The Time Meddler

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!

A delightful romp; possibly a bit slow and repetitive in places, but the humor more than makes up for it. Notable for being the show's first pseudohistorical, the introduction of the sci-fi elements makes an interesting twist on the standard Hartnell historical. Peter Butterworth plays the bumbling Monk brilliantly, and I adore the way he and Hartnell play off one another. Vicki and the new companion Steven also make for a great duo; it's a shame that they didn't get more screen time together. Not the greatest of the era, but highly recommended when you want a lighter story.

Quite a lot of firsts with this one; first combination of historical and sci-fi (beyond the existence of the TARDIS), first Monk story, first story to feature another Time Lord, first to see anyone go into another TARDIS and the first story to be set during the Viking Invasion of England (1066 AD, ho ho).

Now, it's not as bombastic as that may make it sound, (though seeing Vicky and Steven go into the monk's TARDIS did get a bit of a gasp out of me) no, mostly it's a fun historical romp with a sci-fi twist, by modern standards it would probably be criticized for being quite dull and not using its concept well enough, and I must admit I do wish they were explored some more but it's decently fun nonetheless and I guess you could say it doesn't overburden or overwhelm, it simply introduces a few new interesting concepts and has them play out.

I guess you could say it's high in concept but low in execution, which is a bit of a shame as they have already done some high-concept stuff thus far, like Dalek Invasion of Earth and Planet of Giants, so they can definitely pull it off, though I can see how the Monk meddling in time could be quite difficult to show at the time, but I still wish they had.
For me the biggest sin of this serial is that it tells more than it shows, it tells us that The Monk has meddled in time, but it doesn't show us it happening in a way, no The Chase-style cutaway to The Monk changing any events, no plan played out that changes history, it's all just theoretical, which is a shame.

More positives: the performances are good as always if you can look past a few fumbles here and there. I'm missing Ian and Barbara, but Vivki and Steven work really well together, I love their bickering. The Monk is good fun and played very well by Peter Butterworth and the final showdown with The Doctor is quite good and quite clever.

So altogether, not the finest this era has to offer, in my opinion (though I realize I am in a bit of a minority when it comes to that), but certainly good fun and well worth a re-watch.
7/10

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. That said, though, they don’t look that different from the stereotypical images that have illustrated the two Viking-themed comic strips we’ve experienced so far.

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.