Ep. 81 Checkmate

"But that means that...the exact minute...the exact second that he does it...every history book, every...well, the whole future of every year and time on Earth will change, just like that and nobody’ll know that it has?"

   Thirty-one years ago today I watched my first episode of Doctor Who.
    The Doctor gets the Monk to take him to his TARDIS where they meet up with Vicki and Steven.  The Doctor forces the Monk to reveal his plans.
   It's pretty simple really.  If Harold didn't have to split his attentions between William and the Viking invaders then Harold wouldn't loose.  The Monk believes (optimistically) that Harold, with some help will prevent the numerous wars that arose from the aftermath of William's victory.  With some more hints than there would be jet aircraft in 1320 and Hamlet would debut on television.
   Instead of wanting to enslave the world, the Monk wants to make it a better place.  The Doctor tells him that he is breaking fundamental rules and the Monk asks him whose rules.
   There is a passing comment that the Monk and the Doctor are from the same place.  Based on the advanced nature of the Monk's TARDIS, the Doctor estimates that the Monk left about 50 years after he did.
   For those interested in the terms used, the Monk's TARDIS is a "Mark Four" and he wonders if the Doctor's "camouflage unit" was broken.  The term "chameleon circuit" hasn't been invented yet.
   Thanks to the awakened Vikings the Monk is able to reverse his position and leaves the travelers tied up. 
   Back at the village, Edith realizes that the Monk has been playing them for fools.  Eldred arrives with word that the Monk is hiding Vikings in the monastery.  The villagers march on the monastery.
    There's a fun bit of chase that manages to be amusing, but doesn't drift into Scooby Doo territory. 
    Edith rescues the time travelers, but not before Vicki and Steven theorize about what will happen if the Monk succeeds.  They aren't experts though; the professional time traveler remains silent throughout their discourse.
    The Doctor decides to sabotage the Monk's TARDIS to prevent him from further meddling.  It's a very cool bit of work.  The Doctor removes the Monk's dimensional whatchamacallit and now the Monk's TARDIS is no longer bigger on the inside.  There's something Old Testament meets Twilight Zone in the way that the Doctor maroons the Monk. 
    I loved it.

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