Season Two@60 The Time Meddler

 

Considering some of the talent involved on both sides of the camera (Dennis Spooner, Douglas Camfield, Peter Butterworth, Alethea Charlton) it’s somewhat disappointing that this story fails to catch light. The idea of someone from the Doctor’s own planet interfering in history, actions in opposition to the principles that the Doctor holds dear, is certainly an interesting one and would be even more so to viewers in 1965.

 

At that point information about the Doctor was scarce and vague so it must have been a thrill for viewers sixty years ago to see Steven and Vicki entering the Monk’s ship to discover it’s a Tardis. Iconic enough but even this fails to get the party started. In fact the viewer may pray for a little time meddling to speed the story to a conclusion.

Episode one starts promisingly enough with the reveal that Steven Taylor has stowed away on the Tardis and Peter Purves again delivers a strong performance as he shows himself to be even more forthright in getting stuck in than Ian was. His rapport with both the Doctor and Vicki is enjoyable and seems to be setting the scene for an intriguing story. Steven remains cynical about the idea of a time machine (though if he's a pilot from the far future surely he would be more open minded?) and amusingly the discovery of a Sixties watch suggests he is right after all. The storyline chugs between the Tardis crew and some villagers nearby where the Doctor gets on swimmingly with Edith played by the always talented Alethea Charlton. Meanwhile we keep cutting back to a monk played with an impish disposition by Peter Butterworth.

The actor is a delight; with little dialogue in the first half of the story, he instead deploys a succession of mannerisms and expressions which somehow fill us in on his thoughts. He’s one of those antagonists who prefer a clownish exterior, indeed one of the first in the series. Given he has a Tardis at his disposal, the Monk’s plans seem a little parochial though as he tries to change the course of English history but it’s still an interesting idea. Why he wants to do it is less clear; the dialogue seems to suggest he is just having fun but that isn’t a convincing reason.

The real issue with this story is why is comes across as being so dull. I feel as if the possibilities are being missed right down to the visuals; all of the Monk’s stuff apart from his sonic cannon and of course his Tardis are from Earth. He uses Bic pens and boils a kettle. He writes his step by step plan on a scroll. And he’s only dressed as a Monk because of where he is which is why it’s so odd fans keep calling for the return of the Meddling Monk. If he did ever come back, he would have to be the Meddling General or the Meddling Politician or something! Nonetheless Peter Butterworth and William Hartnell together are a joy and thankfully the final episode gives them that time after Billy appears absent again from part three.

Thank goodness for these scenes because the rest of the story is bogged down by people trudging hither and thither, to the monastery, back to the village, to the clifftop, through the woods. Considering this was directed by Douglas Camfield even he seems unable to lift what is often average material to instil some interest though his love of high camera shots and actions brings a few interesting moments. The episode titles evoke some quite exciting ideas but the reality sadly is a very ordinary story to end the season.

 Anyway at the end of this very long season, I thought I’d rank the stories from first to last in the order I enjoyed them.

Dalek Invasion of Earth 

The Romans

The Rescue

The Web Planet

The Space Museum

The Crusade

The Chase

The Time Meddler

Planet of Giants