Doctor Who: Why the Meddling Monk is such a brilliant character

The Monk is a brilliant antagonist in Doctor Who. But why? What makes him stand out against the likes of the Master or the Rani?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The Meddling Monk is such a brilliant Time Lord antagonist in Doctor Who. But why? What makes him stand out compared to the Master or the Rani?

One of my favorite Time Lord antagonists – after the Master, of course – has to be the Monk. He’s a character that hasn’t been in the television series for a very long time. Not since the Sixties, in fact. And yet the character has such an enduring appeal to fans, especially in the expanded universe.

What is it that makes him stand out as a character, though? After all, we’ve got both the Master and the Rani. (Of course, the Monk appeared years before either of them.) Each of them have their own methods of wanting to take over the universe. The Master has his grand plans while the Rani experiments. But what does the Monk do to stand out?

Well, for one thing, the Monk is in some ways a little more complex. He’s not necessarily about taking over the universe, not really. He just doesn’t see anything wrong with wanting to “improve” history.

This was clear from his very first story, The Time Meddler. He was very keen on changing the outcome of the Battle of Hastings completely. Not for a completely malicious reason. On the contrary, the Monk actually believes that he’ll be doing history a huge favor. But he’s also someone who fails to see the consequences of his actions. And that’s what makes him so interesting.

The Monk was around during the earliest days in Doctor Who. Could he in fact simply be an earlier incarnation of…the Master? (No. No, definitely not.)

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

A difficult balance

Honestly, it can be very difficult to get a character like the Monk right. Make him too villainous, and you’ve basically got another Master. In fact, a Doctor Who role-playing game in 1985 claimed that he was an earlier incarnation of the Master!

Now, I can easily accept the idea of someone like the War Chief being the Master. After all, he used very similar methods, was very power hungry, and seemed to enjoy his facial hair.

But the Monk? He’s just not malicious enough. He’s more fun-loving, and not in the psychotic way that Simm or Gomez’s Masters are. A part of him genuinely believes he’s doing good for the universe.

However, another part of him is definitely out for himself. Even in his first appearance, it’s clear that he’s been using time travel as an easy way to make money. Such as, for example, by leaving some money in the bank before travelling to a much later point in time to collect on the interest!

But while you don’t want him to be a cold-blooded psychopath, at the same time, you don’t want him to be too much of a fool, either. Naive at times, certainly. But still a credible threat, even when he’s not doing something for evil reasons.

This balance is tricky to get right, and yet it’s something that Big Finish’s audios featuring the character have continually achieved. Surprisingly, with more than one interpretation.

Since 2015, Rufus Hound’s incarnation of the Monk has been delightful to listen to. How do Big Finish get his character exactly right?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The audio monks

Starting with The Book of Kells, Graeme Garden played a new incarnation on audio for The Eighth Doctor Adventures. He was written and portrayed well, too. The character had a mild cheekiness to him, and had a real sense of childlike innocence at times. Even when he was putting grand plans into action, he was clearly someone who never quite understood the consequences of what he was doing.

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Big Finish then gave us another incarnation in The Black Hole, this time played by Rufus Hound. Hound also played Sam Swift the same year in The Woman Who Lived, but it was his performance as the Monk that truly stood out.

Once again, the Monk wasn’t a typical villain, simply aiming to improve history a little. (Or in this case, a lot, and at the cost of many human lives.) But he was still a distinctly different character to the Master. Hound’s incarnation (unsurprisingly, considering he’s a comedian) has a real sense of cheekiness to him, and refuses to take anything too seriously.

He doesn’t even treat his other selves as being the same as he is, preferring to see his own incarnation as his own man. He really is a great antagonist, and an absolute joy to listen to.

In fact, the Monk is just a great all-round antagonist altogether. A very different villain compared to others, in that he’s hardly a villain at all. Just someone who doesn’t understand the consequences of his actions. It would be great if he appeared in the New Series one day, and really got to show off why he’s so brilliant to millions of viewers once more.

Next. An introduction to Kamelion – the companion who never was. dark

Are you a fan of the Monk? Do you think the character should come back? What’s your favorite story featuring the amoral Time Lord? Let us know in the comments below.

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