Spooner was also responsible for helping to foster a new paradigm for the historical type of adventure. It was he who fully developed the notion of the pseudo-historical with his story "The Time Meddler". A gag in the previous story, "The Chase", had been that Daleks were responsible for the disappearance of the "Mary Celeste". In "The Time Meddler", however, the central plotline was that actual historical events were a backdrop for a battle between the Doctor and an alien opponent. In sustaining the notion for a full serial, Spooner gave birth to an approach to historical events that has continued through to the most recent series of the programme. "The Time Meddler" also represents the first time that another member of the Doctor's race, not yet identified as the Time Lords, appeared (other than his granddaughter, Susan).