Hitch in Time, A
Entry updated 8 May 2026. Tagged: Film.
Film (1978). Eyeline Films for the Children's Film Foundation. Directed by Jan Darnley-Smith. Written by T E B Clarke. Cast includes Pheona McLellan, Michael McVey, Jeff Rawle and Patrick Troughton (see Doctor Who). 57 minutes. Colour.
Two children, Fiona (McLellan) and Paul (McVey), find the brilliant but bungling Professor Wagstaff (Troughton) trying to set up his Time Machine in an old castle. With very little persuasion, he agrees to send them back in time, as the machine, which talks and is utterly dismissive of its creator's intelligence, will not take his weight. As the machine keeps malfunctioning, they move between different time periods, including the Stone Age (see Prehistoric SF), where everyone speaks English; the Civil War; witch trials; and World War Two. Along the way they meet various ancestors of the same few characters, including Fiona's grandfather, and the hated teacher Sniffy Kemp (Rawle), who attempts to have them arrested and gets his comeuppance with the time machine's help.
Despite the pleasurable banter between Troughton and his particularly grumpy time machine, this cheap-looking and frivolous film is a minor late entry in the CFF's sf output. No mention is made at all of the complexities of Time Travel or the possibilities of Time Paradoxes, even when characters alter events in the lives of their own ancestors, and the slapstick and fight sequences are poorly staged. T E B Clarke is much better remembered for his scripts for several of the classic Ealing comedies, including Passport to Pimlico (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1950) and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). [CWa]
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