Big Gay Longcat reviews Doctor Who: The Time Monster Episode Two

The Master runs off to hide just before the Doctor runs in and tells Ruth to "reverse the polarity," which allows her to turn off TOMTIT. But it has already turned Stuart into an old manny. Ruth starts to tell the Doctor about Professor Thascales when he says

Doctor: "Thascales? Really the arrogance of that man is beyond belief..."

Brigadier: "Whose arrogance? Doctor, I wish you wouldn't talk in riddles."

Doctor: "Perhaps a classical education would have helped you, Brigadier? 'Thascales' is a Greek word."

Jo: "Thascales? I get it. 'Thascales' is Greek for 'Master.'"

Continuing what we saw in part one of Jo "learning," this is a neat reversal of the similar situation in The Dæmons.

The Doctor hears Stuart say "Kronos" and he says

"Kronos? Yes, of course, I should have known."

The Brigadier takes over the place and sends for Mike Yates to come with reinforcements for him and the TARDIS for the Doctor, showing a level of competence scarcely seen from him since season seven, although when ordering Dr Percival to evacuate the mannys from the institute he doesn't perceive that Percival has already been hypno-eyesed by the Master.

When Ruth shows the Doctor (and Benton) the crystal, the Doctor recognises it as "the crystal of Kronos" and tells Ruth - and us - what he knows about it:

"Well, luckily you are already familiar with the idea of stepping outside of space-time."

"I've lived with the concept for months."

"And I've lived with it for many long years. I've been there."

"You have?"

"Yes, I have. Strange place it is, too. A place that is no place. A dangerous place where creatures live beyond your wildest imagination. Chronovores: time eaters. They swallow a life as quickly as a boa constrictor can swallow a rabbit, fur and all."

"Are you saying that Kronos is one of these creatures?"

"I am. The most fearsome of the lot."

The incidental music playing under the Doctor's speech helps sell this dump of exposition as being more dramatic. The Doctor continues:

"Kronos, a living creature, was drawn into time by the priests of Atlantis, using that crystal as its centre."

"You mean, that that crystal is the original? The actual crystal from Atlantis?"

"It is, and your friend the Professor is trying to use that crystal, as it was used four thousand years ago, to capture the Chronovore."

The incidental music segues into the Master's theme as the scene cuts to him and Percival, who also have some great lines:

The Master: "E = mc cubed."

Percival: "Squared."

The Master: "What?"

Percival: "E = mc squared, not cubed."

The Master: "Not in the extra-temporal physics of the time vortex! Oh dear, now you've made me lose my place. You're an interfering dolt, Percival!"

Back with the Doctor, Ruth and Benton, and Benton can't pick up the crystal because, as the Doctor explains, it "isn't really here at all." The writers then get a bit too clever for their own good with their next bit of technobabble, with the result that it seems like they couldn't make up their minds about what the crystal is:

Doctor: "It must to be linked to that other crystal all those thousands of years ago. Or rather it is the other crystal."

Ruth: "But then where is the original one?"

Doctor: "Where do you think? In Atlantis, of course."

A zoom in to the crystal is followed by a fade to the crystal in ancient Atlantis, where soft-focus was the order of the day and the pope* of Atlantis says

"At last! At last, Kronos, the time is come, and I await your call!"

He is being observed by some other manny, but what this all means is left mysterious for now so that we can go back to watch Benton answer the telephone.

Stuart wakes up and doesn't recognise himself in the mirror. Poor old manny, but it can happen to the best of us.

The Master wants to get back to the lab, but it is being guarded by Benton, so he impersonates the Brigadier's voice on the telephone and orders him to leave the lab unattended. But although the vocal impression is so good that they had to get Nicholas Courtney to dub it on, the Master makes a silly mistaik that tips Benton off.

The Master and Percival go into the lab where Benton is waiting for them with a gun. This is a wonderful scene with great dialogue, which kicks off with the Master ironically getting captured just after saying

"I tell you that nobody and nothing can stop me now."

(That sort of dialogue must be obligatory in Doctor Who stories featuring Atlantis.)

This is followed by Benton saying

"You didn't really think you could fool me with a fake telephone call, did you? It's the oldest trick in the book."

The Master looks genuinely horrified to have been outwitted by Benton.

"I underestimated you, Sergeant. How did you know?"

"Simple. The Brigadier's not in the habit of calling Sergeants 'my dear fellow.'"

But Benton's victory is short-lived, because the Master distracts him and then knocks him out, while saying

"You're wrong, Sergeant Benton. That is the oldest trick in the book!"

The Master turns TOMTIT back on and we go back to Atlantis, where the pope is still ranting and raving - or possibly praying - to Kronos. There are flashes of lightning SFX (which are quite scary, I will admit) and he disappears, leaving the other manny looking at the empty space where the pope disappeared from.

The scene fades back to the lab, where the pope appears and surprises Percival, who just has time to make a surprised face before there is a crash-zoom to the pope's face - cliffhanger!

* He's addressed as "holiness" and his name isn't spoken on screen in this episode, so I think it is fair to call him that for now.