The Time Meddler

Bad Habits & Monk-y Business

The Time Meddler* (4 X 25mins B&W)
Written by Dennis Spooner
Doctor Who Series two Serial Nine
The Watcher transmitted BBC1 3 July 1965
The Meddling Monk transmitted BBC1 10 July 1965
A Battle of Wits transmitted BBC1 17 July 1965
Checkmate** transmitted BBC1 24 July 1965

* Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.

** 12 seconds were cut by Nigerian TV censors from the 16mm film print and not returned to the BBC. They are now completely lost and not on the source BBC DVD.

Synopsis

The Doctor and Vicki find a stowaway on the TARDIS. It's Steven, the Earth astronaut they met last serial on the planet Mechanus. Materialising in Northumbria 1066, the Doctor investigates the nearby monastery where dwells a monk who appears to be more than he seems, and who takes the Doctor prisoner.  Meanwhile, Vicki and Steven, searching for the Doctor, discover a wristwatch, a gramophone, and a neutron bomb launcher. What are they doing in 1066? 

Review
"That is the dematerialisation control, and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy".

This was another of Dennis Spooner's (now solely the writer) experiments sanctioned by first producer Verity Lambert. A 'pseudo-historical' or 'ahistorical' story, that's as school history text book historical as earlier serials like Marco Polo, but introduced a science-fiction element other than the TARDIS crew, in this case the Monk himself, brilliantly underplayed by Peter Butterworth, but with a mischievously twinkly sense of humour, particularly in his exchanges with Hartnell. He's like The Doctor, a traveller in time and space in his own TARDIS, a Mark IV which, if the Doctor's indignant silence on the matter is anything to go by, is an improvement on his own (the Doctor confirms to Steven they're both from the 'same place', the Monk 50 years on).

He's a brilliant creation by Dennis, who adds to the Doctor mythos its first important information since that first episode. There are other time travellers like the Doctor. This would eventually lead on to Gallifrey and the Time Lords. It's interesting that he's attempting to change history by destroying the Viking fleet, saving England's Saxon King Harold from having to battle them, thus helping him to defeat the Normans. Putting aside the rather dubious motivation of the Monk (he thinks Harold would be a good king?), what is important is that he's attempting to change history, and according to his diary (which Vicki reads) already has done so, but in a  minor way. The Doctor says to him, "you know the golden rule of time travel. Never never interfere", to which the Monk replies "And who says?".

Sadly, this theme doesn't get expanded upon, the Saxons and our travellers stymie his plans, so he attempts to fly off in his TARDIS, whereupon he discovers the Doctor's mischievous trick. Wonderfully played by Butterworth, who clearly relishes his battle of wits with Hartnell, it's a shame that his character never returned, apart from three episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan.

Another introduction is Peter Purves as now a new companion. I disliked him in The Chase, but Purves is much better here, even if the writer and story editor still portray him as headstrong (he attacks the first Saxon he meets without any provocation), and doubting. His disbelief at the TARDIS being a time ship is countered by the Doctor with the wonderful riposte that starts this review. When he shows Steven a Viking's helmet and Steven says "may be", Spooner gives the Doctor another wonderfully waspish reply, "a space helmet for a cow?" Both actor and character grow throughout the serial. I might even get to like him.

Maureen O'Brien as Vicki is her usual excellent self, particularly in her relationship with the Doctor. The serial starts with her missing Ian & Barbara (the Doctor concurs, and mentions Susan), when she calls them old, the Doctor laughs. What must she think of him? For the rest of the serial she's teamed with Steven. Like me, she doesn't take to him initially, but they grow accustomed to each other. Maureen is very good at portraying wonder, an essential ingredient for the show, as witness her discovery of The Monk's TARDIS.

Hartnell is wonderful, alternately intrigued, humorous, roused to anger by the Monk's plans to meddle, mischievous and wonderfully interacting with all the people he meets, for example, courteous and gentlemanly to Edith. The rest of the cast, both Saxons and Vikings, is competent, it's  a shame there's little (stock) music to add atmosphere, only the percussion performed by Charles Botterill. The effective use of sound effects, like the owls hooting during the many night scenes, more than compensates, as does the design.

The production design by Barry Newbery is excellent here, adding much atmosphere. The forest scenes are wonderful, as is the ivy-covered ruin of the monastery. First prize must go however to the Saxon sarcophagus that the Monk's TARDIS has assumed the shape of (as the Monk tells the Doctor, much more in keeping than a modern police call box). Special mention must also go the scenes on the cliff-tops where the camera looks up from below. Rather than having a static painted back-cloth, they seem to have projected films of clouds scudding across both day and night skies onto the diorama. This, added to the great production design and set dressing and the screech of seagulls or hoots of owls, really make you immersed in the drama.

All in all, a very good story well told, even if the story is admittedly a bit slow-paced. At the time, the modern elements in a historical story confused the viewing public (that ranged from 7 to 8 million) at the time. Many called the wristwatch and gramophone silly. They were used to straight historical stories like The Crusade. We, on the other side of history, can see that this story created a new template for Doctor Who, the Sci-Fi history story, as well as adding to the Who mythos. At the time, the criticisms must have made incoming producer John Wiles unwilling to repeat this experiment and, until Innes Lloyd effectively cancelled them for the Second Doctor, all historical stories from now on would be straight histories. In the colour 70s era, when Barry Letts reintroduced this element of Who, it was this template that he used for The Time Warrior, and all subsequent historical stories, from The Masque of Mandragora to The Visitation would be Sci-Fi stories with historical window dressing.

So, not silly,  but funny yes. If not an all-out classic, it does at least end series two, which had started so strongly but so quickly and dangerously descended into some very poor and second-rate stories, with a strong finale. It was to be out with the old, and in with the new for series three with producer John Wiles and story editor Donald Tosh.

TARDIS rating: 4/5

Credits
Dr. Who ....................................................................................  WILLIAM HARTNELL
Vicki .........................................................................................  MAUREEN O'BRIEN

Steven Taylor ............................................................................ PETER PURVES
The Monk .................................................................................. PETER BUTTERWORTH
Edith ........................................................................................  ALETHEA CHARLTON

Eldred ......................................................................................  PETER RUSSELL
Wulnoth .................................................................................... MICHAEL MILLER 
Saxon Hunter ........................................................................... MICHAEL GUEST
Viking Leader ........................................................................... GEOFFREY CHESHIRE
Ulf ............................................................................................. NORMAN HARTLEY
Sven ......................................................................................... DAVID ANDERSON
Gunnar the Giant .....................................................................  RONALD RICH            

Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental Music (stock) Percussion by .................................. Charles Botterill
Story Editor ............................................................................ DONALD TOSH
Designer ................................................................................. BARRY NEWBERY
Costumes Supervised .............................................................by DAPHNE DARE
Make-up Supervised .............................................................. by SONIA MARKHAM
Lighting ................................................................................... RALPH WALTON
Sound ..................................................................................... RAY ANGEL
Producer ................................................................................. VERITY LAMBERT
Directed .................................................................................. by DOUGLAS CAMFIELD

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