Time Monster, The (VHS)
Science Fiction Video
Written by Robert Sloman
Starring John Pertwee
ISBN: 0-7907-7418-6
Publisher: Warner Home Video / BBC Video, $19.98
The Time Monster, which was released in January 2003, is another of the final batch of Doctor Who stories to be released on video tape. This particular set of six episodes, with actor Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, is not one of the better shows from this series. Its many flaws make this one of the least popular of Pertwee’s era.
The show starts with the Doctor having a dream about the Kronos, the so-called time monster. Afterwards, the Doctor, like most times during Season Nine of Doctor Who, is working at a lab. In this instance, he’s working on a device to track the Master’s Tardis. While the Doctor busies himself with this task, the Master himself is working at a college campus where they are doing experiments with time. Here the Master uses part of a crystal from Atlantis, which he uses with the college’s computer to summon Kronos. This is where the story starts to fall apart, as Kronos is displayed as a guy in a white bird outfit and silly helmet, flapping his arms around as he hangs from a wire. Not too much of a Time Monster in my book! The Master somehow manages to capture Kronos. Meanwhile, on the outside, UNIT and the Doctor have found the Master using the device that the Doctor built to track time disturbances. However, the Master escapes and leads the Doctor with his Tardis to Atlantis.
Now considering the rather low budget effects in this story, the set for Atlantis is done fairly well. The Master lands there first, and tries to convince the King and Queen of Atlantis that the Doctor is the enemy. The story pretty much falls apart in the last two episodes, where the Master has a half romantic set of scenes with the Queen of Atlantis, in which he convinces her that he would be a better King than the current one. As King, the Master releases Kronos to destroy the Doctor, but it also ends up destroying Atlantis as well. The Master flees in his Tardis, while the Doctor and Jo Grant chase after him. To stop him, they do a Tardis “time ram” which frees Kronos from its crystal. We find both Tardis’ floating in the void. Here the Doctor meets Kronos, who allows both him and the Master to live, in exchange for freeing him from his crystal prison.
As with most Doctor Who stories, the acting is pretty good. However, the special effects really help to kill this one, along with a goofier than normal plot. Add to this the fact that there are six episodes on this tape instead of the normal four, and you end up with a story that is dragging out far too long. For a fan of Doctor Who parts of this story are interesting, but I found myself rolling my eyes at too many scenes for my liking. Kronos himself is one of the worst Doctor Who monster I have ever seen!
If you’re a big Jon Pertwee fan, you may want to have a laugh and a groan while watching this story. For all others, stay clear of this low-quality show. You have been warned!
(review (c) November 2003 / David Flemming)