The Time Meddler - A Battle of Wits

The penultimate episode of this story that I must be honest and say it has gone up in my estimation. Despite the quite good cliffhanger it quickly its not long before things settle down. There is a lot less action in this episode and a lot less going on that there has been in the previous two episodes. I like how the Monk has a to-do list. It’s such as childish thing to do. It also reminds the viewer what the Monk’s plans are and just how much he has to cram into two episodes.

I must say that William Hartnell is looking quite refreshed having come back of his holiday. Apart from one scene which he has with Alethea Charlton, all of his scenes are with Peter Butterworth. I think that their scenes were very funny and Peter Butterworth has been a revelation in this story because even though he’s the least menacing baddie in the shows history, he still manages to maintain my interest as an adversary of the Doctor’s. That’s more down to Butterworth than the writing.

The TARDIS appears to have been taken away by the tide. Knowing that this is a four part adventure, the idea of the TARDIS being washed away seems like a redundant thing to put in the story but at the time it must have been a genuine shock but nowadays its not so much of a shock but more of a plot point. It feels like a bit of the energy has left the story somehow. Not entirely sure how this happened. The Doctor and the Monk wander through the corridors. Vicki and Steven go from the monestary to the cliff and then back and that’s pretty much all they do.

There is a fair amount of violence in this episode. Admittedly its not Grand Theft Auto style violence but its not a typical sight to see the Doctor knock someone out with a stick. I suppose it’s the only bit of action in the episode as nothing else seems to happen here really.

When I first saw the cliffhanger I didn’t see it coming and I suspect those watching in 1965 would have been when they saw Vicki and Steven enter the Monk’s TARDIS. This is the first time that we see someone else have a time machine. Apart from the cliffhanger I must say that I was a little disappointed with this episode and felt like it was waiting for the final episode to come around. It’s good to have William Hartnell back.