Monday, September 5, 2016

The Time Meddler by: Nigel Robinson: Secret of the Monestary

The Time Meddler is written by: Nigel Robinson, based on the story of the same name by Dennis Spooner.  It was the 128th story to be novelized by Target Books.

 

Nigel Robinson was the range editor for the Target novelizations in the 1980s, meaning he was in charge of getting the books out on time and for making sure they fit the length.  He did however write a few of the novels including the adaptation of my favorite William Hartnell story The Time Meddler.  As this is my favorite William Hartnell story I looked at this book with extreme scrutiny to see what type of adaptation Robinson would go with.  Would he take it straight from screen to the page or would he take liberties with the story as to make it more enjoyable?  I sadly say he went with the former of taking the original story and translating it word for word off the screen to the page of the novel.  This is a real shame as The Time Meddler, while a perfect story on screen, and could have been enhanced further in novel form, is lessened in greatness by a straight adaptation.  This is only slightly however as Robinson made three small liberties that did capture the spirit of the televised story while enhancing it slightly.  First is the prologue and first chapter which details Steven’s entrance into the TARDIS in vivid detail, much more than that little shot in The Chase.  It also gives Vicki some more insight into her relationship with the Doctor and we see how Ian and Barbara’s departure affects him as a character.  Second is a small witty line added in for Vicki about the Monk letting the Vikings borrow the Boy Scout Handbook to tie knots.  Third is the epilogue which is an almost perfect adaptation of the last scene of the televised story but pushed forward three months so as to allow the Monk to have an even bigger reaction to being stranded in 1066.  It really does heighten the story.

 

To summarize, The Time Meddler is a fairly straightforward affair for a novel even if it is lessened by the absence of the performances from Hartnell, O’Brien, Purves and Butterworth.  90/100

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