"The Time Meddler" is another "Doctor Who" story I find fandom's reaction to slightly bewildering. This tale is extremely likable and often entertaining, and it does feature the excellent villain that is The Meddling Monk, but its two middle episodes are erratically-paced and the scripts aren't quite as good as episodes one and four, which are excellent. Episode one is, for the first ten minutes at least, a tongue-in-cheek take on "An Unearthly Child", and episode four is a fun climax to the story with a memorable ending. The best part of the middle two episodes is the cliffhanger ending to episode three.
The direction is predictable but solid by Douglas Camfield, and the script by Dennis Spooner is okay, but obviously does not have a proper grasp on Steven's character. Peter Purves is trying his hardest but having been introduced in such a hurry by the writers it is not surprising that he is not very well-characterized in this final story of season two.
The main high point of "The Time Meddler" is The Meddling Monk and some additions to the "Doctor Who" mythology (and specifically TARDISes). I find it an enjoyable tale but fail to understand why it is regarded as an absolute classic.
Episode 1: 8/10, Episode 2: 6/10, Episode 3: 6/10, Episode 4: 8/10.
Average: 7/10
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Thoughts on season two: Season two really surprised me this time around. "The Romans" is great comedy, "The Crusade" features a tremendous script and a brilliant third episode that is up there with the best of "Doctor Who", "The Chase" is amazingly hysterical fun, "Planet of Giants" is a fun, inventive little tale by Louis Marks that is unfairly forgotten. The other stories are all solid as well except for "The Web Planet".
Season 2 Average Rating: 7.443/10