📝8/10

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“The Time Meddler: A Meddling Delight”

The Time Meddler ushers in a new TARDIS dynamic while breaking fresh ground as Doctor Who’s first pseudo-historical, blending historical intrigue with science fiction in a tale that’s equal parts whimsical and groundbreaking. Though it stumbles occasionally in pacing and tension, its charm and historical significance make it a standout adventure.

Reminiscing and Rebuilding

The opening moments of The Time Meddler offer a rare gem in Classic Who: quiet character introspection. Reflecting on Ian and Barbara’s departure, the episode tenderly marks their absence while setting the stage for a new TARDIS team. The delightful introductory sequence inside the TARDIS seamlessly integrates Steven into the crew, offering both a primer for new viewers and a warm, comedic nod to returning fans.

History with a Twist

Marking the debut of the pseudo-historical genre, The Time Meddler cleverly juxtaposes the Viking era with futuristic anachronisms, such as 20th-century technology. While the narrative doesn’t fully explore the potential of this blend, it sets a fascinating tone, particularly in the early episodes. The story shifts focus from historical events to a compelling battle of wits between two opposing Time Lords, a bold departure for the series.

A Showdown of Icons

The heart of the serial lies in the clash between the Doctor and the Meddling Monk, played with mischievous brilliance by Peter Butterworth. As the first Time Lord adversary in the series, the Monk’s playful yet selfish motives make him a refreshing change from traditional villains. Butterworth’s chemistry with William Hartnell is a joy to watch, particularly in the second half when their rivalry takes center stage.

A New Team Takes Shape

Without Ian and Barbara, Maureen O’Brien’s Vicki comes into her own as a confident and capable companion, proving she can hold her own. Meanwhile, Steven’s debut is energetic, if still a little rough around the edges. His skeptical defiance contrasts nicely with Vicki’s seasoned pragmatism, and their dynamic shines in their shared escapades throughout the story.

Missed Opportunities and Clumsy Moments

Despite its innovation, The Time Meddler suffers from some uneven plotting. Steven and Vicki spend much of the story aimlessly wandering, while the Doctor takes a backseat in the first half due to Hartnell’s absence. The Saxons and Vikings are underdeveloped and largely forgettable, serving more as window dressing than integral parts of the plot.

The action sequences, usually a strength in historicals, feel clumsy and unconvincing here, especially when compared to earlier serials. Additionally, while the ending is cleverly satisfying, it lacks the sense of grandeur or climax that would have elevated the story.

Visuals and Wit

The production’s simple sets and costumes effectively evoke the historical setting, supported by solid direction that lends the story a sense of scale. The script sparkles with memorable lines, from Hartnell’s poetic description of the TARDIS (“Sheer poetry, dear boy”) to his sardonic quip about a Viking helmet being “a space helmet for a cow.” These moments of wit are quintessential Hartnell and inject much-needed levity into the slower stretches of the serial.

The Time Meddler strikes a unique balance of humor, innovation, and character-driven storytelling. While its pacing falters and some elements feel undercooked, the introduction of the Monk and the evolving TARDIS team dynamics make it a pivotal and entertaining chapter in Doctor Who history.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• The Monk’s meddling, while mischievous, almost makes you root for his victory—a testament to Butterworth’s charming performance.
• The Saxons’ resemblance to the tribe members from An Unearthly Child is amusing, especially given Aletha Charlton’s return in a similar role.

As a story, The Time Meddler is not really anything special. In terms of its contribution to the overall development of the series, it is crucial. It is the first time we discover that others from the Doctor’s (still unnamed) planet are travelling in time and space and that the TARDIS is not unique – it’s not even the most up to date model. It is also the first time in the series that the two story types: historical and futuristic were combined.

The Doctor, Vicki and surprise arrival Steven, land in Northumbria in 1066. Here they encounter Saxons, Vikings and a Monk meddling with time. The Monk is one of the Doctor’s own race and has a TARDIS hidden in the local monastery. He is planning to aid the Saxons in destroying the Viking invaders so that King Harold is able to fend off the soon to arrive Normans led by William the Conqueror. If Harold wins all of British history would change. The Doctor, with the help of the local Saxons foils the Monk’s plans and leaves him stranded in 1066 after stealing his dimensional circuit.

I have fond memories of taping The Time Meddler off the TV when BBC2 repeated it as part of a repeat season in 1992 (over 30 years ago!!). That said, I don’t have massively fond memories of the story. It was one of the first Hartnell stories I saw (I only became a fan around the age of 13/14 in about 1989) but it has never ranked in my favourites of this era. There are plenty of bits I like, but there are also plenty of bits which are, frankly, a bit dull.

Peter Butterworth as the Monk is brilliant. Mischevious and vaguely amoral he is the opposite to the Doctor and a far more interesting adversary than the straight down the line ‘evil’ Master. He’s enjoying his trips round time and space and bending the rules here and there seemingly for the fun of it. His interplay with Hartnell is wonderful and they are ably supported by Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves.

The guest cast of Saxons and Vikings are fairly non-descript – saddled a little with silly moustaches, beards and hairstyles – but one stand out is Alethea Charlton (last seen ugging it up as Hur in 100,000 BC) as Edith. Her scenes with the Doctor are lovely. Verity Lambert points out on the commentary that she is very ‘Surrey’ in her hospitality and its true that it may seem a little anachronistic for her to behave in such a way, but there is such charm in Charlton’s performance coupled with some real steel later on. The suggested rape of Edith is all the more powerful for the fact that we care more about this character than we might do, purely down to the performances in those early scenes.

The Vikings are a bit lacklustre and look a little like Swedish 1970s porn stars with long shaggy hair and large handlebar moustaches.

The Saxons, with the exception of Edith, don’t fare much better with even more shaggy hair and beards they fight to get their dialogue past. The acting is passable, but they are not given a huge amount to work with. The best of the rest is probably Edith’s husband – who even gets a topless scene!

Away from the machinations of the Monk, this story encourages us to learn about 1066 and all that. The Doctor gives a massive info dump early in the story (which, according to Donald Tosh on the commentary is a Hartnellisation of the original script which had caused some consternation amongst the production team as he was giving away a lot of the upcoming plot). The Doctor mentions Harold Hadrader, the Vikings, the Normans and 1066, commenting that Barbara would have loved it (Barbara and Ian having departed in the previous story, The Chase).

The sets are very good, something which the commentary guests comment on continually, from the saxon crook house, to the forest and the monastery. The monastery in particular has a sense of scale often missing from the Hartnell stories, limited as they were to small studios and a lack of location filming. It seems that Barry Newbery (also present on the commentary) did extensive research before building the sets and he comments on the fact that the black floor in the crook house – partly necessitated by the studio floor – was in actual fact historically accurate due to the practice of putting ox blood on the ground which would have turned hard and black and make a perfect flooring.

The rape of Edith is another aspect which lends a historical validity to the events unfolding. Although it is unspoken and the scene could be read in a few different ways, the fact remains that rape was something Viking invaders committed. To have it alluded to in a children’s programme is both shocking and commendable.

Less accurate, possibly, is the Viking helmet the Doctor discovers on the beach (leading to one of the Doctor’s best lines – ‘A space helmet for a cow!’). As far as I know, the presence of horns on Viking helmets is an invention of films and TV and, historically, they would have worn no such thing. Intriguingly, none of the actual Vikings are shown wearing anything like this and seem to be decked out in some far more accurate helmets and the like. There is also an effective inclusion of stock footage of a replica Viking longship – which the restored and cleaned up version of the story prepared for this DVD release makes to fit seamlessly into the studio recordings.

The Time Meddler does at times feel a little like a history lesson, and at others seems like a bunch of lacklustre fight scenes strung together by Peter Butterworth and William Hartnell’s battle of words. Peter Purves makes an immediate impact as the cynical Steven and Maureen O’Brien continues to give Vicki more life and vitality than was ever present in her predecessor Susan.

The Monk is easily the best part of this story and it is no surprise the production team brought him back in The Daleks’ Masterplan. It is a shame he didn’t return again on TV although he does appear in a number of comic strips, novels and audio dramas. None of these, however, can hold a candle to Butterworth’s performance.

Series Two finishes in fantastic style, having another Time Lord in the mix (even if they don't label him this way) would be a solid idea for the end of a series even today. This story was well plotted, the revelations of the new TARDIS and someone fiddling with time were fantastic.

Steven's introduction was fantastic, having a slightly confused young man join the team after being introduced to him in the previous story was a stroke of genius. I like the fact they didn't make it obvious he was coming on board. Vicki and Steven are a really comfortable pair, they work together perfectly, it's a shame that they didn't both join at the same time when Ian and Barbara left then Vicki wouldn't have initially felt like such a replacement.

I think it adds a harsh, but interesting edge to the first doctor having him leave the time meddler stranded in 1066, he probably deserves it. I hope this character comes back as he is very interesting, he would be perfect for the new series.

I think there's a lot of strength to The Time Meddler. Not only does it expand the scope of the series, but there's a lot of ambition to the production that I quite admire. Some aspects of the storytelling certainly don't hold up that well, but on the whole it is an entertaining enough series of episodes, and I had quite a bit of fun with Steven and Vicki. Overall, it left me pretty optimistic for the new direction of the show after the original crew had officially left in The Chase. It's a very important turning point in Doctor Who history that I feel largely handles itself well against the affects of time and isn't overly dated.

The Vikings were a little boring but I think worked nicely to create a sense of stakes and even dread, even if some of that writing is a little clumsy. In a lot of ways, The Time Meddler is a bit predictive of the kind of content we might expect out of the show going forward.

The TV finale of season two. Sadly, it feels just as generic and ambivalent as the last one.

The Doctor and Vicki land in 1066. They discover Steven managed to climb aboard the Tardis in the last episode. After a few fun character shenanigans, they decide to check out their location.

While they are exploring, we focus on a suspicious looking monk, who is clearly scheming, so what’s going on?

This premise is fine. A mysterious character can be fun. The problem here is that very little plot actually happens. We walk, we talk, then we walk and talk some more. The actual reveal of the Monk is saved until the final 20 minutes in an 100 minute story. After that we have to rush to some conclusions and we’re done.

The Monk is a member of the Doctor’s people. But unlike the Doctor, who believes you can’t rewrite history, the Monk goes all out. Frankly just having a great old time. But we don’t really get a lot of insight in what his meddling actually is, or what it does.

The Doctor is quite uppity with him about it. This is about as stern as 1 gets in this entire season. And it feels contrary. Of course, the doctor will eventually make the leap to meddling himself, but we’re not there yet. It makes sense for him to defend time here.

But it could be a great moment of introspection. Has the Doctor actually never meddled with time? What about all those dress up games and long travels with Marco Polo? It also seems that every time we move past 1965, it doesn’t matter all that much. But even in this own story. He told the English the Vikings were coming. Is that meddling?

And that’s why this story feel like the first half to something bigger. Where does the Doctor, in this period of his life, draw a line? I know that can feel like a question that is not reasonable for the show to have right now. It’s not a hero show yet.

But I think it is a valid question to ask. And the Monk could be a good contrast. Show us what makes him wrong and the Doctor right. The Monk comes across as a quite reasonable fellow, so it could be a really fun battle of wits. Right now, we just have to take the Doctor’s word that he is a baddy, and that’s weak sauce.

Show us consequences! Show us the contrast in literally any way. Now there is nothing. If an audience can handle the clear meddling in “The Chase”, then they can handle an explanation on what should and shouldn’t be done. They shouldn’t take anyone’s word for who’s bad, let alone the Doctor’s.

Character wise, this story is not very notable either. Dennis Spooner sets himself apart as a writer of separate moments, instead of stories, but those are lacking here as well. The best part is Vicki and the Doctor in the Tardis, talking about the loss of Ian and Barbara. My heart melts every time this Doctor shows vulnerability and heart. But it’s the only real moment in these 4 episodes.

And that’s kind of weird. Considering we have a new crewmate! Steven Taylor establishes himself as a himbo this story, and that’s about it. He’s kind of stupid, but good hearted. It’s a bit flat, but we have time. We know this character can show vulnerability. He did so last episode. He also was alone for 2 years, so there’s room for good stuff there. It’s just not here yet.

But yeah, that leaves “The Time Meddler” with no big plot, no small moments and barely any character work. It’s a shame. It could have been better if they just talked about the implications they’re dropping here, but they decide to fluff it up until we have no time left for good stuff. It’s a shame.

And that’s a wrap on the TV season as well. Alternative Seasons still has some audio’s to go, though. Last time, when we ended the TV season on “The Reign of Terror” (another Spooner script, take that as you will), and I mentioned how it was the first real dud in the TV season. This time, we aren’t as lucky, as there have been more duds, but it still has plenty of winners! It’s mostly the stories in the middle that don’t quite do it for me. Oh well, the passion and drive is still clear on screen and I’m still looking forward to the next one!