The Time Meddler - The Meddling Monk

The second episode sees us hear more (and see more) from the monk. William Hartnell doesn’t appear in this episode except for the reprise from the previous episode and some pre-recorded dialogue. Any fans will know who and what the Monk is but at the time it must have been a nice mystery because he seems to know the Doctor and is trying to con the locals into thinking he’s a real monk. I like how creative they have been with letting Hartnell have his holiday but not impede the story. They just show the outside of the cell and have occasional cuts to hear the Doctor demand to be let out. There’s a strange cutaway moment to what appears to be stock footage from some film. I say film because someone is talking but we cant hear what is been said. Whilst it might be said that its good that they are trying to give the viewer a feel of the time but I think that they could have cut that few seconds out.

We have another situation in this episode where the locals seemed to be in the middle of a power struggle. It’s very much like ‘An Unearthly Child’ (which starred Alethea Charlton) and actually it’s done better here than in that story. The worst thing that there can be in a story is when you want the bad guys to win (like in The Space Museum).

When the Vikings do appear they look the part with their helmets and costumes even though one looks like he’s just come from a 1960’s episode of Top of the Pops. The Vikings immediately come across as baddies which depending on your stance in history is a good thing or a bad thing. Once they have arrived its not long before they become involved with the locals and a fight soon begins and ends. Steven becomes more willing to believe the situation that he finds himself and becomes quite clever when he fools the Monk and is convinced that the Monk is lying. He seems to be doing well in trying to be the action hero figure but I will state now that he will never be like Ian but I think that the partnership of Vicki and Steven is going to be a good one.

There is a bit of Spooner’s humour but it’s a blink and you’ll miss it and that shows that Spooner knows that he’s got a good story and hasn’t got time to allow the comedy to take centre stage.  There is too much going on for us to have a sequel to the Romans. The episode ends with Vicki and Steven entering the Doctors cell and find that under the blanket he isn’t there. It’s a good cliffhanger and I think that whilst its not as strong as the previous episode I do think that the pacing of the story works well and the characters are all relatively well.