The Time Meddler ( TV story ) The Time Meddler was the ninth and final story of season 2 of " Doctor Who " . This story was the first pseudo - historical : a historical story with science - fiction elements other than the presence of the regular characters and the TARDIS . ( Although there were science - fiction elements mixed with historical facts in a portion of " The Chase " , this was the first full story to combine the two . ) The Monk was the first Time Lord other than the Doctor and Susan to appear in the series , although the term " Time Lord " would not be invented for another four years . The Monk also became the series ' first recurring individual villain . This story contains the first reference to what would become the Time Lords ' non - interference policy . Although the Doctor never mentions it directly , he clearly shuns those who meddle with time . As in " The Space Museum " , time is shown to be theoretically malleable , in contrast to the view of time presented in " The Reign of Terror " . The concept of time would later be expounded upon to incorporate both elements in numerous later stories , including " Attack of the Cybermen " and " The Waters of Mars " . It is evident that this story was produced in the 1960s : all the Monk ' s possessions are contemporary with that era , and he refers to the TARDIS as a " modern " police box . Only his gramophone is old - fashioned , and it was intended to be a tape recorder in the script . Only two months after his last absence , Hartnell took another holiday , and so does not feature in part two . The story ' s historical setting had a particular relevance in 1965 as the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings was only a year away . Production constraints meant " Doctor Who " could not satisfactorily feature the battle , but nor could it be fully ignored , hence the period was taken for the setting . ( " About Time 1 " ) Synopsis . The Doctor , Vicki , and new companion Steven Taylor arrive in Saxon Northumbria on the eve of the Viking and Norman invasions . It is 1066 , a pivotal moment in British history . The hand of a mysterious Monk is at work in the nearby monastery , intending that history takes a different course . Plot . The Watcher ( 1 ) . A bored Vicki is moping around the TARDIS , clearly missing the company of Ian and Barbara . The Doctor offers to take Vicki back home if she is so unhappy , given he never really gave her much of a choice when they left Dido . This conversation is interrupted by a sound coming from the TARDIS ' living quarters . Convinced it is a Dalek , the Doctor and Vicki prepare themselves for an attack . However , instead of a Dalek , a human form is revealed to the travellers — Steven Taylor , who collapses to the ground . As he is discovered , the TARDIS materialises on a rocky shore line . From atop a cliff , a monk looks down at the time machine , clearly paying it a lot of attention . Meanwhile , in the TARDIS , Vicki and the Doctor are helping Steven to recuperate . Steven explains that as the Mechonoid City collapsed , he escaped from the rubble and looked for the Doctor . He found his space ship and collapsed in it before the Doctor and his companions left the planet . As Steven starts to feel more normal , Vicki begins to explain that the TARDIS is a time machine — Steven is far from convinced and brands the TARDIS an IDBI — " I Don ' t Believe It " . The Doctor asks Steven to put his doubts to one side and suggests that Vicki show Steven where to get washed and changed so they may go and explore . In the outside world two humans , dressed in tunics and living in primitive , tent - like structures , are interrupted when another of their party comes to inform them that a box has landed on the beach — thinking it washed up from a ship wreck . The two men go to explore it . The travellers have disembarked the TARDIS and are exploring their surroundings . Vicki discovers a Viking helmet that the Doctor dates to the tenth or eleventh century . He suspects this is where they have found themselves . Steven remains sceptical , saying that the helmet may have been left there as the plaything of a child . The Doctor and his friends decide to go exploring . The Doctor goes off alone , leaving Vicki and Steven to make their own way . As the travellers go along , the Monk sneaks from behind a rock and inspects the outside of the TARDIS , trying the door before moving on . He makes his way up the cliff and towards a monastery . Contemplatively , he enters and locks the door behind him . Soon singing starts . The two men who have gone to look for the TARDIS are disappointed to discover the ship is no longer there due to the high tide . They speculate that the waves have dashed the ship against the rocks . Later on that day , the Doctor is exploring the area . He stumbles across the homestead of the couple who went to look for the TARDIS . As he snoops around , looking for clues of the time he has landed in , he turns to have a stick pushed against his throat , forcing him to be still . The stick belongs to the wife of the house . She apologises for her rough behaviour , saying that you can ' t be too careful with strangers . She soon becomes very hospitable , offering the Doctor mead and chatting with him . From their conversation , the Doctor learns it is the summer of 1066 , just before the Viking invasion that preceded the Battle of Hastings . Whilst the woman is fetching more mead the singing , which has continued throughout the conversation , distorts and warps as if it is created by an inhuman voice . The Doctor cross - examines the woman , guessing that the monastery has only just come back into use and no one has seen any of the monks . With this information he goes to explore the mysterious building . Elsewhere , Steven and Vicki are interrupted in their explorations by another figure . They hide in the undergrowth , waiting for the man to disappear , but he bends and seems to inspect something very closely . Worried that it might be something of theirs , Steven confronts the man , which ends in a scuffle . Steven is hit and the man escapes . Steven has got what the man was looking at . It is a modern - day watch . By this time the Doctor has found his way to the monastery . Little does he know he is expected by the monk , who unlocks the door for him . The Doctor moves through the building , following the singing . Finally he finds the source of the noise — a gramophone attached to a large amplifying device . The Doctor stops the record , but before he goes any further , bars crash down , trapping him in the room . The monk makes his way towards the Doctor , laughing manically . The Meddling Monk ( 2 ) . The Monk makes the Doctor breakfast with his toaster and electric griddle . He offers it to the Doctor , who petulantly rejects it , throwing what appears to be the contents of a washbasin into the Monk ' s face . Steven and Vicki have spent the night in a clearing . As Steven goes to fetch breakfast , leaving Vicki asleep , the two men who went in search of the TARDIS the previous day stumble across her . Vicki awakes before they can do anything . However , as Steven returns and the two make their way back to the TARDIS , the two friends are ambushed and taken back to the village . Elsewhere , the Monk is given food by women of the village , which he accepts gratefully . He goes off to wait on the cliff side . Soon , he sees a Viking longboat loom over the horizon , which delights him . When Steven and Vicki are taken to the Saxon village , an argument breaks out between the two men . They are Wulnoth and Eldred . Wulnoth is the headman of the village and wants to let the travellers go , whilst Eldred is convinced they are spies for the Vikings and should be kept . After a vociferous argument , Wulnorth ' s wife , Edith , the woman with whom the Doctor spoke the previous night , intervenes . Eventually it is decided the travellers may leave . Edith gives Vicki provisions for the trip and says the last she saw of the Doctor , he was heading off to explore the monastery . Vicki and Steven head off to join him . By this time the Vikings have made their way to dry land . The leader gives orders to three others , Sven , Ulf and Gunnar the Giant , to survey the land and sack the first village they come to for provisions . The two men make their way into the wilderness . Steven and Vicki have arrived at the monastery , only to be told by the Monk that he has seen no one out of the ordinary for the last few days . Steven presses him to go in and ask the other monks . While he is gone , Vicki and Steven become convinced the Monk is lying to them . They devise a plan to see if he really hasn ' t seen the Doctor . When the Monk reemerges to say the monks haven ' t seen him , Steven asks him to keep a look out and " remember the description I gave you . " When the Monk retorts with a description of the Doctor , Steven and Vicki know he is lying ; they did not give a description to the Monk . They propose to break into the monastery that night to free the Doctor . Late in the night , Wulnoth ' s village is sacked by the Vikings and Edith is wounded . When Wulnoth and Eldred return , they find her body . Eldred immediately suspects Steven and Vicki , but Edith struggles to say it was Vikings . Wulnoth and his men follow the Vikings ' tracks and soon catch up with them . This leads to a mighty battle in which Eldred is wounded and Gunnar is killed . The two men make their way to the monastery for sanctuary . While this is happening , Steven and Vicki break into the monastery and look for the Doctor . As they explore , they discover the Monk ' s gramophone and suspect something is awry . The Monk sees them and silently stalks them through the monastery until the arrival of Wulnoth and Eldred at his door soon distracts him . He goes to let them in . As he does , Steven and Vicki arrive at the prison door and break in — only to find the Doctor gone , replaced with blankets to make it look like he is sleeping . A Battle of Wits ( 3 ) . Investigating how the Doctor might have disappeared , Steven and Vicki find a secret passage . They decide the Doctor has used it and elect to follow it . As they leave the cell , the Monk comes to check on the Doctor , only to find the door open and the secret passage breached . Before he has any time to explore further , he is called to the aid of the two Saxons . After his escape , the Doctor has found his way back to the Saxon village and the company of Edith . She tells him where his friends are . She also informs him of the Vikings ' arrival . The Doctor decides the Monk and the Vikings must be linked somehow and he must face the Monk again . He reassures Edith that this is not the main invasion ; he has knowledge of the Vikings from " the places I have visited " . He is aware that they arrive at the Humber and are defeated , but as he leaves he says it is possible that the Monk ' s presence might affect this . Meanwhile , Steven and Vicki have emerged from the tunnel and cannot find the Doctor . They decide to go back to the TARDIS , hoping he has done likewise . At the monastery the Monk uses his knowledge of modern medicine to nurse Eldred back to health . Wulnoth insists that Eldred stay with the Monk until he is well . Reluctant to blow his cover , the Monk consents . In conversation with Eldred the Monk learns that from the looks of the Vikings the Saxons encountered , a full invasion may occur within three days . The Monk seems happy at this news , saying he is on schedule . Lurking in the undergrowth , the two remaining Vikings , Sven and Ulf , plan their next move . Sven is keen to continue with the mission and report back to their group . Ulf insists that the best thing to do is hide because they are vastly outnumbered by Saxons . At first Sven is hostile to this plan . He calls Ulf a coward and threatens to kill him , but soon he relents . They decide on the monastery as the safest place for sanctuary and head towards the building . In the solace of the monastery the Monk pores over a plan that reads : Points 1 to 3 are ticked on this plan , and the Monk ruminates that he must turn to the fourth point shortly . He is interrupted in his scheming by frantic knocking at the door . The Monk answers it only to find no one . As soon as the door is closed , the knocking resumes . Bemused , he goes out to explore , only to be met by the Doctor . The Doctor points a stick in the Monk ' s back , saying it is a rifle and he has come for answers . He leads a docile Monk into the monastery . Steven and Vicki arrive at the cliff edge , above where the TARDIS materialised . There is nothing but sea below . Vicki is left with two options : the TARDIS has been swept off to sea or the Doctor returned to it and left them behind . Steven suggests that they go back to the monastery to seek sanctuary and see if the Doctor is still there . As they make their way back , they come across the Monk ' s atomic cannon pointing out to sea . Seeing this as yet another sign of the Monk ' s curious place in history , they hurry back to the monastery to put a stop to whatever it is the man is up to . They sneak back in through the secret passage . Before the Doctor can interrogate the Monk , they are interrupted by more banging at the door . To avoid the Monk using the Doctor ' s more modern dress as a way of turning the visitors against him , he demands the Monk give him a spare Monk ' s cassock before they answer the door . The Monk relents . This plan backfires when the Doctor , now adorned in the garb of a monk , opens the door to the Vikings . They immediately take the Doctor hostage — their plan is to threaten the other monks to hide them away by threatening the " chief monk ' s " life . In the confusion the Monk slips away . The Doctor is put back in his original cell , where he is guarded by Sven whilst Ulf goes out to look for the other monks . The Monk sneaks up on Ulf and knocks him unconscious and ties him up . He then slips out of the monastery to visit the Saxon village . There he speaks to Wulnoth and informs him he is expecting a boat to arrive shortly with provisions for the monastery . He asks the village ' s support in setting the fires on the cliff and keeping them lit . Wulnoth agrees , but when the Monk leaves , Edith and he say it may have to do with the Viking invasion of which the Doctor spoke . Back at the monastery , Sven looks into the Doctor ' s cell and sees the door to the secret passage open . He runs in to investigate , only for the Doctor to emerge from behind the door and knock him unconscious . By this time the Monk has returned . He gloats to Ulf about how the beacons are to be lit and all he has to do is deal with the Doctor and his plan will come to fruition . The Monk turns to find the Doctor behind him with Sven ' s sword . This time he demands answers . Elsewhere in the monastery , Steven and Vicki look for the Doctor . They find a power cable emerging from a sarcophagus . They find doors in the side of the sarcophagus and open them . This leads to a TARDIS — the Monk ' s TARDIS . Checkmate ( 4 ) . As Steven and Vicki search the Monk ' s TARDIS , the Doctor interrogates the Monk on his intentions in 1066 . The Monk admits his plan is to destroy the Vikings to allow Harald Godwinson to take the throne . He believes this will aid humankind . The Monk tries to convince the Doctor that what he is doing is altruistic , but the Doctor refuses to agree and orders the Monk show him his TARDIS . Steven and Vicki have discovered a wealth of historical artefacts in the Monk ' s TARDIS and a journal . It records his meeting with Leonardo da Vinci to discuss powered flight and using time travel to collect a fortune in compound interest from a bank . They also find a crate of bazookas for the atomic cannons . Sven has regained consciousness after his attack by the Doctor . He goes in search of Ulf . Eldred spots them and runs off to warn the Saxon village that Vikings are in Britain . By this time the Doctor and the Monk have reached the Monk ' s TARDIS . They compare machines . The Doctor is critical of the Monk ' s TARDIS , even though his camouflage unit is functional and the machine is a newer model . The Doctor assumes the Monk is from the same planet as he is , but about fifty years in the future . As they enter the machine , the Doctor is reunited with his companions . The companions break the news to the Doctor that their TARDIS has been washed away by the tide , but he assures them the tide will have no effect on the ship ' s position . While they talk , the Monk escapes . Steven and Vicki chase after him , but the Monk has run straight into the Vikings . Thinking quickly , the Monk blames the Doctor , Vicki and Steven for the Vikings ' mistreatment and the Vikings tie them up lest they cause more trouble . Back at the Saxon village , Wulnoth and Edith are holding a meeting of the Saxons . They suspect the Monk is a Viking spy . The meeting is gate - crashed by Eldred , who relates what he saw at the monastery . This confirms the Saxons ' suspicions and they head for the monastery . Whilst Steven and Vicki try to get their heads around the details of time travel , the Monk is using the unwitting Vikings to sink their own ships . He claims the bazookas are charms to help the Viking ships sail to clear waters . They help the Monk carry these to the ship , but are interrupted by the horde of Saxons . The Vikings and the Monk escape , pursued by the Saxons . Edith stays behind to free the Doctor and his companions . She invites them back to the village for a celebration . The Doctor says they will attend , but he has a few matters to clear up at the monastery first . As they run through the woods , the Monk leads Ulf and Sven to a dead end . The Vikings are captured by the Saxons , who are led by Wulnoth ; he has the pair killed in retaliation for their attack on Edith . The Monk escapes towards the monastery . Meanwhile , back in the Monk ' s TARDIS , the Doctor is tampering with the control panel . He carefully ties string around a device which he eventually yanks on after leaving the TARDIS . He gives this to Steven and leaves a note for the Monk . The Doctor and the companions head back to their own TARDIS . The Monk returns to the monastery and finds the letter . The Doctor has written that he is sorry he couldn ' t stay to say goodbye , but he suspects the Monk will be busy for the foreseeable future and explains that , in order to stop any more time meddling , he has tampered with the Monk ' s ship , and maybe he will return to free the Monk when he has learnt his lesson . The Monk is initially scornful , believing his more modern TARDIS is not susceptible to damage . However , when he tries to get back into the machine , he finds the Doctor has removed the dimensional control — the device that lets the TARDIS be bigger on the inside — and has caused the control room to shrink in size to match the outside , stranding the Monk in 1066 . Home video and audio releases . DVD releases . Contents : Rear Credits : Notes : Digital releases . This story is available : VHS releases . This story was released as " Doctor Who : The Time Meddler " .