Editing Timeslip (section)

==Production==
''Timeslip'' was devised by ATV [[script editor]] Ruth Boswell, who developed the format and the outline of the first story with her husband James.<ref name="Arnold">Arnold, ''Breaking Barriers''.</ref> Its development was instigated by ATV producer Renee Goddard, who wanted to produce a programme that could challenge the popularity among children of the [[BBC]]'s science fiction series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' (1963–89; 1996; 2005–present).<ref name="Stewart">Stewart, ''Timeslip Memories Part Two''.</ref> Boswell was determined to come up with a show that was rooted more firmly in everyday life than ''Doctor Who'', which at the time she felt had become progressively more outlandish.<ref name="Stewart" /> Much of the show's time travel concepts were based on the book ''[[An Experiment with Time]]'' by [[J. W. Dunne]].<ref>Thompson, ''Introduction to Timeslip''. p. 2.</ref> However, in order to give the series as authentic a veneer as possible, [[Geoffrey Hoyle]], son of [[physicist]] [[Fred Hoyle]] and a noted science fiction author in his own right, gave his advice regarding how time travel might be possible.<ref name="Stewart" /> In addition, the opening episodes of the first two serials - "The Wrong End of Time" and "The Time of the Ice Box" - were introduced by [[Peter Fairley]], who was science correspondent for [[ITN]].

The plot of the first serial, "The Wrong End of Time", was inspired by an – initially apocryphal (but according to some accounts confirmed after remaining a [[Classified information|State Secret]] for more than 70 years)<ref>"[[Churchill's Last Wartime Secret]]: The 1943 German Raid Airbrushed From History" by [[Adrian Searle]]; {{ISBN|9781473823815}}; [[Pen & Sword Books]]; (HB)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pillbox.org.uk/blog/245381/ |title=Did the Germans raid the Isle of Wight? |access-date=22 July 2019 }}</ref> – story of a German Expeditionary Force that landed in Britain to carry out a raid on an Isle of Wight radar station in 1940 (or 1943), during World War II.<ref name="Stewart" /> The later stories were inspired by ecological concerns that were beginning to make headlines at the time – this has led to Jeff Arnold in the telefantasy journal ''Timescreen'' to draw parallels between ''Timeslip'' and the similarly inspired adult drama series ''[[Doomwatch]]'' (1970–72).<ref name="Arnold" /> This view was echoed by an article in ''[[TV Zone]]'' magazine, which noted that ''Timeslip'' "was probably the general public's first introduction to what are now everyday scientific concepts, such as [[cloning]] and [[climate change]]".<ref>Robinson, ''Timeslip (Part 1)'', p. 25.</ref>

Although Boswell originally conceived ''Timeslip'' as a single-story six-part serial, the concept was soon expanded into a much longer series of 26 episodes.<ref name="Arnold" /> New Zealander [[Bruce Stewart (scriptwriter)|Bruce Stewart]], who had adapted various science fiction short stories for the [[anthology]] series ''[[Out of This World (UK TV series)|Out of this World]]'' (1962) and ''[[Out of the Unknown]]'' (1965–71), was tasked with developing Boswell's outline into scripts.<ref name="Arnold" /> Eighteen of the scripts were written by Stewart, before pressure of other work meant that Stewart had to move on, and the final serial, "The Day of the Clone", was written by [[Victor Pemberton]].<ref name="Stewart" /> Pemberton is also credited with the script of the final episode of "The Year of the Burn Up", which acts as a bridge into "The Day of the Clone". Pemberton had previously served as script editor of ''Doctor Who'' and had penned the serial "[[Fury from the Deep]]".

The iconic opening titles for the series, using 3D lettering altered for each of the four stories. The [[light source]] moving round the letters to give shadows reminiscent of a [[sundial|sun dial]]. A standard 2D graphic of the same type face was used for the "End of Part One", "Part Two" and the closing credit captions in all four stories. In all cases, there was no consistency in the way the letter 'I' was arranged. It varied for each use, providing inconsistent 'logos' for the programme name. The first story's typeface used [[Westminster (typeface)|Westminster]], a typeface designed for [[Westminster Bank]] to be used on cheques as it is easily recognisable by [[optical character recognition]].

''Timeslip'' was recorded mainly in the studio. The most notable location used was that of the Ministry Field where Liz and Simon discover the Time Barrier – this was in fact the Burnt Farm Army Camp near [[Goff's Oak]], [[Hertfordshire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeslip.org.uk/production/location.php |title=Location, Location, Location! |access-date=7 September 2007 |work=Timeslip.org.uk }}</ref> The effect of the children passing through the Time Barrier was achieved by way of a simple [[split screen (film)|split screen]] effect.

A sequel series was mooted, but was not made, as John Cooper felt that the idea had run its natural course.<ref name="Arnold" /> Additionally, the series went well over budget, and the potential for sales of the series was lost because some episodes were made in [[monochrome|black and white]].<ref name="Robinson_2_15">Robinson, ''Timeslip (Part 2)'', p. 15.</ref>

Victor Pemberton acquired the rights to ''Timeslip'' in the early 1990s, intending to produce either a re-make or sequel series.<ref name="Robinson_2_15" /> Nothing came of this attempt, however.