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#REDIRECT [[The Time Meddler]]
{{redirect|The Meddling Monk|the episode of ''Doctor Who'' titled "The Meddling Monk"|The Time Meddler}}
{{multiple issues|
{{more citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Original research|date=April 2012}}
{{Synthesis|article|date=May 2020}}
}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:The Monk (''Doctor Who'')}}
{{Infobox character
| name = The Monk
| series = [[Doctor Who]]
| image = [[File:Meddling Monk.jpg|200px]]
| first = ''[[The Time Meddler]]'' (1965)
| last = ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]'' (1965–66)
| portrayer = {{Plainlist|
; Main incarnation
* [[Peter Butterworth]] (television)
; Others
* [[Graeme Garden]] ([[Big Finish Productions]])
* [[Rufus Hound]] (Big Finish Productions)
* [[Gemma Whelan]] (Big Finish Productions)
}}
| species = [[Time Lord]]<ref name="celebration">{{cite book |last=Haining |first=Peter |date=1983 |title=Doctor Who: A Celebration; Two Decades Through Time and Space |location=London |publisher=W.H. Allen |page=176 |isbn=0491033516}}</ref>
| affiliation = [[First Doctor]]
| home = [[Gallifrey]]<ref name="celebration" />
}}


{{R from merge}}
'''The Monk''' is a [[fictional character]] in the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''.<ref name=programmeguide>{{cite book |title=Doctor Who Programme Guide |last=Lofficier |first=Jean-Marc |author-link=Jean-Marc Lofficier |year=1981 |publisher=W H Allen & Co Plc }}</ref> Played by the British actor [[Peter Butterworth]], the character appeared in two stories, ''[[The Time Meddler]]'' and ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]'',<ref name=programmeguide /> as an adversary of the [[First Doctor]]. They were written and co-written respectively by [[Dennis Spooner]].

Other than the [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|Doctor]] and [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], the Monk was the first member of the Doctor's species to appear in the programme.<ref name=programmeguide /><ref>{{cite book |last=Howe |first=David J |last2=Walker |first2=Stephen James |date=1998 |title=Doctor Who: The Television Companion |location=London |publisher=BBC Worldwide Ltd |page=62 |isbn=0563405880}}</ref>

==Appearances==
===Television===
The character first appeared as an unnamed character who had disguised himself as a [[monk]], and who was the possessor of a stolen Mark IV [[TARDIS]] which had a fully functioning camouflage unit.<ref name=timemeddler /> The Doctor hypothesised that he left the Doctor's then-unnamed home planet,<ref name="celebration" /> some 50 years after the Doctor did.<ref name=timemeddler>{{cite serial |title=[[The Time Meddler]] |series=Doctor Who |series-link=Doctor Who |last=Spooner |first=Dennis (Writer) |author-link=Dennis Spooner |last2=Camfield |first2=Douglas (Director) |author-link2=Douglas Camfield |last3=Lambert |first3=Verity (Producer) |author-link3=Verity Lambert |station=[[BBC]] |season=[[Doctor Who (season 2)|2]] }}</ref> At this early stage in the history of the series, the names [[Time Lord]] and [[Gallifrey]], and the details of the Doctor's origins had not yet been devised.<ref name="celebration" />

The monk was meddling in history to change it for what he considered to be the better: lending mechanical assistance to the builders of [[Stonehenge]]; giving [[Leonardo da Vinci]] tips on aircraft design; making money by using time travel to exploit [[compound interest]]; and, when the Doctor first encountered him, attempting to prevent the [[Norman Conquest]] as part of a plan to guide England into an early age of technological prosperity.<ref name=timemeddler /> On that occasion he wore the guise of a monk in order to gain the trust of the 11th-century locals of [[Northumbria]], hence the name by which he became known within this serial.<ref name=programmeguide /> The Doctor stranded the monk in the 11th century by stealing his TARDIS's dimensional controller, which reduced the interior dimensions of the time machine to minuscule size.<ref name=timemeddler />

The character eventually restored his ship and tracked the Doctor to a volcanic planet called Tigus, where he attempted to maroon his enemy by destroying the Doctor's TARDIS's lock with his laser screwdriver. The Doctor managed to repair it and next materialised in Egypt, with the monk still following him. While there, they encountered the [[Dalek]]s, and the Doctor stole the directional unit from the monk's TARDIS, causing the monk to lose control over his TARDIS's navigation. The monk was last seen leaving an icy planet.<ref name=dalekmasterplan>{{cite serial |title=[[The Daleks' Masterplan]] |series=Doctor Who |series-link=Doctor Who |last=Nation |first=Terry (Writer) |author-link=Terry Nation |last2=Spooner |first2=Dennis (Writer) |author-link2=Dennis Spooner |last3=Camfield |first3=Douglas (Director) |author-link3=Douglas Camfield |last4=Wiles |first4=John (Producer) |author-link4=John Wiles |station=BBC |season=[[Doctor Who (season 3)|3]] }}</ref>

===Other media===
{{Overly detailed|section|date=July 2020}}
The Monk has featured in comics, novels and other [[Doctor Who spin-offs|''Doctor Who'' spin-offs]].

In the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine|Doctor Who Monthly]]'' comic strip ''4-Dimensional Vistas'' (DWM #78-#83, Winter 1983), the Time Meddler teams up with the [[Ice Warrior]]s in a complex plan to build a giant sonic weapon. In this portrayal, the character (who pilots a TARDIS also shaped like a [[police box]]) does not wear a monk's habit and is referred to as the "Time-Meddler". The Time-Meddler is defeated by the [[Fifth Doctor]].<ref name="4-Dimensional Vistas">{{cite magazine |title=4-Dimensional Vistas |magazine=Doctor Who Monthly |issue=78-83 |publisher=Marvel Comics Ltd}}</ref> The Meddling Monk also appears in ''Follow That TARDIS!'' (DWM #147), in which the [[Sleeze Brothers]] hijack the Doctor's TARDIS in order to pursue the Monk across time and space after he damages their car.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Follow That TARDIS! |magazine=Doctor Who Magazine |issue=147 |publisher=Marvel Comics Ltd}}</ref>

In the ''[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]'' published by [[FASA Corporation|FASA]] in 1985, the "Meddling Monk" is stated to be a disguise of an earlier incarnation of the Master,<ref>{{cite book |last=Keith |first=J. Andrew |title=The Doctor Who Role Playing Game The Master |isbn=0-931787-94-7 |publisher=FASA |year=1985}}</ref> who is depicted as being his sixth incarnation which he personally chose after a failed rebellion on Gallifrey forced him to flee.<ref name="Keith 1985 17">{{cite book |last=Keith |first=J. Andrew |title=The Doctor Who Role Playing Game The Master |isbn=0-931787-26-2 |publisher=FASA |year=1985 |page=17}}</ref> After the events of ''[[The Time Meddler]]'', the Master was able to replace the missing dimensional components, but a minor miscalculation sent him, and his [[TARDIS]] to a planet in the "crack" between realities, a planet which he later named "Merast" and used as a base of operations. It also cost him a full regeneration, however he was able to keep his current appearance.<ref name="Keith 1985 32">{{cite book |last=Keith |first=J. Andrew |title=The Doctor Who Role Playing Game The Master |isbn=0-931787-26-2 |publisher=FASA |year=1985 |page=32}}</ref> After the Master's next encounter with the [[First Doctor]] on the planet Tigus, he regenerated into a "strikingly handsome, middle-aged man".<ref name="Keith 1985 17"/>

The Monk appears in the [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] novel ''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]'' by [[Paul Cornell]], in which he is given the name "Mortimus". The novel was the last of a story arc published to coincide with the series' 30th anniversary in 1993, in which the [[Seventh Doctor]] encounters various alternate realities that have been created due to the Monk's meddling with time, including a reality where the [[Third Doctor]] was killed in his confrontation with the [[Silurians]] (''[[Blood Heat]]''), attempting to distract the Doctor while he helps the [[The Invasion of Time|Vardans]] to invade Earth, thus getting their mutual revenge on the Doctor for their losses during their past confrontations with him.

Mortimus makes an appearance in the ''[[Past Doctor Adventures]]'' novel ''[[Divided Loyalties (novel)|Divided Loyalties]]'' as part of a dream sequence set during the First Doctor's days at the Academy. Mortimus is seen as part of a group of students, taught by [[list of Doctor Who villains#Borusa|Borusa]] among others, known as the Deca, a group of activists campaigning for more intervention, alongside [[the Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]], Ushas, Koschei, Magnus, [[Drax (Doctor Who)|Drax]], a spy named Vansell, Millennia, Rallon and Jelpax. He aids the Deca in learning about [[Celestial Toymaker|the Celestial Toymaker]], several members of which then undertake a disastrous trip to his realm.<ref>Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 710. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. {{ISBN|978-193523411-1}}.</ref> The Monk later makes a cameo appearance, as Mortimus, in ''[[The Quantum Archangel]]'', working alongside [[The Rani (Doctor Who)|the Rani]], Drax and [[Master (Doctor Who)|The Master]] in an artificially created [[parallel universe (fiction)|parallel universe]].<ref name="Hinton 2001 233">{{cite book |first=Craig |last=Hinton |title=The Quantum Archangel |isbn=0-563-53824-4 |publisher=BBC Books |year=2001 |page=233}}</ref>

The character, here called "John Scanlon", appears in the short story ''The Church of Football'' in the [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] short story collection [[Short Trips: The Centenarian]]. He is attempting to alter the course of history in [[1930s]] England. His scheme is stopped by the Fifth Doctor and [[Peri Brown]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Benjamin |last=Adams |title=The Church of Football |isbn= 1-84435-191-2 |publisher= Big Finish Productions |year= 2006}}</ref>

The [[Eighth Doctor]] discovers another incarnation of the Monk in the [[Big Finish Productions]] audio drama ''[[The Book of Kells (Doctor Who audio)|The Book of Kells]]''. Voiced by [[Graeme Garden]], the Monk is once again pretending to be a human monk, this time at the [[Abbey of Kells]] in [[Ireland]] in 1006. Calling himself Thelonios, he uses the [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated art skills]] of the other monks to create a circuit to repair his TARDIS. He also has his own [[companion (Doctor Who)|companion]], who happens to be the Doctor's former companion [[Lucie Miller]]. It turns out that several of the Doctor's recent adventures had been manipulated behind the scenes by the Monk. He and Lucie reappear in ''[[The Resurrection of Mars]]'', this time waking up cryogenically-frozen [[Ice Warrior]]s on the Martian moon of [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]] centuries before history says they should. When Lucie realises what kind of person the Monk is after he causes an avalanche and destroys a small village to kill the parents of a future dictator, she leaves him. He in turn coaxes another of the Doctor's companions, [[List of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs#Tamsin Drew|Tamsin Drew]], to join him, convincing her that the Doctor is in the wrong by showing Tamsin the planet that will be destroyed by the Ice Warriors if history is left unchecked and then presenting it as the Doctor's 'fault'. In ''Lucie Miller'' / ''To the Death'', the Monk sets off to reunite with the Daleks, planning to loot Earth of its art treasures and get his final revenge on the Doctor. He repairs the Dalek Time Controller who had been hurled back through time and on Dalek orders leaves a virus on Earth to weaken humanity. However his plans backfire when the Daleks betray him, resulting in the death of Tamsin.<ref>{{cite serial |title=To the Death |series=Doctor Who – Main Range |series-link=Doctor Who – Main Range |first=Nicholas (writer) |last=Briggs |author-link=Nicholas Briggs |first2=Nicholas (director) |last2=Briggs |author-link2=Nicholas Briggs |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=March 2011 }}</ref>

During the events of the audio drama ''The Secret History'', the Monk, distraught over the death of Tamsin Drew, hijacks the Doctor's timeline in an attempt to prevent her death from coming to pass. Using a time-sensitive called Sophia, the Monk attempts to disrupt the Doctor's timeline by causing the [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]] and [[Sixth Doctor]]s to switch places with the [[Third Doctor|Third]] and [[Second Doctor]]s respectively, hoping that the new Doctors will make mistakes and disrupt history. However, Jo Grant and Zoe Heriot are able to help the new Doctors work out what their predecessors would have done and act to preserve history. Eventually the Monk's plan succeeds when he switches the [[Fifth Doctor]] with the [[First Doctor|First]], forcing the Fifth to let history be changed by escalating an outbreak of disease in Constantinople in the fifth century to the point where the he must allow an advanced alien race to take action, prompting the Time Lords to take the Doctor out of time and allowing the Monk to insert himself into the Doctor's timeline. Sophia's abilities to see the future prompts her to restore the Fifth Doctor as she sees that the Monk's actions are making history worse in the absence of the Doctor. This allows the Fifth Doctor to arrange for the Monk to be faced with capture by a group of Antoene warriors so that he will be forced to restore the Doctor's timeline to escape this threat. The Monk escapes and vows to return to continue his vendetta against the Doctor.<ref>{{cite serial |title=The Secret History |series=Doctor Who – Main Range |series-link=Doctor Who – Main Range |first=Eddie (writer) |last=Robson |first2=Edwards (director) |last2=Barnaby |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=June 2015 }}</ref>

''[[List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish#Current range|The Early Adventures]]'' story ''The Black Hole'' introduces another incarnation of the Monk from the era of the [[Second Doctor]]. [[Rufus Hound]] voices the new incarnation who has disguised himself as constable Pavo, a member of a special [[Gallifrey]]an police unit called Chapter 9. The Monk's plan involves helping an alien race called the Seeth escape from their pocket universe 200 years early, whilst receiving payment to offset the expensive overheads associated with fixing time. The Monk is last seen being sucked into the pocket universe, along with the Seeth, while the Doctor's memory of these events is erased by the real Pavo. The same incarnation is heard again in the ''[[Big Finish Short Trips#Audio|Big Finish Short Trips]]'' adventures ''The Blame Game'' and ''How to Win Planets and Influence People'', as an adversary of the [[Third Doctor]] and [[Fourth Doctor]] respectively. He also appears alongside the [[Eighth Doctor]] in ''The Side of the Angels'', the third adventure in the fourth ''Doom Coalition'' boxset, where he represents a group of Time Lords working with [[Weeping Angel]]s to prepare an enclave in 1970s New York to protect them from the imminent destruction of the universe, only to be betrayed by the Angels and banished centuries into the past.<ref>{{cite serial |title=[[Doom Coalition]] |episode= The Side of the Angels|series=Doctor Who: Doom Coalition |series-link=List of Doctor Who audio dramas by Big Finish#Doom Coalition |first=Matt (writer) |last=Fitton |first2=Ken (director) |last2=Bentley |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=March 2017 }}</ref> The Hound incarnation makes a further appearance in [[Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures#Episodes|''The Rise of the New Humans'']], where he acts as the chief administrator of an clinic using future technology and resources to treat diseases.<ref>{{cite serial |title=[[Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures#Episodes|The Rise of the New Humans]] |series=Doctor Who: Special Releases |series-link=List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish#The Third Doctor Adventures |first=Guy (writer) |last=Adams |author-link=Guy Adams |first2=Nicholas (director) |last2=Briggs |author-link2=Nicholas Briggs |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=March 2018 }}</ref>

The Rufus Hound incarnation of the Monk makes an appearance in the series ''Missy'', starring Michelle Gomez as the Missy incarnation of the Master. In "Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated", the Monk is stranded on Earth and, disguised as [[Henry VIII]], meddles with history in order to attract the attention of the Time Lords. He attracts the attention of Missy instead who is herself searching for a time traveller in order to steal their equipment. Missy escapes with a piece of the Monk's TARDIS, with the Monk vowing revenge.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated |series=Missy |first=John (writer) |last=Dorney |first2=Ken (director) |last2=Bentley |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=February 2019 |season=1 }}</ref> The Monk makes a second appearance in "Too Many Masters" where he enacts his revenge by abducting Missy. Meanwhile the [[Ogron]]s are searching for the Master as he had stiffed them on their payment when they were working for him. They detect the Monk's TARDIS and track it, capturing the Monk and Missy. They both escape in the Monk's TARDIS as neither can operate it without the other because of their manipulation of its security features.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Too Many Masters|series=Missy |first=John (writer) |last=Dorney |first2=Samuel (director) |last2=Clemens |first3=Ken (director) |last3=Bentley |publisher=[[Big Finish Productions]] |date=July 2020 |season=2 }}</ref>
<!--
==Reception==
{{expand section|date=June 2020}}

[[Literary critic]] [[John Kenneth Muir]], in his ''A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television'' states that "This character, played as a mostly harmless con artist by Butterworth, is clearly an earlier version of the Master".<ref>{{cite book |first= John Kenneth |last=Muir |title=A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television |isbn=978-0786437160 |publisher=McFarland |year=2007 |page=120}}</ref>

Tony Smith of ''[[The Register]]'', in an article about the Master, states that "he is the Meddling Monk".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/18/ten_failed_plots_of_the_master/?page=5|title=What a plot of nonsense: Ten Master master plan FAILS|last=Smith|first=Tony|date=2013-11-18|website=The Register|access-date=2020-07-04}}</ref>
-->

==List of appearances==

===Television===
*''[[The Time Meddler]]''
*''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''

===Audio dramas===
The Monk has made several appearances in audio stories produced by [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] with the role being played at various times by [[Graeme Garden]], [[Rufus Hound]] and [[Gemma Whelan]]. Other actors have taken on the role when the Monk is in disguise. The order of the Monk's incarnations is left intentionally unclear during their appearances, with the character suggesting that meddling with time has rewritten their existence so often that even they don't know which order they exist in.

====List of Appearances====

*[[Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures|The Monthly Adventures]]
**''The Secret History''
**''Subterfuge''
*[[Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures|The Eighth Doctor Adventures]]
**''The Book of Kells''
**''The Resurrection of Mars''
**''Lucie Miller'' / ''To the Death''
*[[Doom Coalition]]
**''The Side of the Angels''
*[[Doctor Who: The Early Adventures|The Early Adventures]]
**''The Black Hole''
*[[Big Finish Short Trips|Short Trips]]
**''The Blame Game''
**''How to Win Planets and Influence People''
*[[Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures|The Third Doctor Adventures]]
**''The Rise of the New Humans''
*[[List of Doctor Who spin off audio plays by Big Finish#Missy (2019–present)|Missy]]
**''Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated''
**''Treason and Plot''
**''Too Many Masters''
*[[Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures#Dalek Universe (2021–present)|Dalek Universe]]
**''Buying Time''
**''The Wrong Woman''

===Comics===
*''4-Dimensional Vistas''
*''Follow That TARDIS!''

===Games===
*''[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]''
**''[[The Master (The Doctor Who Role Playing Game)|The Master'' and ''The Master: CIA File Extracts]]''

===Novels===
*''[[Divided Loyalties (novel)|Divided Loyalties]]''
*''[[The Quantum Archangel]]''
*''[[The Dimension Riders]]''
*''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]''

===Short Stories===
*"The Church of Football" (''[[Short Trips: The Centenarian]]'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Monk stories}}
{{Doctor Who villains}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monk, The}}
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1965]]
[[Category:Time Lords]]
[[Category:Male characters in television]]
[[Category:Recurring characters in Doctor Who]]

Latest revision as of 17:55, 27 June 2024

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