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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #126
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
When the TARDIS materialises on an apparently deserted Northumbrian beach, Steven disputes the Doctor's claim that they have travelled back to the eleventh century. The discovery of a modern wristwatch in a nearby forest merely reinforces his opinion.
But it is 1066, the most important date in English history, and the Doctor's arrival has not gone unnoticed. Observing the appearance of the TARDIS is a mysterious monk who recognises the time-machine for what it is. He also knows that the Doctor poses a serious threat to his master plan - a plan which, if successful, could alter the future of the entire world...
But it is 1066, the most important date in English history, and the Doctor's arrival has not gone unnoticed. Observing the appearance of the TARDIS is a mysterious monk who recognises the time-machine for what it is. He also knows that the Doctor poses a serious threat to his master plan - a plan which, if successful, could alter the future of the entire world...
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 17, 1987
2 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Robinson
85 books11 followersNigel Robinson is an English author, known for such works as the First Contact series. Nigel was born in Preston, Lancashire and attended St Thomas More school. Robinson's first published book was The Tolkien Quiz Book in 1981, co-written with Linda Wilson. This was followed by a series of three Doctor Who quiz books and a crossword book between 1981 and 1985. In the late 1980s he was the editor of Target Books' range of Doctor Who tie-ins and novelisations, also contributing to the range as a writer.
He later wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, for the New Adventures series for Virgin Publishing, which had purchased Target in 1989 shortly after Robinson had left the company. He also wrote the New Adventure Birthright, published in 1993.
In the 1990s, Robinson wrote novelisations of episodes of The Tomorrow People, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Baywatch and the film Free Willy. Between 1994 and 1995, he wrote a series of children's horror novels Remember Me..., All Shook Up, Dream Lover, Rave On, Bad Moon Rising, Symphony of Terror and Demon Brood.In 1996 he continued to write the Luke Cannon Show Jumping Mysteries series,containing four books, namely The Piebald Princess, The Chestnut Chase, The Black Mare of Devils Hill and the last in the series, Decision Day for the Dapple Grey. By 1997 he had also penned a trilogy science fiction novels First Contact, Second Nature and Third Degree.
His most recent work was another quiz book, this time to tie in with the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
He later wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, for the New Adventures series for Virgin Publishing, which had purchased Target in 1989 shortly after Robinson had left the company. He also wrote the New Adventure Birthright, published in 1993.
In the 1990s, Robinson wrote novelisations of episodes of The Tomorrow People, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Baywatch and the film Free Willy. Between 1994 and 1995, he wrote a series of children's horror novels Remember Me..., All Shook Up, Dream Lover, Rave On, Bad Moon Rising, Symphony of Terror and Demon Brood.In 1996 he continued to write the Luke Cannon Show Jumping Mysteries series,containing four books, namely The Piebald Princess, The Chestnut Chase, The Black Mare of Devils Hill and the last in the series, Decision Day for the Dapple Grey. By 1997 he had also penned a trilogy science fiction novels First Contact, Second Nature and Third Degree.
His most recent work was another quiz book, this time to tie in with the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 19, 2018
The Time Meddler is one of my favourite First Doctor stories.
I generally like the historical’s that shape the Hartnell’s era and this also adds the element of another time traveller into the mix.
This story feels so modern and forward thinking for its time as the audience is introduced to another character from The Doctor’s home planet.
The Monk feels somewhat like The Master (who won’t appear in the show for another 6 years!), he’s attempt to change the events of the Norman Conquest could have dire effects to earths timeline.
The novelisation is pretty straightforward retelling of the story, though the foreshadowing of The Monk’s return was a fun addition.
I generally like the historical’s that shape the Hartnell’s era and this also adds the element of another time traveller into the mix.
This story feels so modern and forward thinking for its time as the audience is introduced to another character from The Doctor’s home planet.
The Monk feels somewhat like The Master (who won’t appear in the show for another 6 years!), he’s attempt to change the events of the Norman Conquest could have dire effects to earths timeline.
The novelisation is pretty straightforward retelling of the story, though the foreshadowing of The Monk’s return was a fun addition.
October 4, 2017
I’m not really sure why I skipped Nigel Robinson’s adaptation of “The Time Meddler” during my Target novel collecting days. Whether it’s that the relatively recent release date came with a higher price tag or that I didn’t really appreciate the serial during my teenage years, I don’t quite recall.
But this gap in my collection allowed me to come to Peter Purvis’s reason of the story without my memory cheating on the relative merit of the original novelization.
Coming at the end of the classic series’ second season, “The Time Meddler” is a pivotal point in Doctor Who history.
The four-part serial is a pivotal one for classic Doctor Who. Until this point, the series had maintained a clear distinction between the sci-fi stories and the historical ones. With “The Time Meddler,” the line begins to blur a bit with another time traveler trying to interfere in the natural course of Earth history.
In this case, its’ the Meddling Monk, a fellow time traveler who shares the same home planet as the Doctor, who has decided that he’ll tweak English and world history a bit by using atomic bazookas to ward off the Vikings at Stanford Bridge on 1066. With Harold’s troops not weary from the battle there, followed by a march to Hastings, world history will unfold is a slightly different pattern. The Monk is also filling the time period with historical anachronisms from a record player to give the illusion he’s not alone in the monastery to a toaster and electric griddle for preparing food.
Adapted from the original four-part serial by Dennis Spooner, Robinson’s adaptation is fairly faithful to the original script. Robinson inserts a few scenes that weren’t possible on the budget of the time as well as confirming a few things that the original production was a bit more cautious in addressing.
As an audio book, “The Time Meddler” is a lot of fun. Purvis is clearly having a great time bringing the story to life and his take on the various participants is a delight. He does a good impression of the first Doctor and Vicki as well as captured some of the mischievous elements of Peter Butterworth’s performance as the Meddling Monk.
But this gap in my collection allowed me to come to Peter Purvis’s reason of the story without my memory cheating on the relative merit of the original novelization.
Coming at the end of the classic series’ second season, “The Time Meddler” is a pivotal point in Doctor Who history.
The four-part serial is a pivotal one for classic Doctor Who. Until this point, the series had maintained a clear distinction between the sci-fi stories and the historical ones. With “The Time Meddler,” the line begins to blur a bit with another time traveler trying to interfere in the natural course of Earth history.
In this case, its’ the Meddling Monk, a fellow time traveler who shares the same home planet as the Doctor, who has decided that he’ll tweak English and world history a bit by using atomic bazookas to ward off the Vikings at Stanford Bridge on 1066. With Harold’s troops not weary from the battle there, followed by a march to Hastings, world history will unfold is a slightly different pattern. The Monk is also filling the time period with historical anachronisms from a record player to give the illusion he’s not alone in the monastery to a toaster and electric griddle for preparing food.
Adapted from the original four-part serial by Dennis Spooner, Robinson’s adaptation is fairly faithful to the original script. Robinson inserts a few scenes that weren’t possible on the budget of the time as well as confirming a few things that the original production was a bit more cautious in addressing.
As an audio book, “The Time Meddler” is a lot of fun. Purvis is clearly having a great time bringing the story to life and his take on the various participants is a delight. He does a good impression of the first Doctor and Vicki as well as captured some of the mischievous elements of Peter Butterworth’s performance as the Meddling Monk.
August 24, 2019
One of the best Target novelisations I've read so far - a sheer delight.
December 13, 2021
The Time Meddler is one of my favourite First Doctor serials. This is the first of the pseudo-historical adventures - it has a historical setting but features science-fiction elements other than the TARDIS and its crew - and also the first time we see another Time Lord (though not yet named as such). Unlike other comedic First Doctor stories, such as The Romans or The Gunfighters, here the humour is subtle and is restricted to the Meddling Monk played by Peter Butterworth. This novelisation captures the atmosphere of the TV serial - I can envision Butterworth's performance every time the character appears on the page.
February 15, 2021
A very exiting story
June 23, 2024
Based on a script Dennis Spooner and with cover art by Jeff Cummins. This is number 126 in the Target catalogue.
The first renegade Time Lord story. The Monk is trying to change history and the Doctor has to stop him. I think I like the book more than the broadcast version. It has a much more even pacing. Although, I don’t like the way the Monk has been characterised in the book. He’s shown as bit of a petulant child. He doesn’t come across like that in the TV version where he’s mischievous and irreverent, not petulant.
A great novelisation though. It’s in my top ten Hartnell reads.
The first renegade Time Lord story. The Monk is trying to change history and the Doctor has to stop him. I think I like the book more than the broadcast version. It has a much more even pacing. Although, I don’t like the way the Monk has been characterised in the book. He’s shown as bit of a petulant child. He doesn’t come across like that in the TV version where he’s mischievous and irreverent, not petulant.
A great novelisation though. It’s in my top ten Hartnell reads.
March 17, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's yet another classic Hartnell era story which seems to consist of the characters running around, getting split up and captured and so forth. The writing is pretty good though and the character of the Time Meddler himself shone through quite clearly. He was a very interesting character and came across as larger than life. However, I do remember the original episodes and Peter Butterworth's performance was very good so that may have influenced my reading.
This is the first of the stories Dr Who stories to feature new companions after the departure of Ian and Barbara and is set in 1066, where the Meddling Monk is intent of changing history to ensure that King Harold won the Battle of Hastings. Interestingly, this is the first instance of the Doctor encountering another member of his own race and I liked the way they avoided explaining exactly who/what the Doctor and the Monk were as this had obviously not been written at that point.
All in all this is a well written story of a rather mediocre plot but the characters are very well presented and it's well worth reading if you enjoy the early Doctor Who's.
January 27, 2009
A fantastic serial made even better by an excellent novelization that fills in some plotholes and makes a few minor but excellent changes (such as letting Steven and Vicki see inside the Monk's Tardis after its dimensions were destabilized). One of the best Targets I've read so far.
June 14, 2020
The novelisation of a First Doctor (William Hartnell) story featuring his companions Vicki and Steven.
Having escaped the Daleks and said farewell to Ian and Barbara (in the 'The Chase'), the Doctor, Vicki and new companion Steven arrive in Northumbria in 1066. As the local Saxons anticipate an attack by invading Vikings, the Doctor discovers a number of anachronisms, such as technology which wouldn't be invented for centuries. He is then brought face to face and into conflict with another renegade Time Lord, this one bent on changing the entire course of Earth's history.
It has to be said that a great deal of this book consists of the circular plotting and repetition which the TV series used to pad its run-time; in this instance involving a lot of going to the monastery, escaping the monastery, going to the Saxon village, returning to the monastery and so on and so forth. It's fairly tedious and isn't livened-up as much as it should be by the introduction of Viking scouts into the mix.
Nevertheless, I actually rather enjoyed this book and mainly for one reason; the so-called Meddling Monk.
It's strange to think now that, aside from Susan, this was the first time the Doctor ever encountered another Gallifreyan in the show. And much like they did later with both the War Chief and the Master, the story allows for a hint of recognition between the two characters, as if they have some shared history (even though its made clear that the Monk left Gallifrey fifty years after the Doctor).
What I most enjoyed about all this was how different an antagonist the Monk is when compared to, say, the Master. The Monk is irresponsible, childish, misguided and petulant, but not overtly malevolent. His relationship with the Doctor is much more like two elderly men competing with each other (including some TARDIS envy) than the bitter rivalry that the Doctor has with the Master.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
Having escaped the Daleks and said farewell to Ian and Barbara (in the 'The Chase'), the Doctor, Vicki and new companion Steven arrive in Northumbria in 1066. As the local Saxons anticipate an attack by invading Vikings, the Doctor discovers a number of anachronisms, such as technology which wouldn't be invented for centuries. He is then brought face to face and into conflict with another renegade Time Lord, this one bent on changing the entire course of Earth's history.
It has to be said that a great deal of this book consists of the circular plotting and repetition which the TV series used to pad its run-time; in this instance involving a lot of going to the monastery, escaping the monastery, going to the Saxon village, returning to the monastery and so on and so forth. It's fairly tedious and isn't livened-up as much as it should be by the introduction of Viking scouts into the mix.
Nevertheless, I actually rather enjoyed this book and mainly for one reason; the so-called Meddling Monk.
It's strange to think now that, aside from Susan, this was the first time the Doctor ever encountered another Gallifreyan in the show. And much like they did later with both the War Chief and the Master, the story allows for a hint of recognition between the two characters, as if they have some shared history (even though its made clear that the Monk left Gallifrey fifty years after the Doctor).
What I most enjoyed about all this was how different an antagonist the Monk is when compared to, say, the Master. The Monk is irresponsible, childish, misguided and petulant, but not overtly malevolent. His relationship with the Doctor is much more like two elderly men competing with each other (including some TARDIS envy) than the bitter rivalry that the Doctor has with the Master.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
July 14, 2023
First time read. Haven't watched the serial yet. On paper, it's a very oddly atonal work. The Meddling Monk is an interesting early rival for the Doctor, a predecessor to The Master before all of the Time Lord lore has been introduced. He's very unthreatening though, with many of his scenes written as screwball farce, which runs counter to the surrounding plot being the Viking invasion of England with brutal battles and even a rather frankly explored rape. Which is handled with more thought and consequence than you'd expect, but the story feels like it can't decide which age of audience it's aiming for as the tone bounces all over the place. Separating Vicki and Steven from the Doctor is well done, as both sides play their threads well, even if I was quick to get tired of Steven being the lunkhead who refuses to believe any of this is going on. Oddly, Vicki is being played as the more mature member of their dynamic, filling the Barbara void while still maintaining her youthful energy. Overall, it's a story that doesn't come together for me, which is unfortunate given it's a milestone moment in franchise of our first Time Lord foe. But Robinson's prose is nice, and it was still a snappy, quick read, so I didn't feel bogged down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2024
Another winning First Doctor adaptation for Nigel Robinson, The Time Meddler is the most canonically important story he's tackled, and it's perhaps consequently the book that hinges closest to the events of the television show. He cleans up some loose ends and fixes the bit where the characters call 1066 AD the 10th Century, but otherwise, it feels like a pretty straight adaptation of the Doctor's first meeting with an opponent of his own race. The show would never be the same again, less because of the Monk than the Doctor's new-found agency post-Ian and Barbara. The other reason the serial is famous (or perhaps infamous, in this case) is that it quite clearly features a sexual assault, albeit in a way that should go over the children's heads. I wondered how the book would do this, and Robinson finds a way to toe the same line. It's there, it's clear, but it's subtle and not overly focused on. For my money, Robinson is the best of the 1st Doctor's adapters (I also include Big Finish's Lost Stories audios in this corpus) exactly because he gets both the characters and tone of the era.
January 24, 2021
A generally good story - one of my earliest acquisitions to my collection I think, I know it quite well to point that it almost feels like I know it by heart when rereading it :)
Quite a notable story this one, outside of being first one without any of the original companions for the Doctor, it is the first time we are introduced to another member of the Doctor's species (outside of Susan of course), and also see another TARDIS, rather than suggestions of it being unique.
While the story has some quite dark moments, the Meddling Monk himself tends to add a more light hearted nature to the story, as his overall competence doesn't seem that high, as he himself gets into and out of trouble, similar to the Doctor and his companions, and certainly seems less competent / menacing than say the Master or the Rani.
Good first story for Steven here as well, shows some of the initial scepticism that Ian and Barbara also had, but deals with the changes quite well.
Quite a notable story this one, outside of being first one without any of the original companions for the Doctor, it is the first time we are introduced to another member of the Doctor's species (outside of Susan of course), and also see another TARDIS, rather than suggestions of it being unique.
While the story has some quite dark moments, the Meddling Monk himself tends to add a more light hearted nature to the story, as his overall competence doesn't seem that high, as he himself gets into and out of trouble, similar to the Doctor and his companions, and certainly seems less competent / menacing than say the Master or the Rani.
Good first story for Steven here as well, shows some of the initial scepticism that Ian and Barbara also had, but deals with the changes quite well.
November 12, 2023
60th Anniversary Read Through. New companion Steven gets his first full story after being introduced near the end of the last serial. Also, the first fellow Time-Lord is met. Some fan theories make this the master, but that was definitely not the intent when written. We get to also see another TARDIS for the first time. Not a whole lot of plot and an easy read, but classic Who and fun historical story that takes place right before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Finally, this is the last story of Season Two. Next up, Season Three story, Galaxy Four. A new chapter, now that the original companions are now gone.
January 18, 2023
The Time Meddler (1987) by Nigel Robinson is the novelisation of the final serial of the second season of Doctor Who. The companions are Vicki and Steven.
The crew land in 1066 in England and encounter a mysterious monk who, they discover is intent on meddling with time. The monk also foreshadows The Master in some ways.
It’s a good story, the monk is a good villain who isn’t overpowered. It’s the second story in a row that deals with other time travelers.
The Time Meddler is a fun serial.
The crew land in 1066 in England and encounter a mysterious monk who, they discover is intent on meddling with time. The monk also foreshadows The Master in some ways.
It’s a good story, the monk is a good villain who isn’t overpowered. It’s the second story in a row that deals with other time travelers.
The Time Meddler is a fun serial.
August 7, 2023
This is one of my favourite 1st doctor stories, daft as a brush with Peter Butterworth playing the wonderful meddlesome monk. But how did it translate to a novelisation.
Not very well, the boring pointless bits in the tv show are even more apparent and the humour of the tv show owes an immense debt to Peter Butterworths delivery which is sadly missing from this book.
Could have been better perhaps with somone who could write comedy, but this is only worthwhile if you have seen the tv story and then it adds absolutely nothing to it.
Not very well, the boring pointless bits in the tv show are even more apparent and the humour of the tv show owes an immense debt to Peter Butterworths delivery which is sadly missing from this book.
Could have been better perhaps with somone who could write comedy, but this is only worthwhile if you have seen the tv story and then it adds absolutely nothing to it.
July 1, 2024
Solid adaptation of the Hartnell story, covers all of the story beats you'd expect, along with some added embellishments here and there. I liked the epilogue being set several months after the main action. Probably could have been higher scoring if there was more leeway to expand on other things, but those are the limitations of these novelisations. Surprisingly bloodthirsty and tackling adult themes (one in particular) that would never be done now.
May 13, 2023
An absolute hoot. Mr Robinson manages to make a story that introduces the idea that the Doctor is part of a race of time travellers and not ruin the established continuity of the show as it stood at time of broadcast with information that fans had 25 years later. And he takes a fab comedy story and infuses it with drama and tension, some of which was not present on the original broadcast.
December 9, 2025
This entry in the Target books is fine. The serial is great in my opinion, so that would receive a higher rating, but the language the author uses is somewhat archaic or pretentious in my opinion, and does not really fit the vibe. The horrible things that happened to Edith are gracefully dealt with, just like the serial, given the young intended audience.
August 13, 2018
A charming retelling of the script with a few additions, especially in the epilogue. It's a pity that the Monk pictured on the cover looks almost entirely unlike Peter Butterworth...
December 2, 2019
Pretty much a straight forward telling of the TV story. A few characters and situations fleshed out.
February 7, 2021
Easily the best of the Target books I've read so far! Nigel Robinson is a fantastic writer, and brought this story to life as wonderfully as it was brought to live on TV!
July 9, 2021
Generally a good novelisation of a good story, although it doesn't really do much out of the ordinary. Could've done without the added misogyny from Steven though!
March 2, 2023
Not my favourite doctor, but I do like a good Doctor Who story. Relatively short and action packed. Perfect for driving.
December 3, 2014
This was another good target novelisation. Nigel put a lot of effort into what everyone was thinking and their motivations to round out the characterisation. I thought he did a particularly good job with Vicki and I enjoyed how much she was exasperated with Steven! I liked this story as it was an interesting mixture of historical and shadowy figure. More like a modern pseudo-historical with people from outside the time causing trouble. I'd come across the "meddling monk" before in later Big Finish audios but I liked the fact that he wasn't really evil just kinda naive. I thought it was also quite shocking to have a Doctor Who adventure with rape and murder! (Though done in such a way that you could overlook what happened to the poor Saxon woman if you weren't aware of such things).
February 27, 2009
A classic bit of 'Who' history as it's the very first time we encounter another Time Lord.
Wanting a break after the events of the 'Chase' story, the Doctor and Vikki take their new traveling companion to earth. It looks like they've landed during the time of the viking invasion, but Stephen has his doubts when they find a very modern watch on the ground.
The monk is a great character that should have been used more. He's more shifty and greedy than evil and the scenes between him and the Doctor are a lot of fun.
Lots of chases, people getting locked up and a bit of history make this a very light weight story, but a fun read and an important part of Doctor Who history.
Wanting a break after the events of the 'Chase' story, the Doctor and Vikki take their new traveling companion to earth. It looks like they've landed during the time of the viking invasion, but Stephen has his doubts when they find a very modern watch on the ground.
The monk is a great character that should have been used more. He's more shifty and greedy than evil and the scenes between him and the Doctor are a lot of fun.
Lots of chases, people getting locked up and a bit of history make this a very light weight story, but a fun read and an important part of Doctor Who history.
February 3, 2014
Finally got around to this, one of the few Target novelizations I never had a chance to read. I'm sad to say it's the most disappointing of Nigel Robinson's four early-years adaptation...primarily because of its lack of ambition. His novelizations of "The Edge of Destruction" and "The Sensorites" display a gorgeous talent to broaden & deepen both plot and character; his novelization of "The Underwater Menace" turns a piece of B-movie shlock into something exciting and fun. But "The Time Meddler" is primarily a straightforward transcription, with a few bits and btyes thrown in. Perfectly readable and professional, but it doesn't reach for the glory of the other Robinson novelizations.
June 6, 2013
Okay read, though a bit violent. There is some quite extreme sexual violence, for a Doctor Who book (not explicit), and no one seems to actually care about the woman affected (in the sense of giving her support for the horrors she has just been through), just to seek revenge for "damaging the goods" - I know it's a patriarchal society (of 1066 England), but at least the Doctor could be more compassionate, and not so interested in mead. Don't worry, some violent vengeance is served toward the end! Hoo raa! (sarcasm). Otherwise, enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2013
Really enjoyed the Doctor's this first encounter with another Time Lord. That said you are left wondering what happened to the Monk. Sure someone has covered it off somewhere else and I have just missed it, but surely he has re-generations too?
Equally, it's extremely unlikely that a Time Lord who left Gallifrey fifty years after the doctor had used all of his isn't it? Although appreciate that with time travel it is quite possible possible. Sure someone will fill me in.
Equally, it's extremely unlikely that a Time Lord who left Gallifrey fifty years after the doctor had used all of his isn't it? Although appreciate that with time travel it is quite possible possible. Sure someone will fill me in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 8, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/1024712.html#cutid3[return][return]I have been underwhelmed by Robinson's previous efforts, so I wasn't especially looking forward to this. But in fact Dennis Spooner's script is irrepressible, and for once Robinson rounds off a few corners without grinding the story down. Unexpectedly enjoyable.
March 9, 2011
The Doctor's first encounter with another Time Lord is a rollicking adventure in a small Saxon village in England. The internal musings of a Saxon housewife seem as out of time, though as our travellers. Vicki, Steven, and the Doctor unravel a mystery and seek to set the timeline back in place ... will they succeed? It's not really a spoiler to say that The Doctor will triumph, is it?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews