DISCOVER--fifteen superb guest star performances on The Time Tunnel
As well as being one of the most exciting and creative television adventure series ever made, The Time Tunnel was also a gift to actors, especially those TV players usually consigned to playing routine supporting roles as cops, cowboys, crooks, heavies, judges, and doctors etc. Some of television's busiest guest players found their most colorful roles in the Irwin Allen series, particularly this one, and given a chance to shine, responded by giving some of their most memorable performances.
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- DirectorIrwin AllenStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertMichael RennieCongress has poured seven billion dollars into a large and deep hole in the ground - the home of Project TicToc and its revolutionary new technology, the Time Tunnel. A mechanism intended to access past and future, the tunnel is not quite ready despite a decade of work and all the billions. Senator Clark declares his intention to cut funding and abandon the project. Desperate scientist Tony Newman uses the apparatus to send himself through time to prove the concept. But the TicToc team cannot retrieve him, and so his mentor Doug Phillips goes back to help Tony out of the peril he has landed in: he has arrived on the RMS Titanic the day before she struck an iceberg and sank.Michael Rennie as the Captain of the Titanic
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertLinden ChilesDecember 6, 1941: Dr. Tony Newman confronts his own past at Pearl Harbor and he wants to know what happened to his father.Linden Chiles as Tony's father
- DirectorSobey MartinStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertCarroll O'ConnorDoug and Tony are transported to New Orleans where Tony steals two buckskins for them to wear. They are captured by the British Seventh Royal Regiment commanded by Colonel 'The Butcher' Southall. They find themselves behind the British lines in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom where they are mistakenly taken to be spies. They go to a partial court martial and sentenced to be executed by firing squad by The Butcher. Furthermore they realize that the day is 07 January 1815, the eve of the ultimate attack of Colonel Southall against the strongest side of Commander Andrew Jackson's defenses, when the British officer led his men to a slaughter. Meanwhile General Kirk invites the British General Phillip Southall, who is a descendant of The Butcher, to visit The Time Tunnel facility to feed the personnel with information about his ancestor.Carroll O'Connor as Southall and his descendant
- DirectorMurray GoldenStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertJoe MarossDoug and Tony are transported to the summer of 1876 and witness soldiers slaughtered by Indians in the middle of the desert. They are hunted and captured by three Indians; however Doug is rescued by the Trumpeter Tim that survived the massacre and is bringing a dispatch from General Crook to General George Armstrong Custer. Doug escapes but the leader of the Indians, Crazy Horse, brings Tony to the Indian camp to get information about the "Yellow Hair". Meanwhile, the Time Tunnel personnel summon the specialist in the Indian Wars period and Sioux descendent Dr. Charles Whitebird to provide information about the location. The researcher advises that the place is Montana and the day is the eve of the day of The Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment where defeated and annihilated by the Indians led by Sitting Bull.Joe Maross as Custer
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertScott MarloweThe guys are transported to February 1861 to a barn where a group of conspirators led by Jeremiah plots to kill Abraham Lincoln. They have developed a time bomb but are surprised by a raid of governmental agents. Tony flees with Jeremiah.R.G. Armstrong as Abraham Lincoln
- DirectorPaul StanleyStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertMalachi ThroneDoug and Tony land in nineteenth century Asia, meet Rudyard Kipling and become involved in the conflict between the British and local tribesman for control of the Khyber Pass.Brendan Dillon as Fettrech (honourable mention to Dayton Lummis as Gladstone)
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertDonald HarronIn thirteenth century England, Doug and Tony become involved with the Earl of Huntington otherwise known as the legendary Robin Hood and their efforts to get King John to sign the Magna Carta.John Crawford as King John (honourable mention to the entire cast of this one--the spirit of Errol Flynn is alive and well!)
- DirectorSobey MartinStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertJan MerlinDoug and Tony are transported to a spacecraft with two weird aliens that intend to invade Earth to steal proteins for their dying planet. They land on Mullins, Arizona, in 1885, and the aliens use a device called "Projector" to subdue the earthlings. The time travelers decide to resist the invasion to save Earth from the eminent destruction, but the powerful aliens seem to be unbeatable.Byron Foulger as the town quisling
- DirectorSobey MartinStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertEduardo CiannelliDuring an encounter between the Germans and the Italians in World War I, Doug and Tony land in a villa that is haunted by the ghost of the Roman Emperor Nero.Eduardo Cianelli as Count Galba
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertRobert Walker Jr.Landing in 1881 New Mexico in the middle of a jailbreak of Billy the Kid, to defend Tony Doug shoots at Billy who escapes swearing to hunt down Doug. According to their research back at the Time Tunnel, two unknown strangers were killed by him on that date.Robert Walker Jnr. as Billy (honourable mention to the great Harry Lauter as his stooge)
- DirectorSobey MartinStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertVictor JoryDoug and Tony have a run-in with pirates off the Barbary Coast in 1805 and help in the rescue of the nephew of the King of Spain assisted by American Naval officer Stephane Decatur.Victor Jory as Captain Beal
- DirectorSobey MartinStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertRobert DuvallA saboteur enters the Time Tunnel HQ and kills Dr. Stiles, plants a timed nuclear bomb, exits through the tunnel and ends up with the guys. The tunnel sends the trio one million years ahead. They encounter two humanoids from the future.Robert Duvall as Raoul Nimon
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertMalachi ThroneEnding up on different sides just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, Doug and Tony must stop an attempt by Machiavelli (who had traveled in time from the Renaissance due to the Time Tunnel Project) from trying to affect the outcome of the battle and send him back into time.Kevin Hagen as Maddox (honourable mention to John Crawford as the Major)
- DirectorHarry HarrisStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertChristopher CaryMerlin the Magician pulls Tony and Doug from their journey through time and send them to help a young King Arthur fight an invasion of Vikings.Christopher Cary as Merlin
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsJames DarrenRobert ColbertJohn CrawfordDuring the Battle of Khartoum in 1883, Tony and Doug stumble upon aliens who plan to conquer the Earth using missiles. The aliens also send a bomb through the Time Tunnel to prevent any interference with their plans.John Crawford as the British officer.
Jon is not on Facebook, but can reply to comments here, at the base of this list.
Obsessed with the popular culture of the 1960s and surrounding decades, Jon Abbott has been writing about film and TV for over thirty years in around two dozen different publications, trade, populist, and specialist. He is the author of several books, including
Irwin Allen Television Productions 1964-1970,
Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots,
The Elvis Films,
Cool TV of the 1960s: Three Shows That Changed the World, and Strange New World: Sex Films of the 1970s.
See his Amazon author's page, and his other lists on the IMDB, all under the pre-fix DISCOVER. ” - jonabbott56