OOO. The Time Monster

Season Nine - 1972

Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Writer: Robert Sloman
Produced by: Barry Letts
Director: Paul Bernard
Designer: Tim Gleeson
Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Synopsis

The Master has now assumed the guise of Professor Thascales, and during time at the Newton Institute has created the TOMTIT - Transmission of Matter Through Interstellar Time - machine. With the machine he would be able to go back in time to Atlantis and steal the Crystal of Kronos in order to control a creature that feeds on time - the Kronos.

The Master is unable to control the Kronavore in the twentieth century and travels back in time to Atlantis. The Doctor follows but is unable to stop the Master from using Queen Galleia to gain access to the Crystal. Galleia turns on the Master when she learns he killed her husband.

The Master unleashes Kronos causing the destruction of Atlantis. The Doctor and Master, each in their own TARDIS, meet in the time vortex. The Doctor plans to time ram the Master, but cannot bring himself to do it. Jo, a hostage of the Master, activates the Masters controls.

The two TARDISes are left in a strange void presided over by Kronos. Kronos allows the Doctor to go free, but pledges to keep the Master in eternal torment, until the Doctor requests his freedom.

Regular Cast

  • Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Nicholas Courtney
  • Sergeant Benton: John Levene
  • Jo Grant: Katy Manning
  • Captain Yates: Richard Franklin

Guest Cast

  • The Master: Roger Delgado
  • Doctor Ruth Ingram: Wanda Moore (1-4,6)
  • Stuart Hyde: Ian Collier (1-4,6)
  • Doctor Charles Percival: John Wyse (1-3)
  • Doctor Cook: Neville Barber (1-2)
  • Proctor: Barry Ashton (1-2)
  • Window Cleaner: Terry Walsh (1)
  • Krasis: Donald Eccles (2-6)
  • Hippias: Aidan Murphy (2-6)
  • Neophite: Keith Dalton (2)
  • King Dalios: George Cormack (3-6)
  • Kronos: Marc Boyle (3,4,6)
  • UNIT Sergeant: Simon Legree (3-4)
  • Knight: Gregory Powell (3)
  • Roundhead Officer: Dave Carter (3)
  • Farm Worker: George Lee (4)
  • Queen Galleia: Ingrid Pitt (5-6)
  • Crito: Derek Murcott (5-6)
  • Lakis: Susan Penhaligon (5-6)
  • Miseus: Michael Walker (5-6)
  • Minotaur: Dave Prowse (6 - credited for 5 but does not appear)
  • Guard: Melville Jones (5-6)
  • Face of Kronos: Ingrid Bower (6)
Uncredited:
  • Baby Benton: Darren Plant (5-6)
  • Guards: (all 5-6) Richard Eden, Laurie Goode, Nick Hobbs, Christopher Holmes, Jonas Kerr, Geoffrey Morgan
  • Tumpeters/Guards: (all 5-6) Andrew Dempsey, Jamie Griffiths, Jeremy Higgins, Marc Landers
  • Sedan Carriers: (all 5-6) Yinka Abebiyi, George Gregney, Peter Johnson, Francis Williams
  • Elders: (all 5-6) Edmund Bailey, Wilfred Boyle, Colin Cunningham, Reg Lloyd, Peter Penny, Bill Whitehead
  • Serving Girls: (all 5-6) Yvonne Ashley, Alison Daumler, Susan Patrice
  • Double for the Minotaur: Terry Walsh (6)
  • Extras: Derek Allen, Bernard Barnsley, Stuart Barry, Paul Barton, Bob Blaine, Geoff Brighty, Les Conrad, Michael Deacon, Sylvia de la Mare, Ian Elliott, Brian Gilmar, Anthony Hennessey, Nick Hobbs, Eric Kent, Richard Kirk, James Muir, Valentino Musetti, R Rickford, Mike Stephens, Reg Turner, Constance Williams, Nigel Winder

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 324. Episode One Saturday, May 20, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 7.6M
BBC 1 325. Episode Two Saturday, May 27, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 7.4M
BBC 1 326. Episode Three Saturday, June 3, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 8.1M
BBC 1 327. Episode Four Saturday, June 10, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 7.6M
BBC 1 328. Episode Five Saturday, June 17, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 6.0M
BBC 1 329. Episode Six Saturday, June 24, 1972 5:50 PM - 6:15 PM 7.6M

Studios

  • Ealing Television Film Studios
  • Television Centre Studio 3
  • Television Centre Studio 4

Outside Locations

  • Heckfield Heath, Nr. Reading, Berks
  • Old Church Farm, Hartley Wintney, Hants

Bloopers

Katy Manning shows off her knickers twice, but with an added twist: The first time is when she falls and complains about her tail bone - they're white. And the second time, when she is out in the time vortex, she is lying on the ground and hears the Doctor. She stands up - except they're yellow this time.

You can see the stick holding the TARDIS in the scene where the Master throws it into the time vortex.

During the story, the Doctor gives Jo the "TARDIS sniffer-outer". If you watch Jo's hand whenever it is "on" you can see her finger on a button turning it on and off.

Notes

Episodes One to Five are only held as film prints and NTSC recordings.

This is the first story where the writer is credited in the end credits as well as the opening titles, something which would be continued until The Seeds of Doom.