“Devil’s Island” is episode nine of season one of The Time Tunnel.
At the end of the previous episode, “Massacre”, Tony and Doug arrived on an island just as a boat was dropping off prisoners. The prisoners tried to escape and two of them jumped into the water and swam off. The guards, looking for the missing two, found Doug and Tony instead.
With six prisoners expected and six men in custody, the guards believe Doug and Tony are the two who actually got away. Tony protests and goes for the sergeant, Lescaux. Lescaux tells Tony that Tony would be better off if Lescaux killed him. The prisoners are escorted to a camp where a guillotine is demonstrated. They are welcomed to Devil’s Island, the ultimate punishment. They are the elite; political prisoners whose ideas could infect others. They are in a small section of the smallest of three islands, and will reside in the second barracks. No-one ever escapes and hungry sharks fill the waters. They will be hear for the rest of their lives, which might be long.
Prisoners are not allowed to talk to the commandant and Doug claims they are here by mistake. If there is a mistake, Lescaux says, it will be found out. Eventually. Until then, they are prisoners. If they disobey, they will die. They are only alive because it’s their first day. Change into the uniforms in the barracks. Doug believes Lescaux means what he says but Tony has no intention of spending the rest of his life of the island.
In the barracks, the prisoners are fastened to the beds with leg irons. Any disturbances and rations will be halved. One prisoner says he questioned French colonial policy whilst in the army. It didn’t go down well. Another got out, with two others for a bit. They didn’t survive. Henri Boudaire, another prisoner, hopes to live forever, simply to be an embarrassment.
Tik-Toc is trying to pin down the date. Between 1852 and 1930 is all they have so far. Ann suggests that they might be able to find out from the numbers on the prison uniforms; they were issued sequentially and there might be a record.
The other prisoners are not willing to escape. Doug wants to see if the commandant will listen to reason. Tony says he will distract Lescaux. However, another prisoner dying interrupts his distraction and Tony is ordered to bury him.
Doug takes out the guard outside the commandant’s office and enters with a gun. The commandant asks if he knows the penalty. Doug has a pretty good idea, but it’s worth the risk. If Doug is willing to risk his life for a talk, the commandment says he should at least listen. Which he does, completely unbothered by the situation. Doug explains that they are here by accident; it seems the descriptions of the other two match Tony and Doug closely. The commandant promises to send word, with Doug and Tony’s names and nationality, but it was all a trick. He thinks Doug should be their first example, and he is locked into a small pit under the ground.
Another prisoner arrives, in uniform, and it seems like Tony recognises him. The man introduces himself to the commandant as Captain Alfred Dreyfus. He will be assigned quarters pending the outcome of his appeal in Paris. Dreyfus doesn’t want favours, just what every Frenchman wants. Justice.
Tony explains to the other prisoners who he saw, and the others know him. They do not think it’s possible he can be convicted of treason. Tony says the evidence was forged, and the trial was covered in the American press. Now the prisoners want to escape, and to take Dreyfus with them.
Tik-Toc get a date now, with Dreyfus being more than a little famous, as is the whole Dreyfus affair. They just need a spatial fix.
Tony is suffering in his pit when he overhears Lescaux coincidentally talking to a guard about how the total number of guards will be reduced. The prisoners are now planning their escape, but there’s a problem in Thaddeus never escaped from Devil’s Island. So, any escape involving him will fail. Tik-Toc demonstrate that they still don’t really know what they are doing with the time tunnel.