Doctor Who - The Time Meddler [1965] [DVD]

1965's The Time Meddler is a strange addition to the Hartnell era, its neither here nor there, a mixture between historical fact and futuristic humour. By the end of the second production block, the producers were keen to inject new life in to Doctor Who, Dennis Spooner, since taking up the reign as script editor was keen to experiment with the programme and so we have The Time Meddler, a story that would not be misplaced in the late Jon Pertwee era next to the Time Warrior. In fact, the similarities between these two serials is quite something. We have an alien {Peter Butterworth's "Monk"}, a historical setting {1066} and the Doctor {Billy} trying to end the tampering with time. I have always felt that "The Time Warrior" was a sequel or remake of this story as they are very similar. Nevertheless the two stories are classics {well in my opinion anyway} and they certainly deserve recognition for daring to step out of the norm.

The Time Meddler is short, at 4 episodes, instead of the usual 6 it is not the standard length of any pre season 3 adventure, its length is a good thing mainly because there is not enough going on to keep it alive after the 4 episodes, if it was a 6 parter then I would have knocked it down to 4 stars. I have never been a fan of the 6 parters, they always drag in the middle {Reign of Terror} and you can lose track of the real plot. However, as stated above this story is a nice 100 min breeze and keeps my attention all the way through.

There is great casting in this story by director Douglas Camfield, Doctor Who's greatest director, here we have great comedian Peter Butterworth and familiar face Alethea Charlton {who appered in the first ever serial}. The only thing that would have been a nice touch would have to be Dudley Simpson on incidental music duty, but owing to the ever widening dispute between him and Dougie Camfield, that was never really going to happen, shame.

The BBC DVD release of this classic story from 1965 was handled beautifully by the Restoration Team, the remastering has come a long way since the good old days of VHS, it is a shame however that the Vidfire process could not be applied to this story as the recordings were not of good enough quality. Nevertheless, thats not to say the picture and sound on this 46 year old production was not up to scratch, because it really is, the DVD is presented very well and the Team have done a great job in putting it all together. Comiserations.

All in all then, this is a great Hartnell story that is more suited in the 70's than the mid 60's, but that does not but add to the enjoyment of this BBC DVD of The Time Meddler.

Serial - 9/10
DVD - 10/10
Overall - Great buy and well worth it.

Let's face it, THE TIME MEDDLER from 1965 is not going to make most people's top 10 list of favourite DR WHO stories. By today's standards it's very slow-paced and cheap-looking. The script is by no means terrible, although the plans of Peter Butterworth's Meddling Monk to alter history seem ill-conceived and there are lots of dull sections mostly containing beardy Saxons and Vikings (with names like Wulnoth and Sven) arguing in a way that will make you want to spool forward to the next scene.

If all of that makes it look like I'm going to be wholly negative about this release, then I should also say that actually I quite like it. And that's rather the point. I like it because I'm a fan and because I have a certain mindset. One of the reasons I love watching old episodes of DR WHO is to imagine myself back into the mind and feelings of a first time viewer at the time of original transmission. I can see just how exciting and gripping this serial might have been for viewers in 1965. After all if you didn't know about the Doctor's back story(more or less set in stone since 1969's THE WAR GAMES) then the revelation of the Monk's identity must have come as a real surprise to an audience of that time. With the advantage of hindsight this is less exciting now, as since then we've met a veritable host of time travelling renegades (the War Chief, the Master, the Rani, Drax, etc).

However, I do not imagine that most "normal" people will share my enthusiasm and the serial may well come across as tedious, especially if the only contact you've had with DR WHO is the revived Russell T.Davies version. Although maybe fans of the Carry On... films might find something to love in Peter Butterworth's cheeky performance - even if he's not playing a lecherous old man here.

Talking of Butterworth, he and William Hartnell look like they really enjoy their scenes together - apparently much of their dialogue was improvised - and these scenes have an energy and sense of fun absent from a lot of the rest of the tale. Director Douglas Camfield shoots and lights Barry Newbery's effective sets with as much style as he can muster considering the low budget and occasionally turgid pacing of the script. New companion, Steven played by Mr Blue Peter himself, Peter Purves, makes a good start even if I wince at the incongruously US-sounding dialogue he's sometimes given ("Quite a ship you've got here,Doc...").

For those of you who are hardcore fans then I would suggest the best reason to buy is actually the commentary. It's one of the best I can remember. Moderator Clayton Hickman does a good job of teasing interesting answers out of the panel and by the end I felt I had gained a new appreciation for the earliest days of the programme. Peter Purves, especially is excellent, and I look forward to the release of THE ARK and THE GUNFIGHTERS so we can have more of this gentleman. But the commentary is also effective because the mix of people they use: producer Verity Lambert, script editor Donald Tosh, designer Barry Newbery and Peter Purves is so unusual, not to say unique as Verity Lambert died only a few weeks after recording it. Knowing this makes the last few minutes especially moving as the other commentary guests celebrate her achievement as first producer of the series. Her love for her period of DR WHO is still touchingly in evidence right to the end and as fans we're the poorer for her loss.

The other extras are a little thin on the ground. The only feature of any significant length is STRIPPED FOR ACTION, a piece on the 1960's DR WHO comic strips starring William Hartnell. This is full of enthusiastic interviewees and professionally done, but I confess to a lack of interest for this aspect of DR WHO fiction. However, if you are a fan of the comics then maybe this will be a treat.

Sadly, the film print of THE TIME MEDDLER is not considered strong enough to undergo the vidFIRE process that has thus far sharpened up the picture quality of many of the black and white 1960's stories. Nevertheless the Restoration Team have done a good job in cleaning it up and it's certainly a vast improvement on my grainy VHS copy.

I'm 15 years old, and I have to say that this story really is awesome, even by today's standards.

It's certainly one of Hartnell's best, with Hartnell's Doctor really getting into the role brilliantly. Here, we see the bully in him, and the very funny/calm side too. Place him with the Monk, and we have a fantastic combination.

I watched this in one sitting (something I find hard to do with Hartnell/Troughton) and absolutely loved it. I would recommend it for people of all ages because it's a huge lump of fun and a great story!