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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 03 Apr 2016, 13:58
by Drassil
fivegoldstars wrote:I can upload photos/letters/production notes - is there a way to do this directly on the site rather than using imagrhosting?
I'm not sure if the website's Submit Article function is working for non-moderators at the moment. The best way might be to attach the scans to a forum post or a PM to me if you prefer. I can then get them added to the website as part of an article, which will lead to more people seeing them.

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 04 Apr 2016, 18:08
by fivegoldstars
Ok...first thing's first. I actually applied to be on Knightmare, season six.
If this had worked out a little better, I may have been something other than a footnote tucked away in misc... ;D

Unfortunately, the site upload option is still not working, so here's a taster. I'm not wanting to go down the imagehosting route, so will upload more once this issue is resolved.

Image
http://postimg.org/image/tjy7hq5e5/

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 19:46
by fivegoldstars
I'm sorry I didn't get back sooner...completely forget until I was backing up some files.
If anyone is still interested...
Knightmare 'shortlist' letter...
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:06
by fivegoldstars
Timebusters invite letter...
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:09
by fivegoldstars
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:12
by fivegoldstars
Timebusters 'script'...
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:14
by fivegoldstars
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:16
by fivegoldstars
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:36
by fivegoldstars
Behind the scenes...
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 20:51
by fivegoldstars
Buster the Time Bus...
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Re: Timebusters

Posted: 20 Feb 2017, 22:27
by Canadanne
These are great, fivegoldstars - thank you for taking the time to share them with us!

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 23 Apr 2017, 16:32
by Drassil
A belated thank you for coming back and posting all the extra material, fivegoldstars. 'Unique insight' is a cliché but I think it applies here, so it's most welcome. Your shortlist letter is precisely 25 years old today.

I'm ashamed to admit that although I knew Timebusters involved a bus, somehow I hadn't spotted the wordplay. I was similarly slow off the mark with Duckula and Mr. Majeika. I think I got Knightmare and T-Bag though...

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 13 May 2020, 03:56
by Canadanne
OMG, someone finally found three episodes of this! (A two-parter from Series 1 and a complete adventure from Series 3, which is quite different and more fast-paced.) What a very '90s theme tune it had. Can't say I find the game particularly riveting now. No Knightmare actors in the first story, sadly, but it does feature Freyja Westdal who was the computer voice in The Satellite Game. There are a couple of familiar faces in the later one, though!

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 16 May 2020, 00:27
by JamesA
Yes, I've just watched all three of the episodes in question.

The later episode has rather interestingly, an actress who appeared in Series 4 of Knightmare and an actor who appeared in Series 8 though the latter is sadly no longer with us.

I'll say no more... ;)

Re: Timebusters

Posted: 16 May 2020, 17:49
by Drassil
James, as the first person ever to post about TimeBusters (Timebusters? Time Busters?) on this forum, it's fitting that you should be posting about it again now.

It's great to finally have all the Broadsword series - Knightmare, The Satellite Game, Cyberzone, Virtually Impossible, TimeBusters - represented online.

Issue 2-2 of The Quest promised a 'full cast list' for TimeBusters in the next issue but the article never appeared. If it had, interest in and recollections of the series might have been better.

A few thoughts on the TimeBusters episodes now online:

I preferred the Series 1 adventure (Episodes 3-4) to Series 3 (Episode 11).

I like the use of Knightmare's portal sound for Buster materialising and dematerialising in Series 1.

Somerweston Hall is in reality Somerleyton Hall.

The time travelling Professor McNulty, with his younger female assistant, reminded me of Doctor Who. No surprise given that Michael Troughton, who played the Professor, was the son of Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor. If I didn't know better I'd say that Tim Child was inspired by Doctor Who in creating the characters of the Professor and Tee-Jay... but we do know better, because Tim told us in 2004 that:
beveryafraid (a.k.a. Tim Child) wrote: 01 Mar 2004, 20:06 I am not a Dr Who fan.

In the History of Knightmare on the website, Tim Child said that TimeBusters was 'nicknamed TIM-BUSTERS by the Broadsword crew - because one series almost killed me'. I can see why: the recurring combination of technology and filming on location must have been demanding.

Here in full is what Tim wrote about TimeBusters in the History of Knightmare:
Tim Child wrote:This was intended to do for location-based role-playing, what Knightmare had done for studio-based TV.

TIMEBUSTERS ran for 3 series on BBC and provided some of the worst (not counting SG [The Satellite Game]) and best adventure-gaming we had ever conducted. The principle obstacle to its achievements was the fact that each game (and each featured team) had just one show (25 minutes) and 1.5 location game days, to complete their win-or-lose allotted task. There was no rolling gameplay as invented and allowed in Knightmare.

We could however exploit our Knightmare experiences, and our experienced interactors. Players such as Sam Perkins (Gundrada), Mark Knight (Lord Fear) and Michael Cule (Brother Mace), all appeared in TIMEBUSTERS.