Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17)
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Actor: Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves, William HartnellDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17)
DVD Review: The start of the pseudo-historicals
Summary: 5 Stars
Part of the idea behind "Doctor Who" was that it was going to be used to teach children a little something about history. Well, that pretty much came to an end once the Doctor visited Skaro for the first time, but the show still tried to do historical stories.
The pure historicals are ones like Doctor Who - The Aztecs, where the TARDIS crew winds up somewhere in the past, runs into trouble and has to get out. This is all done without them having to deal with any kind of monsters or sci-fi peril.
But after a while, the powers that be decided the show needed to have a sci-fi angle to every story, so gradually the pure historicals faded away, leaving behind a beast called the pseudo-historical. These are stories that take place in a historical setting, but feature sci-fi elements to them. Aliens meddling in Earth's past, power-mad time-travelers meddling in Earth's past, robot's meddling in Earth's past or, surprisingly enough, other Time Lords meddling in Earth's past.
The first of these, appropriately enough, is "The Time Meddler", where another Time Lord (though they weren't called that yet), called the Monk, goes back in time to change the outcome of the Battle of Hastings. He's not exactly evil, more of just a problem. Naturally the Doctor has to put a stop to this nonsense.
The story is quite good as is the acting, and the Doctor comes off as something more heroic than the usual anti-hero role the First Doctor had. I loved what he wound up doing to the Monk at the end of the story.
As for the rest of the episode... well, the sets and costumes are good, as one expects for a historical story. Much less cheese than when they tried to do sci-fi (then again their budget was something like 2000 pounds for an entire season, so yeah).
The extras are nice, including commentary that features Verity Lambert in her last role on the last episode she produced (it was also her last commentary). There's also a nice obit for her, and a few other nice extras, including a feature on the First Doctor's adventures in the "Doctor Who" comic strips.
Overall this is a nice purchase. It's always good to see some of the earliest episodes and the extras are nice icing on the cake.
DVD Review: Mixed feelings
Summary: 4 Stars
It's been years since I first saw this episode, and I've rather mixed feelings about it. Hartnell always had something about him, that little sparkle, that bit of charm that was, in many cases, overshadowed by the stubborness of the character he was playing. In his later episodes, he was lightened up considerably, whcih really allowed his charismatic side to shine through, and that is very much on display here. The Who historic episodes went the way of the Dodo after a while, and that is really a shame, as some of them, like the Aztecs for instance were really fantastic. This one is sort of a hybrid historic episode, with the inclusion of someone from the same place as the Doctor(though not revealed where at this point, as that came much later). The Monk had lots of possibilities, though few were explired here, and he was not entirely fleshed out. Still, the time that the Doctor and the Monk share on sreen makes this one worth it, and this episode is worth watching just for its historical value. Plus, it happens to be very watchable(though I have trouble ever seeing this Doctor without Ian, Barbara, and of course...Susan)DVD Review: Doctor Who The time medler
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my favorit William Hartnel Doctor Who. The Hartnel doctor was a bit if not a lot on the childish side, but The Time Medler has a taste of the extent of the posibilitys of this doctor.DVD Review: Story holds up well. Basic extras.
Summary: 4 Stars
To me the William Hartnell stories from the Doctor Who videography are an acquired taste. By today's standards many of them a slow moving and a challenge to watch. But "The Time Meddler" is one of the few existing Hartnell era stories that I actually enjoy. The story is interesting, the black & white film enhances the cheesy sets, the Monk is a great nemesis for the Doctor, and Hartnell is at his most playful when he interacts with the Monk.
The extras aren't anything exciting though. The Hartnell comic books history is fascinating and the tributes to the late Verity Lambert, first producer of the series, are fine. The missing scene deleted by overseas sensors was not worth the wait. It was audio only and you get thirteen seconds of the sound of screaming and grunting.
DVD Review: "The whole course of history changed in one single swoop."
Summary: 5 Stars
Never meddle with success, they say. Fortunately the producers of "Doctor Who" chose not to heed this warning in 1965, ending the successful second season with this strange tale of time meddling. It's worth bearing in mind that this was a very different era, one in which season endings weren't felt to require earth-shattering cliffhangers or mega-dramatic climaxes, and indeed there is little to distinguish "The Time Meddler" from its prior stories in terms of tone or pacing. And yet, mainly in retrospect, it's crucially pivotal in the show's history, introducing unprecedented concepts and themes that we now take for granted as essentially "Doctor Who" through and through. And it also succeeds as an entertaining romp of an adventure, to boot.
First of all, "The Time Meddler" shines as the prototypical example of the so-called pseudo-historical story, that delightfully distinctive blending of science fiction elements and past historical settings so typical of Doctor Who. Afterwards, that is. Up until this story, the purely science fiction stories and the purely historical stories had remained worlds apart, alternating with each other in almost lockstep fashion. What an innovative brainstorm it was to fuse the two! And something of the excitement of this unusual new approach communicates itself through the mood of the storytelling: we're pulled along by puzzle upon apparently irresolvable puzzle as the Tardis arrives somewhere along the northeastern coast of England in 1066 and what seems like an onlooking medieval monk seems less mystified than intrigued, as if by an unexpected but familiar sight. A monk, as it gradually turns out, who happens to own a wristwatch, a gramophone record player, an electric toaster, a first aid kit with penicillin, and...a Tardis?!
Yes, this is also the first time in the show's history that we get to meet someone else from, well, wherever the Doctor is from. The Meddling Monk, that is, another wanderer in time and space like the Doctor, though with much more of the prankish trickster about him. The way this revelation is weaved into the script is subtle and ingenious, adding a whole dimension to the ongoing series and the mythos of its main character even as, in a way, it reveals nothing and only adds a layer of mystery to it all (a knack that later writers eventually lost, for better or worse). The Monk himself is a great and memorable character, incorrigibly mischievous and yet likable for that very reason--and also for the fact that amidst the mischief and his unconventional methods he has a nice altruistic streak, the desire to "improve things" through his time meddling, in this case by wiping out the Viking fleet with space-age weaponry and so allowing King Harold to win the Battle of Hastings, thereby avoiding much of the warfare and strife in Europe that necessarily followed over the centuries. The Doctor will have none of such irresponsible interference, however, and comes down pretty hard on the Monk. Maybe too hard. The Doctor here seems just a bit malicious, possessed of a playfully cruel streak all his own (and perhaps a dash of envy?), reminding me anyway of his more initially unsettling personality in the show's first episodes. Indeed, the "Battle of Wits" between the Doctor and the Monk comes across not as a comfortably simple tussle between good and evil but more like a turf war between two unreliably eccentric but powerful renegades. I'm not sure if the writer intended it so, but it's definitely more interesting that way. Even, as the Meddling Monk might say, more fun.
"The Time Meddler" has much more going for it, too. Stock footage is craftily mixed almost seamlessly into the story, allowing it to transcend the look and feel of the necessarily studio-bound production that it was. Rather maturely horrific incidents are tactfully alluded to and still somehow successfully alloyed with the whimsical humor of the overall adventure. A new companion, Steven Taylor, is introduced and established properly, changing the overall chemistry of the Tardis crew--and confirming such cycling of companions as a permanent fixture of the series. And we get to see the Doctor relish putting away a heady brew of mead with ease, the old devil! In short, this is a quiet classic from the golden age of "Doctor Who"--sheer poetry, dear boy!
Description of Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17)
The TARDIS seems emptier without Barbara and Ian - at least until the Doctor and Vicki discover that the astronaut Steven stowed away before they left Mechanus. Steven's skepticism toward time travel pushes the Doctor to confront him with living proof. Shortly after landing on a beach in England, they discover a Viking helmet, but Steve remains unconvinced. Instructing Steve and Vicki to wait with the TARDIS, the Doctor seeks further proof. Heedless of the Doctor's warning, Steven persuades Vicki to explore the cliffs above the beach, where they find an abandoned wristwatch. Meanwhile, the Doctor investigates a ruined monastery, where he encounters an electric toaster, a gramophone playing ecclesiastic chants, and a monk who traps him in an alcove. Eventually, the Doctor realizes that the famous Battle of Hastings is only a few weeks away. That should provide ample proof for Steven, but who is this mysterious monk, and what is his interest in the events of 1066?One of the most popular adventures from the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, The Time Meddler pits the Time Lord against Carry On star Peter Butterworth in an entertaining, well-written adventure. Set in England back in 1066, on the eve of the Battle of Hastings, The Time Meddler sees the Doctor drawn to a monastery where a single monk resides. So how come the singing of the monks can be heard from far away? And what's the reasoning behind the modern utensils he discovers? All paths lead to the aforementioned Butterworth, whose character's backstory adds a nice twist to the story. The Time Meddler throws in the backstory of Jamie discovering the world of time travel for the first time, but it's the sparring between Hartnell and Butterworth that provides the sparks. And while it's not a perfect adventure, The Time Meddler is very entertaining, and a nice slice of classic Doctor Who. Poignantly, the late Verity Lambert joins an intelligent, interesting commentary track in the highlight of the disc's extras. The Time Meddler was the last Doctor Who story she produced, and her contribution to the supplementary features package is both interesting and a fitting tribute to her work. --Simon Brew
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