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Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17) 
Actors : William Hartnell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves
Studio : BBC Warner
by BBC Warner
Release Date : 2008-08-05
Publisher : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0794051291325
UPC : 794051291325
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 12 reviews)
List Price : $24.98
Our Price : $14.48
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Description |
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The TARDIS seems emptier without Barbara and Ian - at least until the Doctor and Vicki discover that the astronaut Steven stowed away before they left Mechanus. Steven's skepticism toward time travel pushes the Doctor to confront him with living proof. Shortly after landing on a beach in England, they discover a Viking helmet, but Steve remains unconvinced. Instructing Steve and Vicki to wait with the TARDIS, the Doctor seeks further proof. Heedless of the Doctor's warning, Steven persuades Vicki to explore the cliffs above the beach, where they find an abandoned wristwatch. Meanwhile, the Doctor investigates a ruined monastery, where he encounters an electric toaster, a gramophone playing ecclesiastic chants, and a monk who traps him in an alcove. Eventually, the Doctor realizes that the famous Battle of Hastings is only a few weeks away. That should provide ample proof for Steven, but who is this mysterious monk, and what is his interest in the events of 1066? |
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Marketadvisory.com |
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One of the most popular adventures from the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, The Time Meddler pits the Time Lord against Carry On star Peter Butterworth in an entertaining, well-written adventure. Set in England back in 1066, on the eve of the Battle of Hastings, The Time Meddler sees the Doctor drawn to a monastery where a single monk resides. So how come the singing of the monks can be heard from far away? And what's the reasoning behind the modern utensils he discovers? All paths lead to the aforementioned Butterworth, whose character's backstory adds a nice twist to the story. The Time Meddler throws in the backstory of Jamie discovering the world of time travel for the first time, but it's the sparring between Hartnell and Butterworth that provides the sparks. And while it's not a perfect adventure, The Time Meddler is very entertaining, and a nice slice of classic Doctor Who. Poignantly, the late Verity Lambert joins an intelligent, interesting commentary track in the highlight of the disc's extras. The Time Meddler was the last Doctor Who story she produced, and her contribution to the supplementary features package is both interesting and a fitting tribute to her work. --Simon Brew |
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Timeless |
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For fans of Doctor Who, this is an excellent view into the Timelords world. This is the first time a fellow timelord shows up and his TARDIS really works. It starts out slow, but once the action starts, it's great. |
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Dr. Who Time Meddler |
Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17)
It was a vintage Dr. Who. Well acted. The sets are a little hokey, but the story is good. This must have been one the early stories, as the series started as a teaching (History) tool. |
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Doctor Who - The Time Meddler |
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The BBC has done a fine job restoring this William Hartnell adventure. The video is very crisp and the extras, including audio commentary with original series producer Verity Lambert, are very interesting and informative. This is the first story without any of the original companions; i.e., Susan, Barbara or Ian. The Doctor and Vicki are very surprised to find Steven onboard the TARDIS and have to convince him that the ship actually travels in time - in this instance, to 11th century England. There they encounter the Meddling Monk, a time traveler like the Doctor, but, unlike the Doctor, he enjoys meddling with time and messing with history. Of course, The Doctor puts a stop to that in the end! The sets and costumes are quite interesting, and the other characters in the story - the villagers and the Vikings - are pretty well developed. Well, actually the Vikings are a pretty bumbling bunch, but their costumes are cool! This DVD would make a good addition to anyone's Dr. Who collection. |
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The start of the pseudo-historicals |
Part of the idea behind "Doctor Who" was that it was going to be used to teach children a little something about history. Well, that pretty much came to an end once the Doctor visited Skaro for the first time, but the show still tried to do historical stories.
The pure historicals are ones like Doctor Who - The Aztecs, where the TARDIS crew winds up somewhere in the past, runs into trouble and has to get out. This is all done without them having to deal with any kind of monsters or sci-fi peril.
But after a while, the powers that be decided the show needed to have a sci-fi angle to every story, so gradually the pure historicals faded away, leaving behind a beast called the pseudo-historical. These are stories that take place in a historical setting, but feature sci-fi elements to them. Aliens meddling in Earth's past, power-mad time-travelers meddling in Earth's past, robot's meddling in Earth's past or, surprisingly enough, other Time Lords meddling in Earth's past.
The first of these, appropriately enough, is "The Time Meddler", where another Time Lord (though they weren't called that yet), called the Monk, goes back in time to change the outcome of the Battle of Hastings. He's not exactly evil, more of just a problem. Naturally the Doctor has to put a stop to this nonsense.
The story is quite good as is the acting, and the Doctor comes off as something more heroic than the usual anti-hero role the First Doctor had. I loved what he wound up doing to the Monk at the end of the story.
As for the rest of the episode... well, the sets and costumes are good, as one expects for a historical story. Much less cheese than when they tried to do sci-fi (then again their budget was something like 2000 pounds for an entire season, so yeah).
The extras are nice, including commentary that features Verity Lambert in her last role on the last episode she produced (it was also her last commentary). There's also a nice obit for her, and a few other nice extras, including a feature on the First Doctor's adventures in the "Doctor Who" comic strips.
Overall this is a nice purchase. It's always good to see some of the earliest episodes and the extras are nice icing on the cake. |
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Mixed feelings |
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It's been years since I first saw this episode, and I've rather mixed feelings about it. Hartnell always had something about him, that little sparkle, that bit of charm that was, in many cases, overshadowed by the stubborness of the character he was playing. In his later episodes, he was lightened up considerably, whcih really allowed his charismatic side to shine through, and that is very much on display here. The Who historic episodes went the way of the Dodo after a while, and that is really a shame, as some of them, like the Aztecs for instance were really fantastic. This one is sort of a hybrid historic episode, with the inclusion of someone from the same place as the Doctor(though not revealed where at this point, as that came much later). The Monk had lots of possibilities, though few were explired here, and he was not entirely fleshed out. Still, the time that the Doctor and the Monk share on sreen makes this one worth it, and this episode is worth watching just for its historical value. Plus, it happens to be very watchable(though I have trouble ever seeing this Doctor without Ian, Barbara, and of course...Susan) |
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