The Time Monster (TV story)

Synopsis

The Master, in the guise of Professor Thascalos, has constructed at the Newton Institute in Wootton a device known as TOMTIT - Transmission Of Matter Through Interstitial Time - with which to gain control over Kronos, a creature from outside time. The creature is summoned but the effect proves uncontrollable, so the Master flees.

The Doctor shuts TOMTIT down but the Master later reactivates it, using it first to ensnare Krasis, High Priest of the lost city of Atlantis, and then to attack UNIT forces by way of a series of timeslips. The Master takes Krasis back to Atlantis in his TARDIS in the hope of stealing the sacred Crystal of Kronos, with which he aims finally to dominate the creature. The Doctor follows with Jo but is unable to prevent his enemy from seducing Queen Galleia and staging a coup. Galleia turns against the Master when she learns that he has caused the death of her husband, King Dalios.

The Master then unleashes Kronos, destroying Atlantis. The two Time Lords escape in their respective TARDISes and confront each other in the time vortex. The Doctor threatens to trigger a 'time ram' - a devastating collision - but cannot bring himself to do it.

Jo, held hostage by the Master, has no such qualms, and operates the controls herself. The two TARDISes reappear in a strange void presided over by Kronos - who now appears as a beautiful female face.

The time ram has released Kronos, who agrees to return the Doctor and Jo to Earth. The creature plans to subject the Master to eternal torment, but the Doctor pleads on his behalf and he too goes free.

Plot

to be added

Cast

The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
Sergeant Benton - John Levene
Captain Mike Yates - Richard Franklin
The Master - Roger Delgado
Galleia - Ingrid Pitt
Dr. Ruth Ingram - Wanda Moore
Stuart Hyde - Ian Collier
Dr. Percival - John Wyse
Dr. Cook - Neville Barber
Minotaur - Dave Prowse
Proctor - Barry Ashton
Krasis - Donald Eccles
Hippias - Aidan Murphy
Neophite - Keith Dalton
Unit Sergeant - Simon Legree
Kronos - Marc Boyle
Dalios - George Cormack
Knight - Greg Powell
Roundhead Officer - Dave Carter
Farmworker - George Lee
Crito - Derek Murcott
Lakis - Susan Penhaligon
Miseus - Michael Walker
Guard - Melville Jones
Window Cleaner - Terry Walsh
Face of Kronos - Ingrid Bower

Crew

References

The TOMTIT machine works with assistance from the Master.
The Doctor has built a time sensor which detects disturbances in the time field.
The Master uses his TARDIS to Time Ram the Doctor's.
A Chronovore spares the Master.
The Doctor gets ejected into the time vortex and speaks to Jo through the TARDIS telepathic circuits.
This is show (another) exploration of the destruction of Atlantis.
The Seventh Enabling Act allows the Brigadier to take over from government forces.
The Doctor makes a Time flow analogue from a Moroccan burgundy bottle, spoons, forks, corks, keyrings, tea leaves and a mug.
The Doctor talks to Jo (while they're tied up) about his home; "When I was a little boy, we used to live in a house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain. Behind our house, there sat under a tree an old man. A hermit, a monk. He'd lived under this tree for half his lifetime, so they said, and had learned the secret of life. So, when my black day came, I went and asked him to help me.'".
Kronos knows of the Doctor.

Story Notes

This is the only appearance of the "washing up bowl" interior for the TARDIS (designed by Tim Gleeson).
Dave Prowse, later to play (but not voice) the masked Darth Vader in the Star Wars films, features in an equally incognito role as the Minotaur.

Ratings

Episode 1 - 7.6 million viewers
Episode 2 - 7.4 million viewers
Episode 3 - 8.1 million viewers
Episode 4 - 7.6 million viewers
Episode 5 - 6.0 million viewers
Episode 6 - 7.6 million viewers

Myths

Well-known actress Susan Penhaligon, making an early television appearance as Galleia's handmaiden Lakis, was originally to have been credited as Virginia Mull. (Virginia Mull was a different actress who had a small uncredited walk-on role as a serving girl in the Atlantis scenes of this story. Susan Penhaligon, who was a late replacement for actress Ann Michelle, was always to have been credited under her own name.)

Filming Locations

Swallowfield Park, Swallowfield, Berkshire
Stratfield Saye Park, Stratfield Saye, Hampshire
Old Church Farm (road), Hartley Wintney, Hampshire
Park Lane, Fair Cross, Berkshire
School Lane, Heckfield Heath/Riseley, Hampshire
Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & 4), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

In episode one, the interior of the police box prop is visible.
The V1 is on black and white film.
The Doctor's supposedly backwards dialogue when played backwards is still gibberish.

Continuity

PDA: The Quantum Archangel is a sequel to this story.
Another Chronovore appears in NA: No Future.
This features (another) explanation of how Atlantis was destroyed; DW: The Underwater Menace and The Dæmons also featured explanations of this.
The Doctor goes for another 'dip' in the time vortex in DW/WC: Shada and BFA: Seasons of Fear.
The Doctor builds a similar device to his time sensor in DW: Blink.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

to be added

Target Novelisations

Novelised as The Time Monster in 1976 by Terrance Dicks.

External Links

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