C02S09 The time meddler

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands on the Northumbrian coast, where new companion Steven discovers a Viking helmet and the Doctor deduces they must have arrived in the 11th Century.  Steven remains sceptical, especially when he and Vicki encounter what appears to be a Saxon hunter with a modern wristwatch.  Investigating a nearby monastery, the Doctor discovers further anachronisms.  Who is the mysterious monk observing the time travellers' every move, and why is he so interested in the outcome of the Battle of Hastings?

Cover notes

As the finalé of Season Two, The Time Meddler represents a sea-change for Doctor Who.  Behind the scenes, key production staff - producer Verity Lambert and script editor Dennis Spooner - were preparing to move on to pastures new.  Long-term companions Ian and Barbara had left the TARDIS after two years at the end of the previous story, The Chase, and a dashing new male companion had been introduced in the form of space pilot Steven Taylor.

Penned by outgoing script editor Dennis Spooner, The Time Meddler is essentially a whimsical romp, the first of Doctor Who's 'pseudo-historical' adventures, and it crystallised the change in the nature of the series.  By marginalising the educational element, history becomes simply a backdrop against which events play out, and it is the manipulation of the timeline itself that forms the main plot.  More crucially, the introduction of the Meddling Monk takes fledgling steps in the development of the Doctor's personal mythos: another traveller from the same planet, with a TARDIS and an agenda of his own.  This was the first proper clue to the Doctor's background since An Unearthly Child in 1963, when Susan introduced him as her grandfather.

It is the relationship between the two time travellers which lies at the heart of this story.  The encounter brings out not only the bully in the Doctor but also a playful side, and their interplay is both refreshing and revealing, making us question the motives of both parties.  Sadly, although Peter Butterworth was popular in the role, his return in early 1966 as the Monk was largely as light relief during the epic The Daleks' Masterplan.  He would not appear again, and the role of Time Lord nemesis would remain vacant until the first appearance of the Master in 1971.

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