The Time Meddler is my fave story of the Hartnell Era. It was the first and only story of this era that I watched first on TV rather than on video. In it's four weekly slot it was a brilliant piece of TV.

There are so many things to like about this story. First of all is the Monk himself. Played superbly by Peter Butterworth, he starts of as a silent and sinister watcher, but he soon becomes a mischievous and clever thorn in the sides of both The Doctor and then Steven and Vicki. Then we find out he The ending of episode three must have been hell of a good one for those watching at the time and though I had some knowledge about the story prior to watching it, it still came across as a good cliffhanger on first viewing.

Then there is the 'Battle of Wits' between The Doctor and The Monk. Surely he is the cleverest adversary the First Doctor met during his era and I love the way The Monk cleverly tries to outdo The Doctor at every given opportunity.

It isn't just The Monk that makes the story a good one for me. I think the fact it's the first pseudo-historical gives it an extra edge and the background characters are mostly good in their own right. Not only that, I really do think this is the best story to feature Vicki. Free of being the kid companion to Ian and Barbara, she really stands up and be counted in this story. She uses her intelligence quite well and the fact that Steven steals her annoying mantle for the first two episodes means empathy really does fall in her direction as she has to try and take charge in the absence of The Doctor in the second episode. Steven does improve, though, and I love his attempted failures to call The Doctor by his proper name.

And that episode I also think is quite reminiscent of the Doctor-Lite episodes of the New series as though he is never seen, The Doctor is heard and the majority of the episode is based around him, meaning he has some kind of background presence.

I'm not gonna say this story is entirely perfect. The implied rape scene in episode 2 is quite disturbing and the vikings somewhat let the side down a little bit but overall I think there is enough content in this story to make it the stand out story of the Hartnell Era for me.

I agree Davey. This is certainly one of my favourites of the Hartnell years.
I liked the re-introduction of Steven, and he and Vicki (and the 'Doc') seem to strike a rapport almost instantly.
I thought at first, oh dear another boring 'historical' - but no - it wasn't to be as we find out later!
It's a funny, light-hearted story (apart from the fighting and rape!), and The Monk is a wonderful change to the usual evil enemy that the Doctor confronts. In fact he is quite loveable!!
Nice unique end to the story/series too with those titles.

And now a moment of silence for the missing 12 seconds. :sleep:

Thank you.

Isn't it a shame they didn't really have much time together after this story? I think Steven was good for Vicki and you're right, the pairing worked really well. And yes, compared to The Master, the Monk is quite a loveable character really, he's so crying out for a return in the New series, it would make a very different type of villain as you say. Also agree about the end titles, it really marked a great end to what had been a mostly good Season.


Those missing 12 seconds really impact on the story don't they? Not!!!!!!!

Could do a summing up but Daveyboy has covered most of what I would say, just want to echo (seeing as it's a bit of a theme up to now) I didn't notice Vicki being annoying in this story.
I love the 'pseudo-historical' that this is, as Doctor Who as a programme should be able to do. But I love the atmosphere and production values, feels authentic, particulary for the time it was made in. To the point it just feels as if they are interloping on a set of historical events.
Also agree that it was inspired really, to introduce this scheming character who is more than a match at every turn for the Doctor. Quite inspired if I do say so myself.
My favourite Hartnell by a distance and yes I can see why many would not have it as there best, but along with a couple of Troughton's my favourite B&W Who adventure.

I think when you watch The Time Meddler, you begin to see just how good an actor Peter Purvis was and it's such a shame that he decided to go into a career of being a presenter because I think he had so much more to offer as an actor. Can't really add anything else to what Davey has already said like him Time Meddler is my favorite Hartnell story Peter Butterworth, brings a wonderful touch of comedy to the part of the Monk, with out being O.TT and he has some wonderful banter with Billy.

When I think of the Hartnell missing episodes I'm just so glad that this story still exists in it's entirety in the archives.

The first time I saw this story was when BBC2 repeated it (approx 1992),a nd i thought it was a bit slow. My mum passed through the room at the time (The Dowager Lady Chuff, to give her her official title) and queried whether it was actually DW I was watching.

Now, I love it. Peter Butterworth. Alethea Charlton. Ingenious sets. The chanting monks. Full English breakfast. The Monk's "things to do" list. Penicillin. Fantastic.


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If there's a new thread every day, reviewing every story, I am really not going to be able to keep up ...

That was the first time I had seen it as well. In fact it was also the first time I had ever seen a Hartnell story

Hi Chuff,

Glad you like The Time Meddler. It truly is a great story.

Just so you know, once we get to the more popular stories, I won't be doing a thread everyday. It's only because the Hartnell stories are not quite as well liked as the rest of the other Era's that I've done it that way. Once we get to the stories more people have watched, I'll space them out a bit more.

If you like the Time Meddler, do try The Romans as well. Same writer, similar humourous treatment.

I'm surprised you think that, davey. I've not posted anything of worth in the Rewatch thread but it seems quite healthy and it's only focussed on First Doctor stories so far.

As he tells it, he became typecast after Doctor Who (not sure what as?) and couldn't get further work. So i guess he went where he could make a living.

Thanks Davey! Thing is, I always have TONS to say about the obscure stuff (I could write a page about The Savages). The soundtrack CDs have made such a big impression on me that I have very strong opinions.

Can I just say in advance? The Evil of the Daleks is crap, and the only reason people rave about it is that they've never seen it. Give me Galaxy Four every time ...

I sort of mentioned that because over the last two set of threads, one on the Hartnell Era as a whole and the Companions Threads, it has consistently received the least reaction of all. I don't know if that is because people don't like Hartnell, don't like his stories or they simply haven't watched it but that's why I sort of mentioned that it is not as popular as the other era's.

It's great some new viewers are familiarising themselves with this era on the rewatch thread, though.




There is always the option to post retrospectively if you wish! I know doublefour often does that and catches up on them when he can. These threads are always there if anyone happens to watch a certain story and wish to comment at a later date, as happened on the Companion Threads several times.

I look forward to reading your views on The Savages, hope they match mine as I have lots of good stuff to say about that story. I will, however, have to disagree with you on The Evil Of The Daleks but we'll leave that discussion until we get there!

I wouldn't assume that a lack of replies to a particular thread proves its unpopularity. Might not be Hartnell people are avoiding - it may be you!

Seriously, I don't think this sub-forum is the best place to discuss the minutiae of the series. From what I can see, the majority seem to watch and enjoy Doctor Who but - unlike you and I - it's not a huge part of their lives. If you jumped to the Matt Smith stories, you'd probably get a much better response.

Anyway, here's another thread I'm dragging off-topic...

I'm sure you're right but a few people have mentioned to me lately they get bored of discussing the New Series and there isn't enough Classic Who chat on the forum. Which is the reason I do these threads, which is to provide an alternative. I think it's good to have a variety of threads and that's just what we have at the moment.

But anyway, I am also dragging my own thread off-topic, best move on........

I'm not going to add a huge amount to this thread as Daveyboy you've highlighted quite a bit of what I would have picked up in my comments but it is nice to watch a story which I've seen before a few years ago courtesy of my VHS tapes and find new things to say. Glad to see the story caught with my Jean-Marc Lofficer Doctor Who Programme Guide and we see Steven in the Tardis. He comes across as a bit hot headed but I do like his burly presence.Vicki does work well with Steven you are right. They are like brother and sister.

I like the sense of continuity that Vicki and the Doctor do talk about missing Ian and Barbara. This isn't my favourite Hartnell but the story does allow William Hartnell to play different aspects: kindness and gentleness with Vicki, discussing if she's is sure she doesn't want to go home too? being charmed by Edith, his outbursts of anger at the Monk. His characterisation is fascinating to follow showing what a skilled actor he was.

The monk is an interesting character and I think what stands out is the script ' shows' rather than 'tells'. The Monk particularly but some of the villagers too use their facial expressions to express how they feel or react where the script (words) are actually very bare. The first couple of episodes use that a lot and it is actually very very clever. As a viewer you aren't bombarded by a string of words which was the curse of probably the 10th & 11th Doctor . I think Edith and the Monk probably have the most words in the script and hence when Edith is silent after being presumably raped it delivers a powerful punch. I'm glad the script doesn't shy away either from explaining the Vikings are stabbed to death ( although we cant see it because the footage is missing)
This got me thinking about how the modern show seems have become very sanitised in that respect in that things are implied rather than actually shown. There is such a sensitivity to being offended nowadays by anything that Mary Whitehouse must be cheering s but I guess that's for another thread


Actually doublefour you highlighted something which I should have mentioned but we've become so used to it I just took it for granted. This is a pseudo- historical and apparently the first story to be so. Its a great script by Dennis Spooner and I was sorry to read on wiki that he died at the age of 53

You are right about the setting, the production values and setting gives it a sense of a breathe of fresh air after the franticness and partly muddle of The Chase. This story has time to breathe because to be honest the Tardis crew don't actually need to do that much except stop the Monk and they are bystanders as you say to events and aren't actually causing them..

The Monk gave the impression that he seems a bit inept at first but you are right he is quite cunning in his own way. I like the back and forth between the Doctor and him. The monk tricking the Doctor and trapping him and then The Doctor's trick on the Monk leaving his cell.I wish they had explored their personal history a little bit more as Time Lords but I suppose it was too early in the show.


Its little touches like that which are familiar but not over done which are delightful. You wonder how he has all these things and know he is out of this time but the explanation is given eventually. He is a Time lord too. The Doctor throwing the eggs was funny though And the villagers going through the front of the monastery chasing the Vikings and then filmed coming back out again still chasing the Vikings. very Benny Hill moment but Dennis Spooner was probably referring to other traditional visual comedy of the time.

Trivial Questions: Why was there a clock in the Tardis at the beginning and do you think the Doctor knew the Monk was a Timelord before we saw his Tardis ?
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So I'm at the end of season 2 and I can finally say I have seen or heard all the stories up to this point and its a lovely feeling discovering the roots of the show. The shame is that from now on the tally of missing stories goes up but at least we have the audios.

I always enjoyed the setup of the Doctor having more of a background presence and using his wits when neccessary, while the companions do the more practical work, it made for a very dynamic team.


Season 2 is a blast, probably the most consistently great of the black-and-white era imo.

If you can deal with telesnap/picture reconstructions, I believe Galaxy 4, The Myth Makers and The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's are still very watchable despite the missing footage. The Daleks' Master Plan is a mess, though I don't think it needed to be destroyed and put back together in pictures for that.

Lady of Traken made a good point about The Monk, about it being a shame they never brought him back to explore there personal history a bit more. I wonder if he came into consideration for a return during the rest of Classic Who when it was on.
From the introduction of the Master in the early 70s, the Master was always the obvious first choice for this type of thing. Would have been interesting though.

There are some Big Finish stories which have featured the Monk and even though it's a different actor obviously, the feel of the character is still there.

I would love to see him back in the New Series, think he has does offer something different to The Master, though knowing Moffat, he'd probably be a her as well now......

Oh, and LOT, glad you liked it and agree with a lot of your post, I liked the No-Speaking episode where The Monk sayings nothing too!

The Nefarious Nun?

Haha, bookmark this when we get it or indeed a female Doctor.

The Monk is in a few of the Eighth Doctor adventures on Big Finish, a pretty good portrayal I thought in them stories. I also urge anyone to listen to them if they want some more of The Monk, as it were!

In one of them he used the Master-style alias of Abbot Felonious

Bring back the Monk. Played by Michael Palin please.