4 episodes
Aired between 10th September 1966 and 1st October 1966
Written by: Brian Hayles
Produced by: Innes Lloyd
Directed by: Julia Smith
Synopsis
Ben and Polly enter the TARDIS as it takes off. The Doctor is surprised and angry that they have blundered in. They apologise, but don't believe the old man when he tells them that they've just been transported through time and space (even though they're stood inside a futuristic console room inside a Police Box).
As soon as the ship arrives, Ben and Polly rush out, finding themselves in a small cave next to a beach. Polly reckons they're in Cornwall, whilst Ben thinks they're just hypnotised, but both agree they're still in 1966. The Doctor chuckles to himself that they're in for "oodles of trouble" and goes off to keep an eye on them.
They explore the area, eventually coming across and old church, where an old man in sixteenth century dress steps out, brandishing a flintlock pistol at them and yelling insults. With Polly's hair under a hat, he even mistakes her for a boy.
The Doctor manages to calm the man down, and explains they're just passing through, and ask for directions to the nearest Inn. The man - Joseph Longfoot, says he's the Church Warden, and tells them the way, after he discovers that the group aren't friends of Avery or Pike.
The group thank Longfoot for his help and make to leave. As they part, Longfoot warns the Doctor to keep to themselves at the Inn, and announces a riddle:-
"This is deadman's secret key - Ringwood, Smallbeer, Gurney" and says it's a riddle worth remembering.
As the Doctor and his new companions part, a sinister looking man emerges from behind a rock.
At the Inn, the landlord, Jacob Kewper tells his stable boy, Tom, to go and warn the Church Warden that a "delivery" is on its way. Shortly after the boy departs, he meets the Doctor, Ben and Polly, all soaked to the skin by a storm raging outside. He doesn't like the look of them and turns them away until they mention that the Church Warden sent them there. He allows Ben and Polly to borrow a change of clothes, and lets them in to warm themselves by the fire.
Back at the church, the sinister man, a pirate called Cherub calls in on Joseph Longfoot. The Warden protests that he's done with his pirate days, but Cherub insists that he gives him a moment of his time to confess the secret location of Captain Avery's gold.
Longfoot goes for his gun to shoot the pirate but ends up with a knife between his shoulder blades. Knowing only that Longfoot whispered something to the Doctor, Cherub begins making his way to the Inn.
Tom rushes back to his master and bursts in. Kewper hushes him down, and Tom whispers that he's found Longfoot dead. At that moment, Cherub bursts into the inn along with two of his pirate friends. He demands that the Doctor reveals what Longfoot said.
The Doctor refuses and gets kidnapped for it. Ben tries to stop them but gets knocked unconscious by the burly pirates. Polly screams and rushes to Ben's side to check if he's alright as the men leave.
Kewper summons the town Squire, but rather than help Ben and Polly, he gets the wrong end of the stick and suspects them of killing the Church Warden. He orders them imprisoned.
Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken to the Black Albatross, a pirate ship anchored off the coast. There he comes face to face with Captain Samuel Pike.
Pike explains that he, Cherub and Longfoot all once served under Captain Avery. Pike believes that Longfoot stole Avery's gold, Cherub is eager to torture the information out of the Doctor, but the Doctor appeals to Pike's sense of gentlemanly honour. He has a civilised discussion and bargains to help Pike recover the gold, if he leaves the Doctor unharmed. Pike IS a man of honour and agrees.
In jail, Ben and Polly try to convince Tom (who's watching over them) to release them, as it was clearly Cherub and his gang who killed the Church Warden. Tom refuses, doing only as he's told. Polly comes up with an idea to use the local's superstition against them. They quickly make a straw doll out of the hay on the floor, and Ben calls Tom over. He says that the Doctor is really a warlock and they are his apprentices. They claim that the doll is a voodoo doll, and it has Tom's soul in it, professing to do terrible harm on it if he doesn't release them. Tom buys the routine and releases the pair, who head off to the Church to find evidence that will clear their names.
Back on the Albatross, Kewper arrives, explaining to the Captain that he, Longfoot and the Squire are smugglers. He soon finds he's bitten off more than he can chew however, when Pike tells him his name. The pirate captain orders Kewper and the Doctor to be kept prisoner, telling his shipmate - Jamaica to watch them whilst he and Cherub go and see the Squire themselves.
In the church crypt, Ben and Polly are looking for evidence to no avail, when suddenly, a tomb opens up to reveal a man emerging from a hidden tunnel. Ben quickly surprises the man and ties him up. Polly rushes off to find the Squire so they can prove their innocence. Whilst she is gone, the man introduces himself as Josiah Blake, the King's Revenue Officer.
He has been searching for evidence against the Church Warden, the Squire and Kewper of being smugglers. He found the tunnel on the beach when Ben accosted him. Ben is overjoyed to hear this and rushes off down the tunnel to find the TARDIS.
Polly meanwhile arrives at the Squire's, just in time to see him meeting with Captain Pike and Cherub.
She tries to implicate Cherub in the murder, but in her explanation of what's happened, she only confirms that they were the last to see Longfoot alive. The Squire, Pike, and Cherub make Polly take them to Ben to see exactly who it is they've captured.
Kewper openly regrets his attempt at bargaining, recalling what a horrible reputation Pike has.
Surely, all the townsfolk are in danger if his men are let loose on the area. The Doctor agrees to find a way to free them both, by setting up a card game.
Ben cheerfully returns to Blake and says that he's found the TARDIS down at the end of the tunnel. This means that they can easily get out when they need to. As he tells this, the Squire and his gang turn up, seeing the statement as further damming evidence of Ben and Polly's guilt.
Pike realises he can use Blake, and con's the Squire into getting the Revenue Officer to take Ben and Polly away as the suspected smugglers.
Back on the pirate ship, the Doctor and Kewper come up with a cunning plan of fortune telling to get Jamaica interested in the cards.
As he sits for his own fortune to be told, Kewper smacks him round the head, and the pair sneak off to the Squire.
Once Ben and Polly have been led away, the Squire is heaped with false compliments from Pike and Cherub. Feeling smug, the Squire lets them in on the secret stash of his smuggling ring - inside the tombs of the graveyard. Pike says he's interested in being part of the smuggling ring, and takes the Squire off to discuss terms whilst Cherub stays behind.
Blake takes Ben and Polly to the inn, and to their surprise unties them. He's convinced that the Squire was a smuggler and this proves it.
As they begin to plan their next move, they are joined by the Doctor and Kewper. Polly is ecstatic, but Kewper knows who Blake is, and accuses the Doctor of luring him into a trap (because he's a smuggler, remember). Kewper legs it and escapes.
Pike returns to the Black Albatross, and is furious when he finds out the prisoners have escaped. He gets Jamaica to admit that they are likely going to the Squire before he kills the man for failure.
Pike decides to unleash his plan to double cross the Squire that day, taking his men to loot the smugglers stashes, whilst he and Cherub hunt for Avery's gold. The problem is, Cherub hasn't returned.
The Doctor tells Blake about Pike being likely keen to sack the village, after looting it. Blake rushes off to get up a militia. Ben believes their work is done, and wants to go, but Polly and the Doctor think it's only right to stay and help prevent the pirates from murdering any more people. Being outnumbered, they decide that the best way to do this, is to use the clue Longfoot gave them and find Avery's gold so they can use it as a bargaining chip.
They head to the graveyard, but soon work out that the riddle refers to people's names on tombs, and so, it leads back to the Church Crypt. Sure enough, they find the three names (among others) on the wall of the tomb. As they work out the riddle, however, they are interrupted and held at gunpoint by Kewper and the Squire who have met up and decided to go looking for the gold. They believe that Pike isn't coming back until a couple of nights have past. Kewper threatens the Doctor for Longfoot's secret, but is killed by Cherub who stealthily entered the Crypt.
He fires his pistol at the Squire, wounding him in the shoulder.
Now it's Cherub's turn to threaten the Doctor, using Polly as a target, he demands to know the location of the gold.
With little choice, the Doctor reveals Longfoot's riddle to Cherub, who immediately recognises the names as former crew of Avery's.
Pike takes the rest of his crew and lands on the shore, near the cave. He orders his men to begin taking the loot from the tombs, whilst he enters the church. Sure enough, he finds Cherub holding the rest to ransom.
The Squire has since regained consciousness, and openly regrets his actions, now recalling the curse that was placed on Avery's gold, for those who go after it, end up mad and poor in the end.
Pike confronts Cherub and takes his actions as those of someone wanting the gold for themselves. The two end up dueling, giving the Doctor enough time to send Ben and Polly down the smugglers tunnel back to the TARDIS whilst he tries to help the reformed Squire and buy time for Blake to return with the militia. Reluctantly, the pair head off.
Pike's duel with Cherub ends with the shipmate being run through by his Captain, Pike is ready to finish off the Doctor, but the Doctor says he's still wanting to keep his side of the bargain, but only if the pirates leave the town alone.
Pike says he doesn't see why he should agree and is cautious until the Squire goads him into it by saying that he's bluffing because he can't control his men.
On their way down the tunnel, Polly twists her ankle but says she can get back to the TARDIS on her own. She urges Ben to go back and help the Doctor. Ben agrees and runs off back up the tunnel, telling her to "put the kettle on".
Blake finally arrives with the militia, splitting them into two and sending one half down to the beach to come up via the tunnel. He begins engaging with the pirates, making short work of the rum drunk lot.
Inside the crypt, the Doctor locates the names once more and shows that the treasure is under a flagstone where each of the names intersect. Pike is overjoyed until he hears the sound of battle outside.
On the beach, Polly is grabbed by two pirates as she reaches the TARDIS. Luckily Ben hears her screams and comes running down again to help her. The pirates are eventually shot by the militia as they struggle with Ben. With the danger over, he runs back up the tunnel with Blake and his militia.
The church crypt erupts into chaos as the surviving pirates retreat inside, only to be met from the rear by Blake and his men. A fight quickly ensues, and Pike grabs as much of the treasure as he can, swearing to end the Doctor and the Squire's lives for their involvement.
Ben tries to drag the Doctor away, but he insists on helping the Squire hold Pike off until Blake shoots the pirate Captain, ending the fight.
As Blake and the Squire take stock of what's happened, the Doctor and Ben slip away, back down the tunnel to the TARDIS. They quickly take off, leaving the cleanup to Blake.
Onboard, it seems that Ben and Polly have accepted the strange reality of the TARDIS, but find it a bit cold. The Doctor announces it's because they've landed on the coldest place in the world.
Trivia
- Cherub is the same actor that played Mr Griffiths, the Caretaker in Grange Hill. It's nice to see his temperament didn't improve in the twenty year gap, and even nicer to see that he didn't have much hair, even in the sixties!
- It was around the filming of this story that Patrick Troughton was approached to take on the role as The Doctor. It's reported that he turned it down though, believing that the show was dried up and about to end.
- The Series 6 episode - "The Curse of the Black Spot" is supposed to be a sort of prequel to this story, showing what happened to Avery and his gold.
What worked
- The pantomime acting. Some of the one liners were well within the genre and were quite amusing
- From the screenshots, it looks like the location work down in Cornwall would have looked really good on screen.
- Although it's not in the show, it's good that they didn't carry on in the vein of the Gunfighters and have sea shanty's a plenty
- The costumes are all good, but this is what we know the BBC can do well - historical costumes
What didn't work
- How come, between running back and forth to the Church, Tom the stable boy didn't meet either the Doctor or Cherub on his travels?
- If Longfoot was in a smuggling ring with Kewper, why didn't he tell him or the Squire about the riddle, when he's just happy to blurt it out to a stranger?
- Some of the phrases over egg the pudding, e.g. you lilly-livered squab, I'll carve your gizzard!
This story has the unfortunate luck of being one of the least remembered Doctor Who's. It comes at the end of the historical run, being succeeded only by The Highlanders, and yes, it doesn't contain monsters or the Doctor dressing up.
It has gotten a really rough ride from the fandom, and seemed to get a big drop in ratings at the time too. The fans slate it for being the mark of an era of the show where anything remotely original or daring went out of the window, and was replaced by something safe, and of course, exportable to an American market.
Everything that these fan's say is totally correct.....however..... (here's where I be really controversial.)
The Smugglers is just really fun! You will no doubt see me state numerous times throughout Innes Lloyd's time as a Producer, that the show is just straight forward and uncomplicated adventure. The Smugglers fits right into that.
If you're looking for something more innovative or with meaning, either go back and watch Season's 1 and 3, or skip right ahead to Doctor Who and the Silurians - with just a brief stop over for Enemy of the World, depending on your point of view.
The thing is, even though it's safe, there's nothing wrong with this story. Nobody expected Pirates of the Caribbean to be thought provoking - why should they with this? At least unlike some of the modern Doctor Who, the logic of the plot hangs together. The acting -although corny- is decent too, and the action is alright, in fact, there's far more deaths in this than I was expecting, making it a little serious at times and demonstrating Cherub as a real threat.
All the tropes of a pirate adventure are here, so why not enjoy them? In fact, I would argue that it's not a million miles away from The Reign of Terror anyway, which people love.
Rating
8 out of 10
A nice fun run through all the stereotypical pirate stories.
Rewatchability Factor
8 out of 10
The riddle a bit daft, but other than that, everything else is fine.
Watch this if you liked...
- The Curse of the Black Spot (Doctor Who Series 6)
- Tin Tin or the Famous Five stories
Consulting the Matrix
Do you think that the Smugglers would have worked better if it had played up more of the "curse" aspect?
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