“The Time Monster” is an adventure of the ninth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1972. It follows “The Mutants” and it’s a six parts adventure written by Robert Sloman and directed by Paul Bernard.
The story
After a strange dream, the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) decides to go along with Jo Grant (Katy Manning) to the Newton Research Unit at Cambridge University to watch a teleportation experiment.
The Master (Roger Delgado) is working in disguise to the experiment and evokes Kronos, a very dangerous extra-temporal creature connected to Atlantis. The Doctor will have to face his arch-enemy again to foil his plan.
Extras
This DVD contains a limited amount of extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Listings, a trailer about the next “Doctor Who” DVDs to be released and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.
There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track moderated by Toby Hadoke by actors John Levene and Susan Penhaligon, producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks and production assistant Marion McDougall.
Between Now… and Now! The science behind “The Time Monster” to see which parts make sense and which don’t.
Restoration Comparison. A comparison of some clips from this adventure before and after their restoration.
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“The Time Monster” takes inspiration from Greek myths, especially Atlantis. Actually, the Second Doctor adventure “The Underwater Menace” was already set in Atlantis, now sunk under the sea, and the adventure of the eighth season “The Daemons” contained references to Atlantis. Putting together what you can see in these three adventures, the stories that come out are inconsistent with each other.
In “The Time Monster” there are many elements typical of those years with UNIT and the Master as the villain. The plot is rich and sophisticated but also a bit chaotic. Greek myths are the basis of this adventure but there are scientific elements used to explain time anomalies and the nature of Kronos and there are also more philosophical elements taken from Buddhism added by producer Barry Letts, who isn’t credited as co-author but had some influence on the development of this story.
Despite the complexity of the plot, the material originally shot wasn’t enough to fill six episodes so they had to add a few more minutes. However, the pace is good by the standards of those years.
The main problem is that the Master is the villain but the main threat is supposed to come from Kronos. His look wasn’t done very well even by the standards of those years and this doesn’t help to obtain an adequate perception of its threat. Kronos is supposed to be a danger to the whole universe but it’s hard to take it seriously.
Even the plot has its problems. For example, among the mythological elements there’s the Minotaur, which is supposed to be particularly dangerous and for that reason is feared by the inhabitants of Atlantis but the Doctor gets rid of it with absolute ease. It’s true that “Doctor Who” has always contained some funny moments but in this case it doesn’t work and again there’s a lack of tension because there’s no perception of a threat.
In thi story, UNIT looks quite irrilevant because none of its members can really do anything against the Master. Again, a few moments are supposed to be funny but simply they don’t work very well. Even the Doctor’s arch enemy, who in general is a strong element of “The Time Monster”, has moments such as the ending when he seems out of character.
Because of these flaws, “The Time Monster” has a negative reputation among many “Doctor Who” fans. Personally I don’t find it that bad. The Doctor and Jo have some good moments together and the confrontation between the Doctor and the Master is also a good element. It’s an adventure that has ups and downs which with more time available for its production might have been good, the way it turned out I consider it decent.
In region 1 countries, “The Time Monster” DVD is sold on its own. Considering that it’s not a particularly good adventure and the DVD extras are quite poor I think it’s good for fans only.
In Region 2 and Region 4 countries this DVD is part of the “Myths & Legends” box set – available on Amazon UK
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