The Time Meddler - The Watcher

I must admit that as I start the final story of the second series that I’m not quite sure about the show. It’s the first one that doesn’t feature Ian, Susan or Barbara and so three quarters of the original line up has gone. Now we are left with a very different Doctor to the one that we saw in ‘An Unearthly Child’. It was the same feeling (oddly enough) that I felt when Carole Ann Ford left. The Time Meddler is another historical story however it’s the first pseudo-historical adventure. Meaning that there is a bit of sci-fi mixed into the historical goings on. This adventure is also another by Dennis Spooner who wrote ‘The Romans’ which is an adventure that I wasn’t 100% keen on.

In one of the first scenes with the Doctor, Steven and Vicki. The Doctor is asked to explain the TARDIS and whilst he doesn’t see why he should its nowhere near as aggressive as it was back in ‘An Unearthly Child’. In fact he seems to thrive to the challenge and is looking forward to prove Steven wrong. When the Doctor shows Steven a Viking helmet he comes up with the great line “What do you think this is? A space helmet for a cow?” It’s a cracking line. Another is when he states to Steven that he’s “Not a mountain goat”. It’s a good thing that happens in this story where they are trying to show a doubtful Steven that they are indeed in the past. It does feel slightly frustrating because the viewer knows that this is the truth and I just want Steven to get to grips with the situation and then we can all continue with the show.

Considering that the entire episode is made in studio, the story moves along at such as pace that it doesn’t really become an issue. There is some much that is happening and that Dennis Spooner seems to have found the right balance between humour and drama. The Monk is a figure that has some mystique about him and even though he doesn’t actually utter a word he still manages to have something about him. Even though at this point Peter Butterworth hadn’t appeared in a Carry On film it’s the most high profile name that the show had cast.

The episode sees Alethea Charlton return after appearing in the very first story where she was impressive. Here she plays a similar character but probably a bit more normal. In this episode she’s weary of the Doctor (some might say understandably) and then after a small while she starts telling the Doctor all the things that he asks. The Doctor spends the rest of the episode being a bit curious with the music and working out the time and telling the viewer what is about to happen. I must admit that this is a part of history that I like so it’s probably why I don’t mind the history in this episode.

I must say that I’ve never been a massive fan of ‘The Time Meddler’ but based on the opening episode I am starting to warm to it. Whether that will still be the case at the end of the story remains to be seen but out of the two Dennis Spooner stories we’ve had this is definitely the stronger of the two and the process of getting over the departure of Ian and Barbara continues.