The Time Monster (TV story)

Synopsis
The Master, in the guise of Professor Thascales, 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

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Rosemary Hester
 * Costumes - Barbara Lane
 * Designer - Tim Gleeson
 * Film Cameraman - Peter Hamilton
 * Film Editor - Martyn Day
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Joan Barrett
 * Producer - Barry Letts
 * Production Assistant - Marion McDougall
 * Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Derek Hobday
 * Studio Sound - Tony Millier
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Michealjohn Harris, Peter Pegrum

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.