But it is 1066, the most important date in English history, and the Doctor's arrival has not gone unnoticed. Observing the appearance of the TARDIS is a mysterious monk who recognises the time-machine for what it is. He also knows that the Doctor poses a serious threat to his master plan - a plan which, if successful, could alter the future of the entire world ... 
 

The TARDIS materializes on a deserted Northumbrian beach. The Doctor says that he and his two new companions have arrived in the eleventh century - but Steven finds a modern wristwatch in the nearby forest.

However the year is AD 1066 and the Doctor's arrival has been noticed by a mysterious monk who recognises the TARDIS as a time machine and its owner as a threat to his carefully laid plans.

The Time Meddler was first broadcast in 1965 and starred William Hartnell as the first incarnation of the Doctor; it has recently been shown again on BBC2. This novelization by Nigel Robinoson, who has written a number of Doctor Who books including Timewyrn: Apocalypse, one of the New Adventures series.