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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