. He displays bravery a number of times.

As usual, Ann and Ray display their utter incompetence in operating the Tunnel. They bring the pirate to the present when they're trying to shift Doug in space in the past. They previously claimed they didn't have power to bring anyone to the present.

Speaking of transferring in space - why haven't they done that before? It sure would come in handy.

For some reason, Gen. Kirk won't allow the soldiers to kill the pirate in the present. They can't interfere in history. Yet the doctor goes back to the past to save lives of men who probably would have died without him. Would history really miss an unknown pirate captain? Keep in mind the captain's own first mate kills him shortly after the captain returns to the past and that the pirate ship is almost immediately sunk. History wouldn't have blinked if Kirk had let the soldiers shoot the pirate captain. Instead, the pirate nearly kills Ann.

It wouldn't be that much of a burden to the Time Tunnel program. Are Ann and Ray really scientists, or are they some yahoos that came in off the street? They sure operate the Tunnel like a pair of yahoos.

Tony and Doug appear on an 1805 battleship loaded with pirates of the Victor Jory-kind. Meanwhile in the Tunnel command centre, just about everything under the sun is going on!

I can't think of a more high energy totally entertaining pirate than Mr Victor Jory, but then, this actor appeared in Gone With The Wind (1939) so he should know what he is doing.

Pirate Jory is sent to the Tunnel complex by mistake and this results in the most dramatic fish-out-of-water history meets the future clash of the series. Without giving too much away, it results in Ann being attacked by the pirate and a run around the complex. Great dramatic stuff.

More Tunnel stuff happens, involving the Project Tic-Toc Doctor making a one way trip (this guy was always present it seems????) and the Tunnel moves figures from 1805 all over the place. A mind-blower.

Tony and Doug this time fall on an island that serves as a hideout for a group of pirates, they have the King of Spain's nephew captive and plan to ask for a reward in exchange for his life. Victor Jory masterfully plays the bloodthirsty and tyrannical chief of the pirates. Although until this moment in the series there were several characters who were mistakenly transported to the Tunnel complex, this time the scene in question is a memorable moment from the TV show, since the Captain not only appears in the Tunnel but also takes hostage to Anne and walks her around the laboratory threatening her with his sword to finally try to throw her off one of the balconies of the complex, this being one of the most tense scenes of the entire series.