The TARDIS unwillingly lands the Doctor and Tamsin near a monastery in 11th century Ireland. It houses the Book of Kells, which (according to history) will be stolen and recovered in a bad state soon.
They quickly discovered that the monastery is apparently haunted, that some the monks aren't acting very monk-like, and that there's a dead Vortisaur in a barn. The Doctor tells Tamsin to use her acting skills and infiltrate. As it turns out, she's dreadful at Improv, so after some fumbling she very awkwardly pretends to be Maria von Trapp.
The Doctor realises that the monastery's meddling monk is the actual Meddling Monk! The Monk greets the Doctor like an old friend, compliments his hair and merrily divulges his plan of accelerating Ireland/Norway relations and generally messing with history. The TARDIS just happened to be scooped up by the Monk's makeshift time scoop, and will be used for spare parts. The Doctor and Tamsin manage to stop him with a switcharoo (although, of course, the Book of Kells is damaged in the process).
A straight-forward story all in all, until The Stinger, when the Monk's companion, Lucianus, turns out to be Lucie Miller in disguise. She completely missed the Doctor, though.
Tropes
- Anti-Villain: The Monk really is happy to see the Doctor.
- Badass Boast: The Doctor gives a magnificent one. Too bad he's telling it to the wrong person.
- Continuity Nod: The Doctor's past encounters with the Monk are mentioned.
- Early Instalment Weirdness: The Monk and the Doctor act like they haven't seen each other since The Dalek's Master Plan. Later Big Finish releases would show that the Monk and the Doctor had many encounters across various incarnations.
- I'm Mr. [Future Pop Culture Reference]: Thelonius the Monk.
- Red Herring: Brother Bernard shows every sign of being the Meddling Monk. He's not.
- Significant Anagram: Brother Lucianus is played by "Ash Hidminster", which is of course… Sheridan Smith.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Brother "Lucianus" is Lucie.
- Throw the Book at Them: The librarian Brother Bernard escapes from the Doctor by shoving a stack of books on top of him and fleeing while the Doctor is temporarily buried.
