This Changed the Canon FOREVER! - Doctor Who: The Time Meddler (1965) - REVIEW 

And that's Season 2! The Hartnell-era reviews will be taking a break for a few weeks and then we'll be back with the Season 3 reviews, culminating in 'The Smugglers' (the start of Season 4) which ends the William Hartnell era of 'Doctor Who'! Please "like" the video and leave a comment to appease that almighty algorithm!

It's a shame that The Meddling Monk 'who is a Timelord like the Doctor' only gets the short straw in the classic series, But at the very least he makes more appearances in Big Finish than he does in TV stories.

The Monk "gave himself away" so that he could lure Vicki and Steven into the monastery and catch them in the same way he caught the Doctor. (Note that the same gramophone trap is set up when they break in, but they don't fall entirely for it like the Doctor did.)

I really like The Monk, I wish he had appeared again in the Troughton era, the chemistry between him and the Second Doctor would have been gold.

I love the meddling monk! He's a good example of a "villian" acting out in what he perceives is the right, "justified" way. Different than the Master and the Rani. There are a couple Big Finsh stories. Whenever people ask what character should return, I always say the monk 😊

During lockdown I watched the entirety of surviving classic episodes on Britbox. The Time Meddler stood out for me as one of the best.

The monk is such a funny villain, he doesn't feel evil he's just very naughty

Great video! My favorite quote was from the first episode. "That is the dematerializing control, and that over yonder is the horizontal hold, up there is the scanner, those are the doors, and that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now please stop bothering me."

6:33 - Fun fact: Viking helmets never had horns, it's just a myth that was made up in the 19th Century. Historians have however recently discovered that space helmets for cows DID have horns on them!

17:46 - Neil Patrick Toymaker: WELL THAT'S ALRIGHT THEN!

"No more monkery" -- wordsmith that First Doctor.

Classic Doctor Who novels seem to have an unfortunate habit of objectifying and even just straight-up writing in SA for female characters. It's really gross. Especially stuff like the recontextualisation of Peri's relationship with her step-dad and poor, poor Dodo.

It has huge impact and i love it, howerver i like it best, when the monk is pared with Missy Missy "Oh, you are the meddling monk!" Monk: "Im not a MONK!" Missy: "Thats what people call you these days?!" Monk: "I dressed up as a monk only brief" Missy: "So, you are a monk"

One underrated aspect of this episode is the establishment of the classic two companion TARDIS team, one male and one female, where they bounce off each other and the Doctor at the same time. Steven and Vicki are the precursors to Ben and Polly, Jamie and Zoe, Sarah Jane and Harry, Tegan and Turlough, Rose and Jack, Amy and Rory, Bill and Nardole and Yaz and Dan. This story is the first to have that dynamic and proved the show could work with three, not four, leads.

Why oh why has the Meddling Monk never shown up on-screen outside of the 1st Doctor's era? I know the actor passed away but by Pertwee you retroactively confirmed he was a Time Lord, and you brought the Master back even after Delgado died. He could offer a different type of antagonist in an evil Time Lord besides "the Master back at it again". Bring him back as a love letter to the educational historicals the franchise was born from Davies!

The subtext regarding Edith was always clear to me, though. It's subtly yet strongly implied that they were doing less than considerable things to her.

Can you imagine how sought after this would be if these episodes were missing?

Peter Butterworth is/was wonderful. There is a charismatic quality to him onscreen, much like Patrick Troughton. It's almost magnetic. I wish he was in show more. I'm surprised he didn't return during the 2nd Doctor's run, to be fair.

All you kids out there with your "lOnDoN 1965!" memes, while im here with "My dear man, you had me quite worried, I thought you were never coming in".

Butterworth vs Hartnell indeed are more than two sides of the same coin - the long talking , the dismissal of lessers, its common traits they have

Ohhh, your black kitty is beautiful! I have a pretty black girl kitty I adore. Thank you for your videos-very well researched and put together. In this serial, I've always liked how Hartnell and Butterworth played against one another.

the fact that Hartnell threw tantrums to annoy someone is so funny. Also quite doctor-like

I've adored the Monk since listening to Lucie Miller/To The Death for the first time. What a great story, what a great character.

The Doctor: …then it must be 1066. Hahaha! Clearly The Doctor has seen a particular catchy advert broadcast during the early 2000s.

Hartnell is a touch underrated IMHO

And remember, no more Monkery!

My personal favourite 1st Doctor episode

All tea the First Doctor's male companions were all, in my personal opinion, low-key daddy material.

With regards to the Viking attack on Edith, they famously did what the novelisation suggests they did, so it's not a huge leap to suppose that's what happened. It's certainly underplayed in the TV, but only because of its target audience. Talking of Target, it's odd you should cite adult content in a book written for children, but I know that standards have changed. It's certainly true that a lot of kids' TV in the 70s and 80s was more hard-hitting than it perhaps is now. Whether that's a good or a bad is down to individual taste, of course.

I recently rewatched this story having not seen it for a few years and even knowing the end of part three already. I thought that the lead up was great could only have imagined what it must have been like on original broadcast.

The actor played a character called Josh Fiddler in Carry on Camping, so he’s the Time Fiddler to me haha

"A space helmet for a cow" LOL. I love this serial. Also being a Northumbrian, yes we all pretty much have 10% Viking DNA in us. Speaking for yours truly, I do . :)

27:24 MATT BERRY?!?!?! He was gonna return and be played by MATT FKN BERRY?!?!?! WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR STOPPING THIS FROM HAPPENING!? I’LL HAVE THEIR HEAD!!!!

The Time Meddler changed the canon forever? There's a canon?

Bring back the Monk!

the doctor is so adorable when he says "yes very very very interesting mmm" I just wanna hug that dear old man❤

Another fascinating ‘personal view’ here, Will! Hard to conceive how gobsmacking this one must have seemed in 1965! And wonderful to hear you pay tribute so articulately and precisely (23:52) to the great Camfield! 👍😁

Peter Pervis was, in my opinion, a terrible choice for Doctor Who. He was arguably the most wooden of Dr Who's companions, ever. His delivery was stiff and his lines lacked the natural flow of Ian Chesterton played by William Russell who brought depth and meaning to the role.

So, the Monk is kinda like the Harry Mudd of Doctor Who. A softball non-threatening somewhat likable "villain" who makes 2 appearances.

The Monks TARDIS is awesome and it is a shame, he did not return after Dalek Masterplan which was too overlong in episode length had he story been made and transmitted in its original intended 6 parts it would have worked out billions of times better than been expanded to 12 parts.

I am loving these deep dives into classic B&W Who.

Know what makes the idea of the Sven: Defiler of Women (trademark do not steal) even more out of place? IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE MEDDLING MONK IS MOSTLY A COMEDIC STORY! It's made to be a fun time, it's clearly made for you to laugh at it, to have fun. And then the novelization just casually throws mentions of literall rape in that story? what a fuck?

16:45, honestly I thought the episode itself was already implying SA. its certainly not as explicit as the novel, but it seemed like that's what the episode was meant to imply. I do agree that making it explicit in the novel was a bad thing. 27:27, how do you bring up the monk in big finish without mentioning Graeme Garden playing him? feels weird to only mention those 2 and not him.

Ugh, canon destroyed. RIP Doctor Who 1963-1965

Prior to the expanded expanded media of novels and Big Finish audio adventures, the 1980s FASA Doctor Who role playing game, listed both the Monk and the War Chief as earlier incarnations of the Master. Obviously the aforementioned novels and audios have superseded this theory. While the show itself has not addressed this issue, one way or the other, I can see similarities with the Monk and the Master (The King’s Demons) and also the War Chief and the Master, especially all three character’s habit (pun intended) of teaming up with the Doctor’s enemies, only to also double-cross those enemies and work with the Doctor (or at least try to convince the Doctor of the merits of their plans). Yes the Monk isn’t as villainous as the Master (or the War Chief, per se), but after his two encounters with the Doctor on screen, you can see how the Monk would have become fixated on getting revenge on the Doctor and transitioned from a simple meddler, to a full-blown psychotic villain (the Doctor’s/Master’s childhood friendship aside - though we are two seasons into these reviews, and already seen that the show doesn’t care about continuity 😜).

ngl, the Full House edit was 👌

I got a little fun fact about Peter Butterworth, His son Tyler Butterworth plays Angelo in the first 2 seasons 'Plus the first S3 episode' of CITV's Mike & Angelo.

Personally, I wouldn't hold the 100s of subsequent stories to what happened in the very first episode. Few could have predicted that the show would last more than one or two seasons when "An Unearthly Child" was made, so I don't see that everything in it should be fixed in stone. On that basis, and despite what Susan said, I'd be frankly delighted if we forgot about "Dimension [singular] In Space" - there are at least three spatial dimensions, and TARDISes travel through all of them, not just one. So, when RTD had the 9th Doctor clearly say "Dimension" in _Rose_ he wasn't so much correcting something, as resurrecting a scientifically illiterate error which I hoped we'd not hear again. Good on Vicki for getting it right!

18:59 Olay, where the hell did the prop department get a bloody panzerschreck?!

Canon is always changing, it seems like we're getting Henry Cavill, as the Master. Sounds like fun....

Wait so he has an issue that the character may of been raped by Viking raiders because to him it added nothing to the story lol

While there is so much interest in the show, plus David Bradley giving such marvelous performances as the First Doctor, I'm one of those who support the idea of the BBC having the missing episodes remade, basically scene for scene. I think that Big Finish could do a great job, or if a separate production team was established then I would suggest someone with talent, commitment, and the passion of a fan to lead the team - Mark Gatiss.

"In Big Finish, we've had actors Rufus Hound and Gemma Whelan..." No love for the Graeme Garden Monk portrayal?

First saw this story in 1992 as part of the first batch of 90s BBC2 repeats.

Isn't Vicki and Steven the only run when all of multiple companions were future humans?

I like the Saxons and Vikings in it

Violator of women in the fake credits I laughed

Cheers mate i love this one

The SA warning seemed uneccesary and it makes more sense than her not being assaulted. They're Vikings bro like whT

This is making me want to do a Hartnell marathon 😂

I wonder if the Monk has a spot to show up in the modern era outside of Big Finish.

As much as DW fans joke about Hartnell’s line flubs, they weirdly actually endear me to his character more. Hartnell’s Doctor’s whole character was “Grumpy yet Goofy Space Grandad” and the line flubs actually sell that by complete accident 😅

They briefly referenced 1066 in The Next Doctor (2008), interestingly.

I still remember watching this for the first time not knowing what to expect. When I saw the record player and modern kitchen, I thought the Doctor had been deceived about when and where he'd landed and predicted something like the Truman Show with the monk. The actual reveal was less impressive to me having started with the modern era and knowing the time lords would show up eventually. I wish the show did more of this kind of thing. But it really can't now that the Doctor is depicted having full control of the TARDIS and almost always knowing immediately where he is.

I don’t know if Americans would know, but I enjoy that the Monk is played by Carry On regular!

I absolutely love hartnell in this story. He is unbelievably good! All his quips and his chemistry with the monk. He really seemed to be enjoying himself here.

The “Atomic Cannon” is a WW2 German “Panzerschrek”, an 88mm portable Anti Tank rocket.

Probably been asked but is anyone using this recent deepfake tech to recreate missing who episodes?

This may be the Master……..

The monk must have had a heavy duty 1970s (or later) amplifier built into that record player if the sound carried down the cliff face. If you live in university hall of residence and want to annoy people in another block with loud music, such a device is absolutely necessary.

So... when Davros appeared in NuWho, and I had no idea, I started going back... and wound up just throwing out my hands and starting from the beginning (so "Genesis of..." and "War Games" were all I saw before going back to jump.) Deciding not to find out anything about the episodes other than what I already knew, I timed it out to have looped back around by the 50th anniversary. My memory of the Monk parts of this serial are clear, but I realized I had no memory of what his plan was, like it was just a breakaway foundation for the cool stuff. The sad part is, after the second MM story, I kept waiting for him to show up again, and he never did. Sigh.

I love the time melider series 2 is my favourite William Hartnell series of doctor who and David witker stayed on until the evil of the daleks and William Hartnell and Peter puives and the time milder is one of my favourite William Hartnell storyrs in series 2 and Peter butwere is great in this doctor who story and I just love Peter puvies in doctor who and blue Peter he is my favourite blue Peter presenter

They actually reconstructed the Viking death scene in the last ep for the bluray, & did it better than the original version!

When I saw it for the first time I always wondered about the monk calling himself the master. Ok so the show never went that way but I have wondered about that for about 30 years lol.

And yes, Peter Purves went on to be a TV presenter, on Blue Peter and One and his dog, amongst others.

Time for the Time Medderling Monk to Return!

I find this to be one of the most influential stories in the series imo. I find these episodes might’ve been what laid the groundwork for many of the historicals to come in that many of them post Hartnell focus on the Doctor and companions having to stop history from going wrong in some way via some entity. This was the first story to have done that

Love this story. Imone if my favourite hartnall stories. I feel Edith starts out in this one too. I find her a memorable guest character

Might the monk be an agent of the Dark Guardian?

Best of the series yet! Fantastic video!

Holy crap, the monk has a Tardis.

the 1st doctor Steven and vikki are such an underrated team

Great review. Informative. Earned a subscriber.

The Time Meddler is my favorite of the 1st Doctor stories. I really wanted to see more of the Monk.

I'm loving this series of videos, thank you for making them

We're is free moving with no narrator

Can’t wait for next week episode

The monk should return to the show

I like The Time Meddler

this is one of my favorite serials!💕

One issue I think, is that tactical nuclear weapons and their launcher, along with a gramophone, a toaster, and what looks like a 1960s Hacker transistor radio, were all left behind in the 11th Century. The radio didn't come into the story at all, and what use would it have been in 1066 anyway?

The Time Nonce

Brilliant

👍

I really wouldn't mind seeing this guy return....or maybe he already has....?

You didn’t mention the original big finish monk? Or are you keeping that actor a surprise?

The Meddling Monk being a Timelord with a Tardis is almost like The Timeless Children revelation of the classic series.

What about Graham garden?????

The Master !!

I always thought that TARDIS stood for Tatty Ancient Relic Discounted In Sale.