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Tarfumes.com - Doctor Who - The Time Meddler (Episode 17)
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List Price: $24.98
Our Price: $16.99
Your Save: $ 7.99 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Starring: William Hartnell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0794051291325
Format: Black & White
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-08-05
Running Time: 100
Studio: BBC Warner
Theatrical Release Date: 1975-09-29
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Editorial Reviews:
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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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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Timeless
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dr. Who Time Meddler
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Doctor Who - The Time Meddler
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The start of the pseudo-historicals
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Comment: 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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