The Smugglers

How dare you follow me into the TARDIS!

The First Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor finds that he has a couple of unexpected companions in the shape of Ben and Polly. The TARDIS lands in Cornwall in the 18th Century, where they quickly become embroiled in a story of piracy, smugglers and hidden treasure…

Review

The Smugglers is a pure historical story, and one which I felt that demonstrated the increasing issues with telling stories of that kind. The show would move away from the format following The Highlanders. In a way, I felt sorry for The Smugglers. It is sandwiched between The War Machines, which is widely considered by fans to be one of the strongest of Hartnell’s era, and The Tenth Planet, which introduced both the Cybermen and regeneration. It’s easy to see why any story would struggle when stuck behind two such vastly significant episodes, and The Smugglers is sadly no exception.

The story is really rather slow and plodding. When I was listening to the soundtrack, I was trying to work out what the issues were that were causing the story to struggle to grab me. I think that if you are going to do a pure historical story, you need to have a historical figure or an event that you put the Doctor and his companions into. Whilst the pirates in the story are concerned with recovering Henry Avery’s gold, a real historical figure, none of the characters in this story are real historical figures. Avery is probably obscure to anyone who hasn’t lived in Cornwall or had an interest in historical piracy. Whilst it could be argued that this is the show fulfilling it’s educational remit, it does mean that the narrative feels unfocused. For some reason, televised Doctor Who does seem to struggle with stories about piracy. The Curse of the Black Spot and Legend of the Sea Devils both have the same problem. Perhaps it’s an issue of budget, as there is surely an interesting story to tell about piracy in a Doctor Who context.

With all that being said, the guest performers are all very good and you cannot question their commitment to doing as good a job as possible. The performance of George A. Cooper is rather good as the bloodthirsty Cherub, whilst Paul Whitsun-Jones is strong as the unlikeable Squire Edwards. The story is rather bloodthirsty, which is rather surprising, and Cherub is a delightful villain of the piece. We also have what feels like a budget Captain Hook in the form of Captain Pike.

This is another strong performance from William Hartnell, who shows no sign of illness or tiredness that were stated as reasons why he needed to leave the role. He starts the story feeling very much like the Doctor we meet in An Unearthly Child. He is very unwelcoming to his new companions initially before warming to them quite quickly. He is shown to be afraid of being alone.

Ben and Polly do feel like a breath of fresh air, and I feel that the show didn’t give them a fair crack of the whip with the introduction of Jamie, just three stories later, meaning that their time as a duo is only this story, The Tenth Planet and Power of the Daleks, which do not focus on them enough. They provide a nice contrast to each other, both in social standing and their attitudes on learning about the fact that they have travelled in time and space. Ben refers to Polly as ‘princess’ and is sceptical about the Doctor’s claims, wanting to get a train to ensure that he gets back to barracks, whilst Polly is far more accepting. This story left me liking both companions far more than I did when I watched the early Patrick Troughton stories.

Ultimately, this is a story that doesn’t feel like it has a role for either the Doctor or his companions to play.

Verdict: The Smugglers is not a great story, and feels like an odd story to start Season 4. Good performances do help raise this from being as messy as it could have been. 5/10

Cast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), Michael Craze (Ben Jackson), Anneke Wills (Polly), Terence de Marney (Churchwarden Joseph Longfoot), George A. Cooper (Cherub), David Blake Kelly (Jacob Kewper), Mike Lucas (Tom), Paul Whitsun-Jones (Squire Edwards), Derek Ware (The Spaniard), Michael Godfrey (Captain Samuel Pike), Elroy Josephs (Jamaica), John Ringham (Josiah Blake) & Jack Bligh (Gaptooth).

Writer: Brian Hayles

Director: Julia Smith

Producer: Innes Lloyd

Parts: 4

Original Broadcast Date: 10 September – 1 October 1966

Behind the Scenes

• This is the only story in the history of Doctor Who to feature no incidental music.
• This was produced as part of Season 3’s production block, whilst being broadcast as part of Season 4. This would happen again with Robot and Terror of the Zygons.
• During production of this story, Innes Lloyd and Hartnell had a meeting to discuss his future with the programme. It was agreed that Hartnell would leave the programme.
• Polly is the only female character in the story. This would next happen in The Moonbase, and again with Jo Grant in The Mutants.
• The Curse of the Black Spot would make The Smugglers into a loose sequel, with the Eleventh Doctor meeting Henry Avery, whose treasure is being sought by Pike.
• All four episodes of the story are missing from the BBC archives. The story is notable for being quite bloodthirsty, and so the only clips of the story that do survive are those cut from the version broadcast by the Australian censors.

Cast Notes

• David Blake Kelly previously played Captain Benjamin Briggs in The Chase.
• Paul Whitsun-Jones would go on to play the Marshal of Solos in The Mutants.
• John Bingham had previously appeared in The Aztecs and would go on to appear in Colony in Space.
• Jack Bligh is the earliest born credited actor to appear in Doctor Who. He was born in 1889.

Best Quote

The distractions… I really thought I was going to be alone again.

The First Doctor

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