History Recap / DoctorWhoS2E9TheTimeMeddler

* AnachronisticClue: Vicki and Steven realize that there is something dodgy going on when they discover that a warrior is wearing a wristwatch. The Doctor likewise reaches this conclusion when he discovers the monks chant

* AnachronisticClue: Vicki and Steven realize that there is something dodgy going on when they discover that the chanting in a 1066 AD monastery is being played by a twentieth-century record player. (Although the audience already know that the Monk is a time traveller.)

* ArbitraryScepticism: Steven (who has been rescued by a group of Dalek-tailed time travellers from spherical, apparently sentient robots with flamethrowers, and then stowed away in a huge spaceship that looks from the outside like a tiny Police Box) point-blankly refuses to believe that the TARDIS can travel through time, even though everyone around them dresses and acts like it's 1066, and constantly announces to the Doctor that time travel is obviously impossible and that the joke is over, which the Doctor finds extremely annoying. He later sees a [[SchizoTech monk wearing a wristwatch]], which he takes as confirmation of his hypothesis, but which tips off Vicki that something is badly wrong. Turns out that the monk is also a time traveller...

* CrewOfOne

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: This how the Monk in sees his own actions: that by reversing the outcome of the Battle of Hastings, he would ensure that England gets a better king — Harold — than the one it actually got — William. The Doctor, however, is outraged by the sheer recklessness of this action.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Steven, refers to the TARDIS as looking like a 'modern police box'. Whoops.

* TheMiddleAges

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Steven (who has been rescued by a group of Dalek-tailed time travellers from spherical, apparently sentient robots with flamethrowers, and then stowed away in a huge spaceship that looks from the outside like a tiny Police Box) point-blankly refuses to believe that the TARDIS can travel through time, even though everyone around them dresses and acts like it's 1066, and constantly announces to the Doctor that time travel is obviously impossible and that the joke is over, which the Doctor finds extremely annoying. He later sees a [[SchizoTech monk wearing a wristwatch]], which he takes as confirmation of his hypothesis, but which tips off Vicki that something is badly wrong. Turns out that the monk is also a time traveller...

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: It's still not ''quite'' established that the Doctor is definitely an alien yet, and so it's noticeable that nothing about the Monk contradicts the competing backstory that he and the Doctor are humans from the far distant future. Notably the Monk only seems to want to meddle in Earth's history and never even mentions other planets. They would both become slightly more alien the following year, during [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* WhamEpisode: The Doctor and the TARDIS cease to be unique, with the appearance of the Monk and his time machine and hints that such machines are not uncommon where they both come from. Also the first story in the series to suggest that it's even possible for history to be changed, paving the way for many more saving-history plots.

* AnachronisticClue: Vicki and Steven realize that there is something dodgy going on when they discover that the chanting in a 1066 AD monastery is being played by a twentieth-century record player. (Although the audience already know that the Monk is a time traveler.)

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Steven (who has been rescued by a group of Dalek-tailed time travelers from spherical, apparently sentient robots with flamethrowers, and then stowed away in a huge spaceship that looks from the outside like a tiny Police Box) point-blankly refuses to believe that the TARDIS can travel through time, even though everyone around them dresses and acts like it's 1066, and constantly announces to the Doctor that time travel is obviously impossible and that the joke is over, which the Doctor finds extremely annoying. He later sees a [[SchizoTech monk wearing a wristwatch]], which he takes as confirmation of his hypothesis, but which tips off Vicki that something is badly wrong. Turns out that the monk is also a time traveller...

* FinaleCredits: The season ends with the three time-travelers' faces superimposed over a starfield.

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/WilliamHartnell does not appear in episode 2 as he was on holiday. A pre-taped recording of his voice is played when the Doctor is locked in a cell.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The only surviving copies of the story are censored, with the killing of the two Viking scouts Ulf and Sven by the villagers cut (though the audio portion survives from an off-air recording and is included on the DVD release as a special feature). The death of Gunnar is uncut, as episode two was still in the archives (albeit as an orphaned episode) when the BBC stopped junking episodes.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's fairly clearly implied that Edith is gang-raped by the Viking scouts.

* ExpospeakGag: The Doctor breaks the dimensional controller of the Monk's TARIDS, making the interior the same size as the sarcophagus it uses as its outside - tiny, but perhaps just small enough to squeeze into. When the Monk shows up again hell-bent on revenge, they share this exchange:
-->'''Monk''': It took a bit of time, but I finally managed to bypass the dimensional controller.
-->'''Doctor''': Yes, a very interesting solution, yes, I'm sure, though I think it would make for rather an uncomfortable ride.

---> '''Steven:''' Say, this is quite a ship you've got here, Doc. Never seen anything like it.
---> '''Doctor:''' Now listen to me, young man. Sit down. Now, there are two things you can do. One, sit there until you get your breath back, and two, don't call me Doc! Now do I make myself clear?
---> '''Steven:''' Yes, yes, whatever you say, Doc--tor!

[[caption-width-right:350:[[AddedAlliterativeAppeal An alliteration advocate, this Meddling Monk appears to be...]]]]

* PlotHole: At the end, the Monk cannot use his TARDIS, but he still has the bazooka and its ammunition, so could still blow up the Vikings.

* AllThereInTheManual: The novelisation adds a scene of Steven making his way through the jungle trying to avoid the fungoids and coming across the TARDIS, thus explaining how he found it.

* PlotHole: At the end, the Monk cannot use his TARDIS, but he still has the bazooka and its ammunition, so could still blow up the Vikings. In the novelisation, this is corrected by having Steven put the ammunition in the Monk's TARDIS before the Doctor sabotages it, rendering it inaccessible.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: This is what the Monk thinks he's doing.