 The first link to The Doctor's past is revealed as he meets for the first time a member of his own race - The Meddling Monk.
The Meddling Monk is played by Peter Butterworth who has appeared in a number of the Carry On films. The Meddling Monk's name, as given in later novels - Mortimus - is not revealed in this story. He is simply The Monk, The Meddling Monk or The Time Meddler. This character would make one return on screen in the 12 episode epic "The Daleks' Master Plan".
William Hartnell did not appear in episode 2, "The Meddling Monk", except for the reprise from the previous episode and a voice-over, as William Hartnell was on holiday during the recording of this episode.
Alethea Charlton also appeared in "An Unearthly Child" as the cavewoman, Hur.
We learn that there are different types of TARDIS' - The Doctor refuses to tell the Meddling Monk what type of TARDIS his is.
The interior of the Meddling Monk's TARDIS utilises the same set as The Doctor's except that the central control console is stood on a dais.
The Meddling Monk's plan is to save Harold's army from having to attack the Vikings by destroying them with an unspecified weapon, ensuring that William is defeated at Hastings and thus bringing a period of peace to Europe. Vicki and Steven postulate that if Harold defeated William at Hastings all the history books and even their memories would change instantaneously
The Doctor is able to thwart The Meddling Monk by removing the dimensional control unit out of The Meddling Monk's TARDIS, thus shrinking its interior and leaving the meddler marooned.
The Viking ship scenes were selected from BBC stock footage.
When asked what 'TARDIS' stands for, Vicki says that it is 'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space'. This is the first instance of the acronym being explained since the show's debut episode, and the first of the 'D' being said to stand for 'Dimensions' (as would then become the norm) rather than 'Dimension'.
The closing credits at the end of the final episode are played over images of Steven Taylor, Vicki and The Doctor superimposed against a starscape. Also for the first time in the show's history, there is no 'Next Episode...' caption giving the title of the following stories episode.
During production of this story, new producer John Wiles began taking over production duties from Verity Lambert. His first credited story, as Producer would not be until "The Myth Makers".
Even though all four episodes exist in the BBC Archives, episodes one, three, and four were reported missing from the BBC Film and Videotape Library following an audit in 1978. Edited telerecordings of all four episodes were returned to the BBC, in October 1984, from Midwest TV in Nigeria. Complete copies of episodes one and three were then returned in 1992. A 12 second sequence from episode four remains missing from the otherwise complete print of all four episodes. A recreation of this missing sequence was included with the 2008 DVD release.
The story was repeated on BBC2 in January 1992.
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The Firsts:
The first trip in the TARDIS for new companion Steven Taylor played by Peter Purves.
The first appearance in the show of another member of The Doctor's own race.
The first appearance in the show of The Meddling Monk played by Peter Butterworth.
The first time that we learn that there are different types of TARDIS.
The first use of the explanation "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space" to describe the TARDIS instead of "Time and Relative Dimension in Space" as used by Susan in the debut story "An Uneatherly Child".
Donald Tosh's first involvement in the show as Story Editor.
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(Position = 98 out of 159)
(Position = 75 out of 200)
