Written by Brian Hayles
Directed by Julia Smith
Main Cast:
The Doctor - William Hartnell
Polly - Anneke Wills
Ben - Michael Craze
Main Guest Stars:
Cherub - George Cooper
Captain Pike - Michael Godfrey
The Squire - Paul Whitsun-Jones
Jacob Kewpar - David Blake Kelly
Blake - John Ringham
The Church Warden - Terence de Marney
Synopsis:
The Doctor is surprised and a bit annoyed to discover that Polly and Ben have boarded the Tardis. The Tardis lands inside a cave, and Polly and Ben exit to find a train to take them back to London. The Doctor follows the pair, to keep an eye on them. The three of them reach a nearby church, where they are greeted by a somewhat suspicious church warden. Despite his initial mistrust, the warden and The Doctor seems to get along, and the warden impart a secret to The Doctor. The secret is a riddle which if solved will allow one to find the treasure of the infamous pirate Avery.
The three journey onward to an inn, run by the innkeeper Kewpar. Kewpar is also initially suspicious, but eventually allows them to stay for the night. The church warden, meanwhile is killed by Cherub, first mate of the pirate Captain Pike's crew. Cherub proceeds to the inn, where he kidnaps The Doctor and takes him to Pike's ship to extract the information about Avery's treasure. Polly and Ben, meanwhile, are arrested for the murder of the church warden by the local squire.
The innkeeper and the squire run the local smuggling operation, and the innkeeper travels out to Pike's ship to arrange a pick up. Captain Pike hold the innkeeper hostage, along with The Doctor and heads off to the squire's house to arrange the business dealings directly with the squire. Meanwhile, Polly and Ben are able to trick their way out of jail and proceed to the church. They discover a hidden passage from the church to the beach. They also capture a revenue official named Blake, who is out to capture the smugglers.
The Doctor and the innkeeper escape Pike's ship and meet up with Polly, Ben and Blake back at the inn. Blake, now aware of the Squire and Pike's plans, rides off to get reinforcements. Pike intends to double cross the Squire, take the smuggled goods for himself and also Avery's treasure. Cherub intends to double cross Pike and take the treasure for himself. Pike and Cherub duel in the church crypt, while the other pirates raid the smuggled goods out of the church. Pike kill Cherub and wounds the Squire. Polly and Ben are ordered back to the Tardis via the secret passage by The Doctor. The Doctor then imparts the secret of Avery's treasure to Pike. Pike finds Avery's treasure, but not before the pirates are surprised by the arrival of Blake and his men. The pirates are defeated by Blake's men in a pitched battle. The Doctor, after the battle, quietly slips through the secret passage and returns to the Tardis.
Review:
The Smugglers opens the fourth series/season and I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Since it's a story featuring pirates and pirate treasure, the usual pirate cliches are well represented, from buried treasure to shifting alliances and double dealings. Whether one enjoys The Smugglers will greatly depend on whether one likes and enjoys pirate-themed shows and movies. I like pirate-themed shows and movies quite a bit, so I was more than predisposed to like this particular story. It's also the first time during the show's run that a series/season would open with a historical. That fact is rather ironic, since the fourth series/season would be the last to feature historical stories on a regular basis. At the very least, with The Smugglers the historical era is starting to close with a very strong and entertaining story.
The Smugglers is a completely lost episode (except for a few short clips), so I experienced this story via a fan-made reconstruction. The fourth series/season suffers the worst from missing episodes. None of the stories from the fourth series/season exist in their entirety, so this particular series/season really tests many Doctor Who fans patience. I don't mind the audio soundtracks and fan-made reconstructions, but they definitely are an acquired taste.
If your interest to experience the lost stories via the audio sountracks/reconstructions is low, my suggestion is to skip ahead and enjoy the Tomb of the Cybermen, the only complete story from the fourth and fifth series/seasons. You can then follow up Tomb with the mostly-complete sixth series/season, which starts with the Dominators.
For those who are willing to revisit the lost stories, however, I think that you'll find them to be a revelation. I know that I have, and having now experienced several of these lost stories, it makes me even sadder that they are now missing from the archives.
Up next, we bid the First Doctor farewell and are introduced to the Cybermen in The Tenth Planet.
