The Time Meddler

Odd how ropey this looks when you're so used to VidFire.Still looks pretty good, but there's a marked difference.

50dw50@50dw50 i can remember the repeat on BBC2, now that was murky.

Yes, first time I saw this story, and it did look much worse.

Hartnell is magisterial here. People dismiss his Doctor as a cantankerous, fluffing, blustering egotist but Hartnell gives real pathos when delivering how much the Doctor misses Ian and Barbara, revealing the true character. 

M@nterik@Manterik "I shall miss them" In these older stories the build up is noticeably far slower than today. Love the character development.

I liked him well enough for ages but he's really rocketed in my estimations in recent years; really as the DVD range has built up.

Suddenly, a noise from within the TARDIS; Is there a Dalek aboard?

50dw50@50dw50 did Vicki really think she could battle a Dalek with her shoe?

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker makes me laugh how Vicky thinks it's a Dalek and holds a shoe as a weapon!

It's Steven Taylor, pilot of the future, who they met on Mechanus! 

It seems he's stowed away.

As the TARDIS arrives on Earth...

...it's observed by a monk.

M@nterik@Manterik Love Peter Butterworth. Cracking actor.

50dw50@50dw50 proto second Doctor?

M@nterik@Manterik Well he is definitely a clown

Interesting thought. He definitely has that twinkly quality.

Davad@davadsteel It's a real shame the Monk didn't appear in any Troughton stories. Imagine!!

Oddly, I think I would have wanted them to recast as Butterworth, brilliant as he is, might have been too similar to the Trout! Unlike some of the other Time Lords I think it's a bit more difficult to imagine other incarnations. But that said I liked Graeme Garden for Big Finish & wouldn't have thought to put him opposite McGann.

Steven is revived, but only has hazy memories of entering the TARDIS as he fled the burning city of the Mechonoids.

The Doctor doesn't look too pleased to see him.

 And don't call him Doc!

"I'm quite willing to accept you at your face value" is a bit different from kidnapping Ian & Barbara in the 1st episode!

Steven introduces Vicki to his mascot, Hi Fi the Panda.

She introduces him to the TARDIS.

IDBI. Idbi, I tells ya! IDBI !! Steven and his bloody text speak. Kids these days. (These days being 1965).

M@nterik@Manterik e iz down wiv da kidz, innit

The Doctor's quite the master poet. "That is the dematerialising 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. Now please stop bothering me."

The Doctor and Vicki know Steven will have the smirk wiped off his face when he steps outside the TARDIS to find they've travelled not only in space but also in time.

She wouldn't even have any fire if it weren't for the Doctor. (A little "An Unearthly Child" casting in-joke for you, there).

In a nearby village, beardy Saxon Eldred tells chum Wulnoth and his wife Edith of the box he's just seen arrive on the beach, and Wulnoth wants a look-see.

Stepping from the TARDIS, the travellers immediately find a Viking helmet...

...but Steven refuses to accept that this proves they're in the past.

The Doctor gives his scepticism short shrift, though: "What do you think it is, a space helmet for a cow?"

They decide to travel in-land but the Doctor wants to take the long way round.

They continue their conversation, unaware that the nosy Monk is spying on them.

I also prefer walking to anyday. But I am a mountain goat. (I'm not).

50dw50@50dw50 bless him, he was ready for his holiday next week.

Steven doesn't stay put for long, and Vicki follows...

...allowing the Monk to get a closer look at the TARDIS.

50dw50@50dw50 Steven is remarkably unsympathetic at the start, you would think they would want to endear him to the audience.

I like that his scepticism allows Vicki - and us - to be one up on him at this stage

Chris@KosmicKris it's a very bold decision to have an antagonist with an antagonistic Doctor - very different from Ian

John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland I Steven's scepticism and questioning is such a contrast to Ian and Barbara. But it's a good contrast and the audience is laughing at him because they know all about Doctor Who and his amazing time machine...

I think as a result it's more satisfying when he tricks the Monk re: the Doctor's description; really earns his stripes.

The Doctor makes it to the village quite quickly...

...but is soon in trouble!

The monk potters about his monastery, where all is not quite as it seems.

I think that swirling sky behind the Saxons actually looks pretty good.

50dw50@50dw50 Camfield impressing from his early days.

The Doctor's alright - it was Edith that caught him nosing around her home.

"While there are fish in the sea, one need never starve."
"Yeah, yeah, got any booze?"

M@nterik@Manterik  I have to say, I adore the Hartnell Doctor. I feel full of love for Billy. Love The Doc fishing for info.

Grand stuff, playing the old man with the shaky memory to get his bearings in time as to who's king.

Hartnell knows a wonky record when he hears one. And still prefers walking to anyday.

Steven is still very sceptical that the TARDIS is a time machine so he starts a fight with a local.

Steven's opponent escapes, but leaves behind unexpected spoils: a wristwatch! 

You tend to forget that at this point, there'd never been a story (deliberately) featuring anachronisms.

Went down very badly with the contemporary audience apparently.

M@nterik@Manterik Curiosity getting the better of the first doctor. Cannot end well 

That Monk's a right cheeky beggar!

No-one does furious like Hartnell.

He could drill through walls with that stare, I bet.

M@nterik@Manterik Now the episode that used to exist isolation and I first saw it 32 years ago

50dw50@50dw50 an episode without Dr Who in it, ironic!

Yep, Episode 2 is your modern day "Doctor-lite" episode by the way, Hartnell's off on his jollies and not in that cell at all! There must be at least a story's worth of Hartnell-less episodes in that time, plus the invisible bits in Toymaker.

M@nterik@Manterik I remember the excitement when Ian Levine discovered this and war machines.

That's a decidedly un-Saxon set of crockery there.

50dw50@50dw50 the Monk is trying to kill Dr Who with cholesterol poisoning!

We all wish we'd seen more of the Monk (not just his appearance in the Daleks Master Plan); wonderful character, spellbinding performance from Butterworth, and Hartnell always raised his game for him.

Hartnell being away means Purves has to carry the episode, giving him the opportunity to really establish himself as a lead.

I guess in this one he's got the Doctor bits, but Galaxy 4 in particular he's totally Barbara!

Not to ignore Maureen O'Brien, who's great too...

...but I think this really helped Purves put himself on the Doctor Who map. 

John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland Both Purves and Steven are underrated.

Davad@davadsteel Purves owns Season 3! Such a shame so much is missing. Both his and Hartnell's reputations would be so much greater.

Absolutely, that run through the Myth Makers to the Massacre is colossal stuff for both.

Steven might have fitted in a bit better here if he'd kept his beard.

The Monk enjoys a bit of me-time, but it's two hairs past a freckle as his wristwatch has gone walkies...

Edith and her gal pal cramp his style.

He takes a very un-monkish pinch of snuff...

...then finally spots what he was hoping for - Vikings!

This beautifully cleaned up bit of stock footage sticks out like a sore pristine thumb.

Back at the village, Steven and Vicki are able to persuade Wulnoth, if not Eldred, that they're innocent travellers.

M@nterik@Manterik viking invaders on northumbrian soil !!!!

It's Sven and the boys on tour.

Steven & Vicki knock on at the Monastery, where the Monk offers up some ham.

Great trick by Steven; reminds me of Ian tricking the Sensorites about the Doctor's coat when he has a cloak.

M@nterik@Manterik now this is not what you expect. The Alethea Charlton scene with the implied rape.

50dw50@50dw50 its an amazingly dark moment

M@nterik@Manterik one of the darkest in the history of the show.

M@nterik@Manterik especially in a story that was light hearted in tone.

It jars against the merely silly naughtiness of the Monk, doesn't it. 

50dw50@50dw50 cleverly done, the kids watching would just realise something bad had happened, its an extra layer for the adults

Yes, you're probably quite right, there.

Odd when you think that even as kids, Vikings were always synonymous with 'rape & pillage' but seemingly a blind eye turned to the former when it came to teaching any details.

50dw50@50dw50 do we think its appropriate in such a frothy romp?

M@nterik@Manterik given they way they did it, yes.

Charlton's traumatised performance is powerful stuff.

The first inkling of a Camfield action scene in this fight bewteen the Vikings & Saxons..

As the Monk goes for a night time mooch...

...Steven & Vicki sneak into the monastery to rescue the Doctor.

Wulnoth brings Eldred to the Monk for treatment.

"Knock knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Oh, no, he isn't!"

Blimey! The Doctor vanishes!

Vicki has Steven search for the Doctor's passage. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker has to be at least one every tweetalong!

I think my record is 3 :-D

Uh-oh, the Monk's found out that Hartnell's done his bunk.

Steven & Vicki emerge at the cliff's edge, and realize the Doctor must have made his way back to the village.

The Doctor pauses for a moment's reflection with Edith...

...before dropping some massive spoiler-bombs about 1066 and all that.

ELDRED MUST LIVE! 

The wounded Vikings plot to take hostages at the Monastery.

I *love* that the Monk has a To Do list. Hilarious. Talk about comedy villainy.

50dw50@50dw50 he had forgotten to recharge his ipad of rassilon

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker even Rassilon couldn't improve the battery life!

Davad@davadsteel *buy milk* *phone up about broadband speed* *take bins out*

The Doctor plays knock and run to get the drop on the Monk...

...then gives him some stick.

Davad@davadsteel Hartnell sparkles here. He's loving working with Butterworth!

Vicki's starting to worry she might have to live off Venison for the rest of her life, unaware the Monk has bacon butties.

50dw50@50dw50 thanks to BF its easy to forget that Vicki and Steven did not have that many episodes together, which was a pity.

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker yes they make a good pairing.

Love the way the Monk calls the Doctor "my son"! 

Now the Doctor's all monked up. Back in the habbit.

No more monkery!

The Vikings are at the door, and soon get the standard First Doctor hospitality...

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker got to love the glee with which the Doc twats someone over the head with a plank of wood!

With no Ian around to stop him, he's free to crack skulls to his hearts' desire!

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker he did seem to have a fondness for it. I could see Capaldi doing the same!

Having escaped the Doctor's attention during the Viking intrusion, the Monk makes for the village...

...where he tries to persuade Wulnoth and Edith to light beacons.

Wulnoth doesn't trust him, though, and Edith remembers the Doctor's "predictions".

Steven & Vicki make it back inside the Monastery; can't be long till they're reunited with the Doctor.

The Doctor recaptures the Monk on his return...

...while Steven & Vicki find the altar isn't quite what it seems.

Hard to really imagine how mindblowing this must have been in 65. The Monk's got a TARDIS!

Davad@davadsteel When I watched the series in sequence ("Time Team" style) this cliffhanger wiped me out! An absolute game-changer!

King Harald went to Stamford Bridge. Won on penalties, but went out in the next round to Arsenal, er, I mean the Normans.

Strange how high up the Monk's console is.

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker he stole the TARDIS of a much taller Timelord.

Davad@davadsteel Also in the Monk's diary: "Gave Simon Cowell the idea for X-Factor" "Introduced Katie Hopkins parents"

Oof! A bit *too* evil by the Monk's standards! :-D

Davad@davadsteel (Monk's diary) "Change Marathon to Snickers"

The Monk gleefully admits his plan to reverse the result of the Battle of Hastings and award it to Qatar.

The Vikings are on the up again...

...so the Doctor retreats, Monk in tow, to the time meddler's TARDIS.

The Doctor is reunited with his companions.

The Monk raves about quality telly. Does he see Shakespeare writing Poliakoff style dramas for BBC2 or hacking episodes of Corrie, d'you think?

The Doctor is well aware of the tellybox. "I am familiar with the medium..."

The Monk gives them the slip but runs straight into the Vikings, and has to charm his way out of trouble by claiming he's on their side.

Hur's sussed the Monk and is whipping up the beardies to put a stop to all the Monkery. 

The Monk urges the Vikings on to the clifftop to signal their fleet.

"He must be stopped!" The Doctor's FUMING now! 

Wulnoth and his men catch up with the Vikings and drive them out of the monastery, throwing the Monk's plans into disarray.

Edith frees the travellers and gives them the good news.

The Monk - and the Vikings - beat a hasty retreat, and though the Monk escapes once again, the Vikings meet their fate.

This little bit of sabotage is the kind of thing the Doctor & Master always get up to later - Axos, Time-Flight etc.

The Doctor leaves a message for the Monk.

The TARDIS is fine - Vicki's obviously too daft to realise it was only "gone" before because the tide had come in.

"I'm getting too old for this sort of thing!" Maybe the Monk really is old enough to be calling the Doctor "my son". Later Doctors are a bit more blase about time meddling themselves, maybe Hartnell - as the 'youngest' Doctor - is naively hung up on the 'rules' and hasn't yet come to appreciate "bending the laws of time". Maybe the Monk's just more mature!

And that's the Monk well and truly stitched up! It's smaller on the inside! 

The Doctor has put a stop to the Monk's "Masterplan" but he'll be back for someone else's...

The Monk defeated, the TARDIS is on its way...

First "face in the credits"... 

 M@nterik@Manterik Loved Dennis Spooners work.

Richard Grant@richyg360 did a lot of work in the 1960 like the champions.

50dw50@50dw50 plus some of the best episodes of the New Avengers in the 70's

M@nterik@Manterik Will be watching one today as a tribute to Patrick MacNee. His partnership with Monty berman was brilliant. I so wish Myth Makers had been found 

Yes; a story I never used to care much for but that improves with every listen - think it would "do an Enemy" with the pictures.

TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... The Krotons