The Doctor and Vicki discover that Steven has stowed away on the Tardis, much to their surprise as they believed that he had perished with the destruction of the Mechanoid city at the end of the previous story, The Chase.
The Tardis lands in England in 1066. Steven doesn't believe that the year is 1066, and several items that the travelers find over the course of their adventure, such as a wristwatch and a gun, only reinforce this belief.
The Tardis has landed on the beach underneath some cliffs. The Doctor ventures off to find an easier place to climb to the top of the cliffs. Meanwhile, Steven and Vicki climb the cliffs and plan on meeting up with the Doctor once they are on top. After all have left the Tardis, a Monk approaches the Tardis who seems quite interested in it.
The Doctor visits a small nearby village, and discovers that Edward the Confessor has died, and Harold Godwinson is currently king of England, just prior to the battles of Stamford Bridge (where Harold beats back a Viking invasion force) and Hastings (where William the Conqueror defeats and kills Harold).
Some of the villagers are suspicious of The Doctor, as they fear he might be a spy for the Vikings. The Doctor decides to visit the local monastery, which has only been recently re-occupied. Once there, The Doctor discovers that the Monk is alone, but is also not from this time as the Monk is using a gramophone to play the Gregorian chants that are heard from the monastery. The Monk then captures The Doctor and imprisons him. However, the Doctor is able to escape and returns to the village.
Steven and Vicki have gone in search of The Doctor and, after learning from the villagers that The Doctor visited the monastery, decide to sneak in and find him. They don't find The Doctor, but they do find the escape tunnel that was used by The Doctor in his own escape.
Meanwhile, an advance party of Vikings, lands on the coast. The Viking's plans are to kill anyone who might warn the local population of their imminent invasion. The Vikings are found by some of the villagers, and only two manage to escape. The two escaped Vikings make their way to the monastery.
The Monk befriends the Vikings, in hopes of luring them into a trap, where he can destroy the invasion force with some modern-day weapons that he's brought. With no Viking invasion force, Harold would thus not need to travel north to defeat them, and Harold would have a fresh army when he faced William at Hastings.
Steven and Vicki discover that the Monk is another time traveler, of the same race as The Doctor, when the stumble upon the Monk's Tardis at the monastery. The Doctor and the Monk also arrive at the Monk's Tardis, wherein the Monk reveals the details of his plan. The Monk hopes that by helping Harold prevail against William the Conqueror, he will be able to wield great influence at Harold's court.
The Monk's plans are thwarted, however, as the villagers discover that the Vikings are now holed up in the monastery. The villagers free The Doctor, Steven and Vicki who have been tied up by the Monk and the Vikings soldiers. The Vikings and the Monk make an attempt to escape. The Monk is able to evade capture but the Vikings are caught and killed by the villagers.
After having been freed by the villagers, The Doctor removes the dimensional control from the Monk's Tardis. The Tardis thus becomes unusable as the interior is too small to enter. The Monk is now trapped in the year 1066.
Finally meeting another Time Lord (the term is not yet used in this serial), beyond The Doctor and his grand daughter Susan, was quite interesting. The Doctor seems to be enjoying matching wits with his fellow Time Lord, but is adamant that history cannot be changed. The Monk is very much self-serving and has no qualms about changing history. It's clear that part of his motivation for changing history is because, as he even says, "it's fun".
The final fate of the Vikings, who are killed off by the villagers, is something that I found a bit surprising for what was considered at the time to be a children's (or family) show. A children's show would never be able to get away with that nowadays.
The Time Meddler is also the first time that we see what has become the model for historical adventures, particularly in the modern-day show. While the story might take place in history, there is also an extra-terrestrial or monstrous threat as well. In this story, the extra-terrestrial threat is, of course, the Monk. In this case, it works well within the setting.
While not necessarily up to the level of The Space Museum and The Chase, this was a fun episode and a great way to end the second series/season of Doctor Who.
