I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

47: The Time Monster

“One minute you’re talking about the universe blowing up and the next you’re going on about tea!”

Format: 6 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Writer: Robert Sloman and Barry Letts (uncredited)



Team TARDIS UNIT:

Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)

Jo Grant (The Doctor’s Assistant)

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Head of UNIT)

Captain Yates

Sergeant Benton

Story: The Master uses an experiment in time to control Kronos, a creature from outside time. Kronos is not so easily controllable so he heads to Atlantis to attempt to take control from there. The Doctor and Jo must follow him there to stop the destruction of the entire cosmos.

What I liked:

The Doctor/Master relationship was a brilliant as ever in this story.

We haven't seen much of UNIT lately but they’re back here and fit in wonderfully.

Lots of time spent in various TARDIS’ which is always good.

What I disliked:

The “TARDIS sniffer-outer” is of a distinctly phallical shape.

Kronos looks awful!

Overall thoughts: I loved this story. It’s really action-packed, unlike some of the other series nine stories. The Doctor/Master relationship is particulalry good- Episode 4 mostly involves the two Time Lords trying to out-do each other from their respective TARDIS’ and it works fantastically. In fact any time Roger Delgado’s Master is on screen it’s a huge joy to watch. The actual plot is fairly weak but the brilliance of both the Master and the Doctor make it really enjoyable. I’m suprised that this is so hated by Who fans because I really liked most of it- it was far more enjoyable than The Mutants and The Sea Devils and for the most part didn’t feel too stretched out. An immediate favourtie of mine!

Best Format: DVD (as part of the Myths and Legends boxset)

Next Time: The Third Doctor meets the First and Second Doctors!

You can read about all the stories I’ve seen so far on this Tumblr Page