Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

The Time Meddler is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The serial was first broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 3 to 24 July 1965.

The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) find Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) aboard the TARDIS after he stumbled in during a disorientated state on Mechanus. The TARDIS lands on a rocky beach and the Doctor establishes the century from a discarded Viking helmet and heads off to the village.

Steven and Vicki explore the cliffs above, witnessed by the Monk (Peter Butterworth). The TARDIS is soon after spotted by a Saxon villager, Eldred (Peter Russell), who runs to tell the headman of his village, Wulnoth (Michael Miller). The Doctor encounters Edith (Alethea Charlton), Wulnoth’s wife, and convinces her that he is a harmless traveller while probing for more information.

He discovers that it is 1066, since Harold Godwinson has not yet faced Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. At a nearby monastery, monks are heard chanting; arriving at the monastery, the Doctor finds a gramophone playing the chant. He stops the gramophone and the Monk traps him in a cell.

Steven and Vicki encounter Eldred and notice he has a wristwatch, dropped by the Monk. The next morning, they are ambushed by the Saxons and taken to the village council. They convince Wulnoth they are travellers and are given provisions to travel on.

Vicki is heartened to hear from Edith that she encountered the Doctor on his way to the monastery. Steven and Vicki visit the monastery, where the Monk tries to dissuade them from entering but gives himself away by describing the Doctor too accurately.

Steven and Vicki break in after dark. A Viking attacks Edith, and the Saxons go hunting for the invaders. One is struck down, while his companions, Sven (David Anderson) and Ulf (Norman Hartley), flee. Eldred is badly wounded and Wulnoth takes him to the monastery for help.

While the Monk is occupied with the Saxons, Steven and Vicki find the gramophone. They discover that the Doctor has escaped through a secret passage and returned to the village. The Doctor heads back to the monastery and gains the upper hand when the Monk answers the door; the Doctor begins to question the Monk.

Sven and Ulf ambush the Doctor and the Monk but are overpowered, but the Monk slips away during the confrontation. He tries to persuade the villagers to light beacon fires on the cliff tops, secretly wishing to lure the Viking fleet to land; Wulnoth tells the Monk that he agrees, but admits to Edith that he suspects danger.

Steven and Vicki return to the monastery and investigate the crypt, where a heavy power cable extends from a sarcophagus. Looking inside, they discover that it is the Monk’s TARDIS, and that he must originate from the same place as the Doctor. The Doctor overpowers the Monk upon the latter’s return to the monastery.

The Monk reveals his plan to destroy the Viking fleet, which would prevent the Battle of Stamford Bridge and leave the Saxon soldiers completely fresh to defeat William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. He boasts that his plan would accelerate mankind’s development by centuries. The Doctor denounces the Monk for seeking to alter the course of history and forces him to reveal his TARDIS, where they find Steven and Vicki. The time travellers piece together the Monk’s plot, which he insists is intended to stabilise England and benefit Western civilisation.

Ulf and Sven form an alliance with the Monk and tie up the Doctor’s party while the three of them take the neutron bomb shells to the cannon on the beach. The scheme is foiled, however, when Wulnoth and the Saxons arrive and engage the fleeing Vikings in a nearby clearing. The Monk hides while the fighting rages, little knowing that the Doctor and his friends have been freed by Edith and are tampering with his TARDIS.

With his scheme in ruins, the Monk decides to leave and returns to his TARDIS. When the Monk looks inside, he realises the Doctor has taken the dimensional control and that the interior of his ship has shrunk beyond use, leaving him stranded in 1066. The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven return to the TARDIS and leave.

• Episode 1: The Watcher
• Episode 2: The Meddling Monk
• Episode 3: A Battle of Wits
• Episode 4: Checkmate

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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