6 episodes
Aired between 20th May 1972 and 24th June 1972
Written by Robert Sloman
Produced by Barry Letts
Directed by Paul Bernard
Synopsis
The Doctor has a dream of the Master ruling the world via a powerful crystal. He awakens from the nightmare in UNIT HQ distraught. Jo tries to get sense out of him but he soon comes to his senses and tells her it was just a bad dream.
On the off chance, he asks Jo to check if there's been any recent volcanic eruptions or earthquakes in the world (seeing as they were part of his nightmare). Jo looks perplexed because she told him of one last night, taking place around a group of islands once believed to be near the fabled city of Atlantis.
The Doctor sees a connection and tells the Brigadier to put out a warning to every UNIT Team in the world. When the Brigadier asks for a justification, the Doctor is forced to tell him it's because of a dream he had. The Brigadier scoffs at him and refuses. The Doctor sulks and in turn refuses to go to the Newton Institute to see the demonstration of TOMTIT (Transmission of Matter Through Interstitial Time, if you didn't know). He also refuses to allow Jo to go to it, so the Brigadier leaves with Benton instead.
Coincidentially, the Master just so happens to have infiltrated the Newton Institute, calling himself Professor Thascalos.
He's heading up the research project on TOMTIT and is using the strange trident shaped crystal as part of it (which he assures people it's just an ordinary piece of quartz). He even has a couple of scientists helping him: Dr Ruth Ingram and Stuart Hyde, who are both oblivious to his true identity. Indeed, even the Director of the institute, Dr Percival doesn't know who he is, but at least he's got the sense to be wary. Percival becomes angered at Prof. Thascalos after he does a background check on him and finds inconsistencies. This forces The Master to hypnotise Percival and convince him to play along for the government visit coming up later that day.
Still troubled about his dream, the Doctor proactively makes a time sensor to detect disturbances in the time field, so he knows when the Master shows up.
Back at the institute, Dr Ingram, a clear feminist is restless working under Professor Thascalos' rule. Stuart helps convince her that they can afford to give TOMTIT a trial run without him, and the set about it with a mischievous grin. They successfully teleport a jar from one room to another, but cause a minor overload which sends a nosy and startled window cleaner falling off his ladder.
Professor Thascalos bursts into the room and rages at their impudence in using TOMTIT without his permission.
Back at UNIT HQ, the time sensor picks up on the experiment and the Doctor and Jo rush off in Bessie to find the source of the disturbance, using the car's newly fitted super-drive to get there quick.
The Government representatives arrive at the Newton Institute along with the Brigadier and his UNIT entourage. They are a bit perplexed at finding a window cleaner lying almost dead on the ground, but leave the details of sorting him out to the Brigadier. The Master decides it's too dicey to meet and greet the representatives himself, so he convinces Dr Ingram to do the pleasantries whilst he prepares the experiment.
The Doctor picks up on TOMTIT once again and Jo realises that the signal is coming from the Newton Institute. They rush off to get to it.
As Dr Percival, Dr Ingram and Stuart show the visitors the TOMTIT device, Professor Thascalos turns up in a radiation suit (an effective disguise) and begins the experiment to teleport matter. Stuart begins to panic as the power level rises and again threatens to overload. Thascalos however yanks the power control around suddenly and yells to the sky, calling to Kronos. He flees before the Doctor and Jo arrive. With the help of the Doctor, Dr Ingram, shuts the machine down and they rush in to help Stuart who has unfortunately been aged by 60 years.
After a brief inquiry as to all what's happened, the Doctor works out that Stuart has been aged by a very localised passage of time which was caused by Professor Thascalos. He also works out that Thascalos is the Greek word for none other than the Master! They take Stuart back to his home and try to make him comfortable so he can talk.
He is clearly petrified when he wakes up and yells out the name Kronos in fear. The Doctor recognises the name and orders Dr Ingram to go back to the lab with him whilst the Brigadier calls in Captain Yates (the Doctor tells him to bring the TARDIS down with him).
Once at the lab, the Doctor takes a look at the crystal used in the TOMTIT machine and asks Sgt. Benton to move it. Benton cannot, which confirms the Doctors worst fears. He explains to a confused Benton and Ingram that this crystal is stuck between two different times and therefore isn't really here at all.
He tells them that it's linked to Kronos the most powerful being of a race called the Chronovores. They live outside of space and time and if one were to come into this world, it would mean the destruction of the entire universe. Dr Ingram and the Doctor leave Sgt. Benton to protect the lab.
Meanwhile after being ordered by the Brigadier to evacuate the entire site by 3 o'clock, Dr Percival goes back to his study and finds the Master waiting for him. He panics, but the Master convinces him that no one will find him. The Master makes it clear that he just wants a place to lay low for a little while to troubleshoot the TOMTIT machine so he can get the crystal to work fully.
Once his calculations are concluded, the Master puts on a fake voice of the Brigadier and tricks Benton into leaving the lab. He heads over to the lab but is surprised by Sgt. Benton who sneaked back inside, not actually being fooled by the fake voice.
The Master uses "the oldest trick in the book" and distracts Benton, knocking him to the ground just long enough for him to make the alterations to the TOMTIT machine and activate it again, summoning an Atlantean High Priest through the crystal.
The Priest known as Krasis is very confused and tries to express his authority over the Master,
but the wily Time Lord soon gets the better of the Atlantean by summoning Kronos itself in the form of a giant avian humanoid; watching it as it devours Dr Percival. Krasis is cowed and agrees to be the Master's slave as he watches the Master dismiss the Chronovore back into the crystal using an ancient medallion.
Sgt. Benton meanwhile recovers and flees back to the Brigadier and Doctor, warning them about what's happening. The Brigadier, Benton and Dr Ingram rush towards the lab, but they are all caught in a pocket of slowed down time.
The Doctor (being a Time Lord) isn't affected as much and is able to pull them free. It's clear that they can't get near the lab. Thwarted, they return to Stuarts place, finding that he's miraculously been cured and returned to his normal age.
Back in the lab, Krasis tells the Master that the crystal he has is just part of the real thing, which lays back in Atlantis.
On cue, back in Atlantis, a young citizen known as Hippias asks Dalios, King of Atlantis, if the time of Kronos has come. It turns out that the people of Atlantis once worshiped Kronos and flourished under his rule, but King Dalios remembers that Kronos eventually brought great destruction to the city, a fact that none but he can remember. He warns Hippias that Kronos should never come again, and emphasises the fact by showing the young man that the crystal lies within a labyrinth guarded by a horrendous beast.
Knowing that UNIT will be responding to his threat, the Master begins to look at dealing with the incoming troops. The Doctor uses common household items around Stuarts place to create a time flow analogue, a simple fun experiment designed to block the TOMTIT signals.
It's not long before it gets overloaded by the TOMTIT machine, but there's enough of a delay to annoy the Master.
Free of the analogue, the Master uses TOMTIT to summon a host of historical figures to deal with the UNIT convoy, including a knight on horseback, a bunch of roundhead soldiers, and a V1 Doodlebug.
The Doctor, Brigadier and Jo rush off to help Captain Yates, but stop as they hear the buzz of the V1 overhead. The Brigadier calls up Yates as the engines cut out (signalling the bomb dropping down onto the convoy) and orders him to get out of the way.
They watch in horror as the Doodlebug explodes just beyond a copse of trees where the convoy entered. The Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier rush over to the crater and find that the majority of the convoy are okay thanks to the Brigadier's warning. Captain Yates is just a bit injured.
Back at the institute, Dr Ingram, Stuart and Sgt. Benton decide that disobeying orders is better than sitting around doing nothing.
With the help of UNIT, the Doctor and Jo get the TARDIS upright in the bomb crater. They set off for the institute and dematerialise, much to the puzzlement of the local farmer who came to help them. The Doctor uses the time sensor to home in on the Master's TARDIS and he manages to dematerialise inside it, a risky maneuver, considering that if he's off just by a fraction, he'll end up doing a "time ram", smashing them both into oblivion. The Doctor is mildly amused when he steps outside to find the Master, because an unexpected side effect is that he's landed them in a time loop. This means that when he steps out of the Master's TARDIS, he comes into his own TARDIS, and when he leaves through his own TARDIS, he ends up in the Master's TARDIS.
The UNIT Troops arrive at the institute and try to rush the lab, but the Master refocusses the TOMTIT machine, freezing them permanently as long as the machine is on. He and Krasis then take the crystal with them as they go to find the full version in Atlantis. This allows Stuart, Ruth and Benton to get into the lab to try and stop the machine. Through their meddling, they only manage to turn Benton into a baby.
The Doctor talks to the Master over their respective scanners and tries to make him see sense, seeing as they're at an impasse.
The Master toys with him however, knowing that he can throw the Doctor's TARDIS out into the Vortex at any point. After cutting off the sound feed, and making the Doctor talk backwards, the Master leaves the Doctor with no option but to come out and face the Master in person.
He orders Jo to stay put. As soon as he shows himself, the Master summons Kronos who promptly scoffs the Doctor down in one! After forcing the creature back into the crystal with his medallion, the Master laughs and ejects the Doctor's TARDIS off into the vortex, effectively sentencing Jo to death.
As the TARDIS spins in the vortex, Jo hears a host of whispers around her. She works out it's the Doctor trying to communicate with her through the TARDIS' telepathic circuits. He quickly directs her to use the extreme emergency lever that pulls him back out of the vortex where Kronos sent him and brings him back to the TARDIS.
Back in Atlantis, Hippias speaks out against King Dalios despite what the king has shown him, and he demands in front of the full Atlantean Council that the King calls forth Kronos to help restore their city to good health and fortune.
The Master's TARDIS dematerialises in the middle of this, and he emerges with Krasis and the crystal. He claims to have the will of Kronos and is here to help, but Dalios is wary. He asks the Master to come and meet with him alone. Queen Galleia is very interested in the new arrivals.
Not long afterwards, the Doctor's TARDIS arrives in Atlantis. Krasis calls the guards and orders the Doctor and Jo killed, but Hippias stops him and forces Krasis to send them to the King.
Alone, the Master tries to get the upper hand on Dalios by hypnotising him, but the King is far too smart to fall for such a trick. He warns the Master that he knows he's not an emissary of Kronos and will give him a little time to come and tell him the truth. As the Master leaves, he sees to his astonishment, the Doctor and Jo being led inside the King's chambers.
Once presented to the King, Dalios sends Jo to Galleia and speaks with the Doctor. He quickly works out that the Doctor is a friend and he asks for his help to convince the people of Atlantis that Kronos is not a friend.
Jo is dressed in Atlantean garb and speaks with the Queen who makes it clear that she's after power.
She dismisses Jo and meets with the Master, but Jo and Galleia's handmaiden end up eavesdropping. The Master and Galleia form an alliance and make plans to send Hippias into the labyrinth to defeat a hideous Minotaur guarding the crystal and return it to them. Once they have it, they plan to run the kingdom, using the King as a puppet figure.
Jo tells the handmaiden to warn the Doctor whilst she follows Hippias.
The handmaiden does as she's told, and Jo tries to call after the brave Hippias to warn him of the real intent as he enters the labyrinth, but Krasis grabs her and shoves her inside too. She soon comes face to face with the Minotaur.
The Doctor rushes to Jo's aide, and Hippias helps to keep her safe, but gets killed when the Minotaur throws him through a glass window.
The Doctor removes his cape and uses it like a matador, forcing the Minotaur to charge him. The Doctor spins out of the way at the last minute, causing the beast to run head first through a stone wall, knocking itself out and revealing the true crystal of Kronos.
Krasis turns up and his guards capture the Doctor and Jo, who demand to be taken to the King. Krasis obeys and they are taken to....the Master. He has staged a coup with the help of Galleia. The Doctor and Jo are taken to the cells and chained up. The Master tries to make Galleia obey him, but she exerts strong will too.
Things look bleak as Jo cannot undue the chains. The Doctor tells her about his blackest day, when he met a hermit behind his house who showed him that no matter how bad things are, there's beauty to be found in everything.
They are interrupted when Dalios is thrown into the cell. He is old and cannot survive the rough treatment he's been given. He dies.
When the next day comes, Galleia calls the Council and introduces the Master as their new ruler.
The Doctor and Jo are taken to the Council on the orders of the gloating Master, who intends to summon Kronos for them all to prosper once more. The Doctor calls him out, revealing how he had Dalios killed. This incenses Galleia as she was adamant that the King must not be harmed. He cannot calm her down and is forced to summon Kronos to attack them all when she orders her guards to seize him.
Chaos ensues as Kronos begins devouring everyone. The Master rushes off towards his TARDIS with the crystal, taking Jo with him as she tries to stop him. The Doctor manages to get away in his own TARDIS, leaving Atlantis to be destroyed by Kronos.
The Doctor contacts the Master once again, this time threatening to actually perform a time-ram.
The Master calls his bluff, and the Doctor does indeed hesitate, but Jo forces the act by diving at the Master's controls. The TARDIS' crash and they are all immediately destroyed....sort of. The Master and the Doctor fall unconscious. Jo picks herself up and goes outside to find a "trippy" kind of landscape awaiting her.
She wakes up the Doctor and tells him they're in the after-life, but the Doctor tells her that Kronos transported them all at the last second as the crystal shattered and he was freed.
Kronos appears to the Doctor and Jo as a woman and thanks them for freeing "her" from the Master's slavery. She tells them that she is so powerful, she can appear as anything she likes, and she's beyond human morality, being neither good or evil. All she really wants is to return to her normal place outside of time.
Because they helped her, Kronos grants the Doctor and Jo their hearts desire. They ask her what she intends to do with the Master. She smiles and tells them that she intends to torture him for all eternity. The Doctor asks Kronos to allow them to go back home in the TARDIS and when the Master emerges from his TARDIS and begs the Doctor to help him, he asks Kronos to let him leave with them. The Master rushes back into his TARDIS however and escapes once more.
As they fly back to the Newton institute, Jo asks the Doctor why he let the Master live. The Doctor says he couldn't bear the thought of leaving anyone to be tortured for all eternity.
The TARDIS dematerilises at the lab, just as the Brigadier and his men are unfrozen. He gives an update on what's happened to the Brigadier, Dr Ingram and Stuart and explains everything's back to normal. Indeed, it's so normal that Sgt. Benton is no longer a baby. He stands up naked and asks what's going on!
Trivia
- The origins of this story were actually drawn from the scripts from Day of the Daleks. They intended for the Daleks to summon up figures from history to do battle with the Doctor. Barry Letts asked Robert Sloman to fold this bit into his story about transmitting matter
- Another element influenced by Barry Letts was the inclusion of the Doctor's back story. As will become apparent by the end of Jon Pertwee's run, Barry Letts was deeply into the Buddhist philosophy. He thought it would be great to add a feel of this to the Doctor, depicting him not just as an old know-it-all, but is more like a man who is to this day still learning, it just so happens that he's lived for hundreds of years.
- Not sure why, but the team decided to redesign the roundels on the console room. Apparently, everyone hated it, so they changed it again by the start of the next story.
- Oh, and the Star Wars connection continues. The guy who played the Minotaur was none other than David Prowse, a.k.a. Darth Vader himself! As with Star Wars, he wasn't allowed to speak because of his thick Bristol Accent. This would be a factor that would plague him for most of his acting life, with him getting a voice over to even do the Green Cross Code adverts
What worked
- The fact that it didn't shy away from doing another wibbly wobbly story about time
- It's nice to see the UNIT family again this season
- The interplay between the Doctor and the Master is quite novel
- The Doctor's revelations around his life and his planet which is still unnamed at this time
What didn't work
- The costumes
- The fact that the Master summons people who instantly know to attack the UNIT trucks
- Every bit of Stuart's dialogue
- A substantial proportion of everyone else's dialogue
- Kronos' bird form appearance
- The time flow analogue
Overall Feelings
Do you know, from the first time I watched the Time Monster, I knew there was something about it that made it below average. I put it down to the incredibly cheesy dialogue of Stuart, Ruth and the Atlanteans, coupled with the failure of the Kronos' costume. As I researched this story and re-watched it however, more and more things came to my attention.
You don't have to look far for the bonkers plot discrepancies such as why the roundheads decided to attack the UNIT convoy at all, and indeed, why they couldn't hit them from a few yards away; or why the Master never thought to himself "hang on, I'm going to summon a Chronovore in Atlantis....Atlantis, and I'm assuming everything will turn out perfectly fine."
What isn't quite as obvious until you actually think about it, is that this story is very much a waste of time. What I mean by this is that there's numerous examples of scenes where the story is simply stalled and there's pointless bits added just to make the episode the right length. An actual documented one is the inclusion of the time flow analogue, but there's more - the arguments and backwards talking shenanigans between the Doctor and the Master, there's the schmoozing of Dalios and Galleia, there's the window cleaner bit; there's the stuart growing old and young again for no reason; there's the....well, you get the point.
When you know a lot of the Time Monster is superfluous to the story, watching it becomes tedious and very much a chore. But watch it I did. One positive surprise I came away with was how brutal everything gets at the end. I couldn't remember Hippias actually getting killed, nor the amount of on screen deaths caused by Kronos. But even these things just aren't enough to brighten what is overall, a very dull story.
Rating
4 out of 10
Rewatchability Factor
2 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- Father's Day (Doctor Who Series 1)
- The Fires of Pompeii (Doctor Who Series 4)
Consulting the Matrix
Did Dr Ingram do anything for women's lib in this story?
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