Settings: Galaxy 4

The opening serial of season three marks the beginning of a run of serials that are wholly or partly missing in their original form. In its case, however, it has been animated from the original soundtrack, so it is at least possible to watch it legally. It’s regularly rated as one of the weakest of the Hartnell stories, and this may be partly down to a relatively bland setting. On the other hand, the exotic aliens and cultures at least imply that it's striving for something beyond that, so there may be more to work with than initially appears.

Where & When

The story is set on an unnamed and uninhabited planet in the eponymous galaxy. Since there is no connection with humanity’s history, there is no way to date the story in any known calendar. If, as seems to be the case, it’s set before humans have reached the galaxy in question, it’s probably (judging from later stories) earlier than the mid-fourth millennium, but that’s all we can say, and all that we need to.

Settings: 1066 and All That (The Time Meddler)

The Chase was originally intended as the second season finale, and that’s apparent from watching it. This, however, means that The Time Meddler feels a little like a season opener, even though it takes the finale slot. It’s another episode where opinions tend to differ between older and younger fans, with the former holding it up as a particularly strong episode and the latter often finding it more middling. 

What can’t be denied, though, is that it’s a significant story in the ongoing development of the series. Most notably, perhaps, it’s the first of what fans refer to as ‘pseudo-historicals’ – stories set in the past that nonetheless have science fiction elements other than the presence of the time travellers themselves. Later, that will usually be the presence of monsters, but here, it’s arguably more low-key. It’s also much closer to the sort of story that time travel RPGs tend to focus on… and not just because it’s set at a particularly memorable moment in history.