The Power of the Daleks

6 episodes
Aired between 5th November 1966 and 10th December 1966

Written by David Whittaker
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Directed by Christopher Barry


Synopsis

Ben and Polly look on in amazement as the man on the floor of the TARDIS gets up.  They spend the next few minutes arguing over whether he is or isn't the Doctor.

The man has some kind of weird mental breakdown for a minute before it subsides and he is feeling better.

He wears different, yet similar clothes to the Doctor, and did wear the Doctor's ring, but it's too big for him now.  Despite Polly's assurance that it is the Doctor, the man refers to the Doctor in the third person, but that doesn't stop him going through "the Doctor's" luggage chest, picking out odds and ends like a magnifying glass, a recorder (the musical instrument kind) and his 500 year diary.

As the discussion goes on, the TARDIS lands, and the Doctor decides to leave, seemingly uninterested in Ben or Polly; more concerned with reading the book.  Ben even chastises him for not checking the readings before he left, but the man casually recounts the exact outdoor temperature etc.

The TARDIS has landed on Vulcan, a hot, desolate planet full of rocks and mercury swamps.

The man is content to simply wander off, jumping rocks and reading his book, until he hears someone calling to him.

He see's a man in white in the distance and decides to approach him.  Out of nowhere, the man in white is shot dead, but his killer stays hidden.  The man checks the victim's body, finding a badge that indicates he's an examiner from Earth.

Ben an Polly leave the TARDIS too, exploring the desolate landscape until they accidentally get too close to one of the mercury swamps, and get knocked unconscious by the fumes.

The man with the 500 year diary takes the Examiner's badge and is pursued by the murderer until he is knocked unconscious near the TARDIS.  The murderer places a button in the mans hand and mysteriously leaves.

A little later, the man, Ben and Polly are found by colonists: Quinn (Deputy Governor) and Bragen (Head of Security).  They mistake the man for the examiner, (a point which the man doesn't correct) and suppose he and his team are here to inspect "the space capsule".

Elsewhere in the colony two scientists: Lesterson and Janley are examining a strange non-corrosive metal.  Janley informs her boss that the Examiner has arrived, but Lesterson has no knowledge of any such Examiner being called for.  Janely shrugs it off and checks with her boss if she's ok to go to the lobby group meeting that night.  Lesterson agrees but warns her not to get too involved.

The Examiner, Ben and Polly are taken to see Governor Henshell who greets them kindly and gives them free reign of the base.  When the Governor is gone, the Examiner finally confides in Ben and Polly about the death of the real Examiner, and suggests they get to the bottom of it.

As Janley goes about her work, she sees Quinn in the corridor.  She greets him and during their brief conversation, remarks that he's missing a button.

Eventually, The Examiner, Ben, and Polly are taken to see the capsule by Hensell, Quinn, and Bragen.  They introduce Dr Lesterson, and Janley.  The Examiner works his way around the lab, picking up the strange metal and comparing it to a similar piece that he drew out from the Doctor's luggage.

Lesterson asks for permission to open the capsule, which the Examiner grants.  The door is opened, but it turns out to be only an outer door.  The Examiner keenly sees a slight opening in the inner door, but keeps it quiet, forbidding Lesterson to go any further until the following day.

That night, the Examiner sneaks back to the capsule with Ben and Polly and opens the inner door.  Inside, they find two inactive Daleks covered in cobwebs, and a space where a third one used to be.

 Out of nowhere, a hideous tentacled creature scuttles across the floor.

The Examiner recognises the machines as Daleks and thinks that Lesterson may have already been in here and taken the missing one.  He says that the Daleks can be revived by electricity.

Elsewhere, Quinn is looking for the Examiner who isn't in his quarters.  Bragen finds Quinn and begins questioning him about his missing button, but Quinn is dismissive of the security chief.

In the lab, Lesterson turns up and finds the Examiner, Ben and Polly inside the capsule.  He orders them out.  The Examiner notes that Lesterson isn't the least bit surprised at the sight of the Dalek's and decides to challenge Lesterson. When Lesterson denies it and refuses to destroy the other Daleks,, the Examiner storms off to see the Governor.  When they've gone, Lesterson retrieves the third Dalek from a hidden compartment in the lab and hurries to begin work to revive it before the Examiner can get approval to destroy them.

The group are led back to their quarters by Bragen, who agrees to arrange a meeting for them with the Governor.  In the meantime, he advises the Examiner to be careful in his investigation as there are rebel factions among the people in the base.  When Bragen leaves, Ben and Polly begin discussing the need to find the murderer, and work out who did call for the Examiner.

The Examiner finds a listening device in a piece of fruit.  Once it's crushed they're free to talk.  They believe that Lesterson isn't responsible because he wouldn't want the experiments messed up or stopped by Earth.  Similarly, the Governor wouldn't voluntarily ask to be put under scrutiny.  Ben gets fed up and just want's to go to the TARDIS, but the Examiner and Polly insist that they must stop Lesterson reviving the Daleks.

Bragen returns and tells them that they cannot see the Governor until the morning, but the Examiner isn't happy.  He says he's just going to contact Earth directly and goes off to find the communications relay.

Back in the lab, Lesterson, Janley, and an assistant Resno are working on the Dalek.  Janley and Resno seemingly hate each other, because Resno knows that Janley is a rebel.  Lesterson chastises them both and tells them to keep politics out of the lab.  They continue working and soon get the Dalek's eye stalk and sucker arm working.

The eye follows Resno wherever he goes, and when the gun comes online, it shoots Resno down.  Lesterson is shocked but Janley assures him he's only unconscious.  Lesterson rushes off to get help, leaving Janley to cover Resno's body over as if he were dead.  She goes and fully revives the Dalek on her own.

The Examiner reaches the communications relay but finds the equipment smashed and the operator has been knocked out.  Quinn appears from the shadows of the room and begins to talk to the Examiner, but Bragen turns up and decides to arrest Quinn for the whole lot of trouble including the murder (based on his missing button).  Quinn obviously protests, but is carried away by the guards.

With nothing left to be done, the Examiner, Polly and Ben return to their quarters until the next day.

In the morning, they are all escorted to Quinn's trial but are interrupted when Lesterson rushes in with a fully functional Dalek.  For safety he has removed the gun stick.  To everyone's surprise, the Dalek seems to recognise the examiner and tires to shoot him, being ineffectual without a gun.  Ben remarks that the Examiner must clearly be the Doctor because the Dalek recognised him.

The Doctor goes mental with Lesterson, saying it will kill them all, but to everyone's abject surprise, Lesterson shows that the Dalek is totally obedient, stating "I am your servant".

Despite the Doctor's insistence, the Governor see's the potential in keeping the Daleks functioning.  The Doctor tries to break their charade by ordering the Dalek to immobilise itself.

The Dalek does as it's commanded, although begrudgingly.  The Doctor vows to stop the Daleks and leaves.  As soon as he's gone, the Dalek reactivates.  When questioned as to why it did, the Dalek says that it obeys Lesterson, not the Doctor.

With all the disruption resolved, Quinn's trial continues.  Quinn confesses that it was him that sent for the examiner to deal with the rebels, and asks the Governor why he would want to kill the man he's sent for?

Bragen suggests that Quinn did it to make the Governor look ineffectual and take the role for himself.  The Governor believes the latter and imprisons Quinn, promoting Bragen to Deputy Governor.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly go back to their quarters where the Doctor jury rigs together a small electronic device.

They go to visit the lab, seeing Quinn being led away.  Polly protests, but the Doctor says it's better to let Quinn get wrongly imprisoned if they can focus on destroying the Daleks.

Once at the lab, the Doctor convinces Lesterson that he might have been a bit hasty condemning the Daleks, and tries to act all sweet and innocent until he attaches the device to the power supply.  The now two activated Daleks suddenly go bezerk, but luckily for them, Lesterson manages to stop it.

In shadowy corridors, Bragen and Janley meet.  It is revealed that Janley is one of the rebel leaders, but is working for Bragen who is using her to lure them into a trap where they will be crushed when they've done their job of making the Governor seem ineffectual.  Janley believes that they can use the Dalek gun technology to take over the colony and explains how potent it is, revealing that Resno, the assistant was actually killed by the Dalek, not wounded.  Janley dumped the body in a mercury pool.  Bragen congratulates her, but says he's unwilling to make a move on the colony whilst the Examiner is still around.

After leaving the meeting, Janley finds Polly snooping around and with the help of her assistant, kidnaps her.

Ben meets back up with the Doctor and is worries about Polly, but the Doctor casually dismisses his concerns.  He's more worried about the Daleks.  Ben gets angry and drags the Doctor off to confront Bragen about her disappearance.

In the lab, the experiments on the Daleks continue, and Lesterson is amazed at the amount of knowledge "the machines" have.  The Dalek boasts that it can vastly improve the colony's technology level by creating a great computer that could predict meteor swarms with 100% accuracy, if the materials are supplied.  Lesterson is most excited by this and immediately rushes off to get the materials.

Ben and the Doctor see Lesterson leave and waylay their trip to Bragen in order to look in the lab.  When they enter, they see a power cable leading from the generator into the space capsule.  As they try to turn the power off, they are confronted by two more fully armed Daleks who roll out of the ship.

The Doctor and Ben run out of the lab and straight to the Governor where they find Lesterson getting approval for the materials.  The Doctor argues with the scientist, but the Governor makes it quite clear that the Daleks are to be kept alive.  The Governor and Lesterson walk off, leaving Ben and the Doctor with Bragen.  They tell the now Deputy Governor of Polly's disappearance, but instead of helping them, Bragen announces that he knows they're impostors.  He makes a deal with them to keep their secret, so long as they leave the Daleks alone.

With little choice, the Doctor and Ben go back to their quarters, where a note is shoved under their door saying that also, Polly will be ok so long as they leave the Daleks alone.

Lesterson returns to the lab to see that the Daleks have now de-armed themselves.  They ask if they will be given the materials, which Lesterson confirms.  They begin chanting manically that "we will have our power" and begin closing in on Lesterson in a bit of a menacing way.  Lesterson reacts by cutting the power, incapacitating most of the Daleks.

He keeps the power off until they submit to his will once more.

The day after, Bragen takes over the work as Governor, whilst Hensell goes out to inspect the other parts of the colony for a day or two.  The Doctor and Ben turn up again, showing Bragen the note and reiterating their concerns about Polly.  Bragen says that because they are impostors, he's not interested and they will have to look for Polly themselves.

As they leave, the Doctor turns his mind back to the Daleks, wondering how long they can survive without static electricity.  As they walk, they count four Daleks moving about.  This is very concerning as there were only ever three.

Lesterson meanwhile is becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of materials the Daleks are consuming in their construction project.  He begins to doubt the voracity of the work and suggests that he might go and see the Examiner.  Janley takes the chance to blackmail Lesterson, explaining about Resno's death and forcing the scientist to keep quiet.

The Doctor and Ben arrive at the lab, wanting to talk to Lesterson about the extra Dalek that's turned up.  Lesterson bluffs and says they're just machines, but the Doctor assures him they are dangerous and if they're given enough resources, could cause major problems for the colony.  Those words strike home to Lesterson and the shock cause's him to pass out.  Janley calls a guard and makes up a story that the Examiner attacked Lesterson, forcing them out of the lab, leaving her to take over as a liaison with the Daleks.

Ejected from the lab, Ben and the Doctor go and examine a notice board that a shifty looking colonist was hanging around.  They find a hidden message in one of the notices that says a secret meeting will be held that night in Rocket Room P.  Together, the Doctor and Ben go and hide in the rocket room, hoping to find Polly's kidnappers.

Sure enough, that night, there is a meeting of the rebels.  The Doctor and Ben listen in from hiding as Janley brings in one of the Daleks with a control pack attached to it's gun arm.  She says that they can use the Dalek to take over the colony.  Everyone is skeptical until she orders for the Dalek to shoot her, using the control pack to make sure it cannot.

In her outlining of their plan. Janley reveals that they are holding Polly which (god knows why) surprises Ben into accidentally making a noise and giving up his hiding place.  He is knocked out and taken away.  The silent leader of the rebels - Bragen, calls the Doctor out from hiding and the Doctor obeys.  The Doctor threatens to tell the Governor about Bragen's treachery, but Bragen instead says that he intends to frame the Doctor and arrests him, placing in him in a cell next to Quinn.

Whilst in jail, the Doctor sees that the door is locked by sonics.  He begins running his finger around a cup to try and mimic the noise the key made..

Lesterson awakes from his trauma and makes his way inside the space capsule.  He find s a secret door that leads deeper inside, until he can see an expensive  factory making Daleks (the monsters as well as the metal case's).

He rushes out of the capsule and blocks the door before shutting off the generator.  He calls for the Doctor, but finds out he's been imprisoned.

The three usual Daleks emerge from the capsule and Lesterson is horrified.  He asks them how they can move without power, and they say that they can store electricity.  He runs off before the Daleks can do anything about him.

Janley turns up with Polly and instructs the Daleks that she's to be kept prisoner in the capsule.

Lesterson gets to the prison but he's told no one is to see the prisoners.  He bursts in and tells the Doctor what's happened before guards haul the scientist away to face Bragen.  As they reach his office, they see a Dalek laying power cables.  Lesterson demands to know what the Daleks are doing.  The Dalek replies that it's laying cable for a back up station, just like he ordered.  Lesterson says he gave no such order, but when Janley turns up, she makes Lesterson out to be a madman, leading Bragen to arrest him.

Inside the capsule, Janley's rebel friends: Valmar and Kebble have been convinced to help the Daleks with their work whilst they keep watch on Polly.  She ends up explaining how they're not really examiners, and that they should be more weary of the Daleks.  Her words seem to get through to them and they are more cautious.

In jail, the Doctor is worried by what Lesterson told him, but he's still imprisoned.  He gives up on the water idea, and plays his recorder.  Luckily for him, one of the notes matches the pitch of the sonic key and it unlocks the cell doors.  Finally free, Quinn disables the guard and they both sneak off.

Hensell returns from his trip, and begins questioning Bragen about all the cables around the complex, and asks where the Examiner is.  Bragen is quite arrogant and says that he's been imprisoned.  Hensell tries to take back his command, ordering the guards to arrest Bragen.  They don't, and Bragen gloats that they're his guards.  He offers the chance for Hensell to join him, but when he refuses, he is shot by a Dalek and killed.

The Doctor and Quinn rush to the lab, and free Polly.  They all run from the lab, pursued by Daleks. The Doctor jams the door with a spanner to hold them for a while and run off to stop Bragen.
Inside the lab, the Daleks regroup in the capsule and decide to simply help the humans start their revolution and begin killing each other, then they will turn on them and wreak destruction in the chaos.

When they reach his office, the Doctor, Polly and Quinn find Hensell dead.  They realise they're too late as Bragen has implemented marshal law, and captures the group again with his guards.

When the rebels give them the order to attack, the Daleks begin pouring out of the now open lab and begin chanting "Dalek's conquer and destroy".

Soon after, Janley meets with Bragen and says how happy she is that the Revolution is on.  Bragen is unhappy, and reminds her that the real plan is to wipe out the rebels once they've committed to the attack.  She reluctantly agrees.  Unknown to them, Valmar overhears them.  He takes their prisoner, Ben into the guest quarters and hides.  There he tells Ben about what he heard and goes off to find the Doctor and Polly.

Not long after Valmar leaves, Quinn, the Doctor and Polly manage to escape their escort back to jail.  The Doctor and Polly rush off and find Ben in the living quarters.  Ben fills them in on Bragen's full plan, and the Doctor tells them to wait whilst he goes off and sorts the problem.

As he makes his way through the corridors, he is confronted by Kebble and two guards.  They plan to capture the Doctor again, but Daleks turn up out of nowhere and begin firing on them.  The Doctor saves kebble's life by helping him escape.  Together they run off.  They make it back to the quarters and regroup with Ben and Polly.  They all try to escape out the window, but Kebble is killed in the process by the pursuing Daleks.

Elsewhere, Valmar has found his way back to the lab, and attaches three control units to the Dalek's weapons there.  Janley enters and Valmar confronts her with what he heard.  She convinces him that she wasn't going to betray the rebels, but Bragen.  The Daleks too seem to be adamant that they are the servants of the humans and seem eager to fight for the rebels, if they are only shown where to go.

Janley and Valmar lead the Daleks into battle but soon find that their "robots" are firing upon all humans, not just guards.  They luckily manage to escape before being exterminated themselves.

The Doctor and his friends make their way to the lab and find that Lesterson has gone there too,  He's clearly gone insane with it all, but has enough sense to hide the group, just as more Daleks emerge from the capsule.  When they're gone he tells the group that all is lost and that the Daleks are now the surpeme rulers of Vulcan.  Their only chance is perhaps using a secret power cable that Valmar installed in the capsule that also powers the rebel base.  The Doctor agrees and goes to find Valmar so he can reveal the location of the cable.

Out in the corridors, the Daleks continue their assault.  Quinn saves Valmar as Janley is exterminated, and the Doctor meets them both.

Valmar readily tells the Doctor where the cable is, and the Doctor scoots off again, charging Quinn and Valmar with finding Bragen and getting him to distract the Daleks in some way.

Everything's gone to pot for Bragen, and he is desperate.  Quinn enters and tells Bragen at gunpoint to order his guards back to the capitol, that should provide enough of a distraction.  Bragen agrees and carries out the order.

The Doctor makes it back to the lab and quickly finds the cable and power supply for the Daleks operations.  As the Doctor meddles with the supply, Polly yells that there are two Daleks approaching.  Lesterson provides a distraction, and is killed for it, but buys enough time for the Doctor to overload the power supply, supercharging all the Daleks and causing them to explode.  He also knocks himself out in the process.

Seeing the destroyed Daleks, Bragen seizes his opportunity and knocks the gun from Quinn's hand.  He grabs the gun, but Valmar kills him.

In the aftermath, Quinn is appalled at the sheer loss of life, and the destruction of the colony's entire power supply.  It will take months to repair.  The now conscious Doctor smiles sheepishly and suggests to Ben and Polly that they scarper, quickly.  They rush back to the TARDIS, which now has a destroyed Dalek by the side of it.

Ben asks if the Doctor really did know what he was doing when he destroyed the power supply, but the Doctor just smiles and remains tight lipped.  As the TARDIS dematerialises, the Dalek's eye stalk slowly raises itself up.


Trivia

• Bernard Archard, the actor who played Bragen, is also Marcus Scarman from Pyramids of Mars.  It was a very pleasant surprise to see him.

• As soon as Patrick Troughton turned up on set, the mood lightened massively.  He was fun and a bit of a joker, even if he still wasn't sure about his choice to play the Doctor.  As a bit of a prank one day, Annake Wills and Michael Craze (as well as some of the crew) decided to get T-shirts printed as a joke with the message "Come Back William Hartnell, All is Forgiven!"  Patrick took one look at the shirts and his face dropped.  He was really hurt by it, but soon perked up when they all explained.

• Originally, Patrick Troughton's Doctor was meant to be wearing a wig (possibly one of the reasons why he was having second thoughts about saying yes to the role).  The decision on the hair style hadn't been fully agreed, even close to the film date, which is why the regeneration scene is so close up on his face, showing no hairline at all.  Minutes before the initial shots were filmed for this story, Patrick borrowed Annake's comb, and combed his hair forward into a beatles style mop top.  The rest, as they say, is history.

What worked

• They kept the same noise for the Dalek doors - that's pleasing

• The music brings a lot of suspense when the Doctor is sneaking about the base

• The cobwebs over the Daleks is a nice and scary image, but what spiders live on a Dalek saucer?

• The fact that the Doctor hardly takes the time to explain anything is a bit of a double edged sword, but the change is refreshing,

• Right off the bat, Troughton is being funny in a Norman Wisdom kind of way.  Thankfully, it doesn't take anything away from the .tension of the story, because he does it in all the right places.

• Lesterson's scenes skulking about in the Daleks capsule

• In some ways, the complexity and agenda's of the supporting cast add a lot to the story

• The last episode where the Daleks begin to massacre everyone and Bragen takes power

What didn't work

• Because this is a lost episode, it's a bit difficult to understand who's doing what, especially when buttons are being handed out to people, it's just not clear at times who's doing what

• The loud chiming noise whenever something dramatic happens

• Spending seven minutes watching (or listening to) the Doctor go through an old chest whilst Ben rants and raves in the background.  Seeing it in 1966 might have been more acceptable though because this was the first ever regeneration, so people just didn't know what was going to happen and probably said similar things to Ben

• The Daleks are a bit too obvious in wanting to take over the world.  I mean, when one of them activates the others and removes their guns, they begin closing in on Lesterson in a threatening way, even though they've not got any weapons with which to deal with him and are still incredibly vulnerable to power loss.

• Why is there a rebellion anyway?   What's so bad about the current rulers of Vulcan, other than they can't understand that these alien machines might be a threat?

• Lesterson isn't the least bit curious to turn the Daleks off and look inside one?  Really?

• In fact, it's not only him, why doesn't anyone even ask the Daleks where they come from or who "built" them?

• Is the Dalek capsule really a DARDIS, because it's a hell of a lot bigger than the outside suggests.

Overall Feelings

This story is a complicated one.  It's a story about hubris, self appeasing ambition, and its consequences.

Taking it from the start, I usually have problems on the inaugural story of a new Doctor, and this makes no exception.  Troughton's acting is fine, but the character just feels uncomfortable, especially when he starts referring to the Doctor in the third person.  I'm sure that feeling is what the production team was going for, to cast doubt in your mind as to if this person is the character you love.  The problem is, doing all this deception makes you believe that it isn't, and therefore it makes me want to skip over the parts where he's bonkers and get to the bit where he's back to his old self.

This story isn't a nice easing in one for Patrick Troughton either.  It is a complex web of intrigue and mystery.  With more time, this could have really been a worthy contender for Game of Thrones, it's so complex, if not in ideas, then execution.  There are tons of scenes where people are going backwards and forwards to the lab, to the living quarters, all over the place getting waylaid from the purpose they were even going for.  It makes it confusing when we don't have the finished article to watch anymore.

The main problem with this story, isn't the plot.  It's not even the acting, as there are some great actors in this; it's the inconsistency of things, and the incompetence of the base staff, who very quickly agreeing to let "robots" from an unknown civilisation have the run of the place.  They give them all the materials they need for a project they know nothing about, and don't even oversee it!

It's inconsistent because from the Dalek Invasion of Earth onwards, we've established that the Daleks can move around independently, so why the need for electricity?  Why are the rebels upset?

Despite all the confusion, inconsistency and obvious dialogue, then there's a much deeper vein of science fiction horror here.  It has a feel of Terry Nation's attempt (see the Daleks).  Vulcan has a decent rounded out history, and everyone seems to have their own agenda.  The Dalek assault is as brutal and merciless as anything in the Daleks' Masterplan, and for that, a lot can be forgiven.

Rating

5 out of 10

Lots will irritate you about this story, but it's got a good tale at the heart of it, and the Daleks have rarely seemed so scary

Rewatchability Factor

4 out of 10

With the exception of the odd scene, episodes 2 - 5 are fillers but the story is worth an infrequent listen, because of the many character motivations

Watch this if you liked...

• Genesis of the Daleks

• Terror of the Vervoids

• The Victory of the Daleks (Doctor Who Series 5)

And if you like bad guys masquerading as good guys...

• The Daemons

• The King's Demons

• Castrovalva

Consulting the Matrix

Did the sheer amount of sub-plots add to, or detract from the story for you?

My Time with the First Doctor

And so, here we are, at the end of an era.  The show has gone from the quirky dream of an eccentric head of Drama, to TV sensation.  Let's take a brief recap of the season's so far.

First Season

The show began with a winning formula, showing us a mock up TV family that hit nearly all the demographics, giving us someone to connect to, whilst the stories propelled us out into the unknown.  At times, especially in the first three stories, the show was edgy and new, and carried a true sense that anything could happen.  This would disappear by Marco Polo, but would be replaced by a comfort of familiarity with the characters.

From that story onwards, the structure takes on a more rhythmic feel, with historical episodes being interlaced with mad futuristic ones.  The formula worked, so why change it?  This of course came at the price of edgyness, with one notable exception - the Aztecs.

This gem stuck in the middle of the first season shifts the focus away from space and time hijinx, and shows us some serious character development around Barbara.  The story asks us to take sides rather than observe, and draws you far deeper into the universe as a result.  It would have been fantastic to take this concept to the other characters, but sadly, this didn't happen.

Second Season

The second season shifted the focus slightly from characters to pushing the edge of what TV could do.  The plots all went by the wayside, but it was marvelous to see just what Doctor Who could do, and made a nice change to be given the odd farce.

It's fair to say that back in the 1960's, nothing else on British TV even came close.  Looking back on it now however, it seems the weaker of seasons under William Hartnell's reign.

Third Season

By the time Verity Lambert left, the show's popularity was beginning to wane.  It's fair to say that people loved the Daleks more than they loved the show, and constant calls for their return prompted a huge Dalek epic being scheduled into the mix and then dumped upon the new production team.  John Wiles and Donald Tosh never wanted it, and they had as little to do with it as possible, leaving it in the hands of the Director to sort out.  Similarly, Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, was fed up of them too.  He gave as little time as possible to the script.  In hindsight, it's amazing it turned out as well as it did.

Maybe by happenstance, the shift in production team offered a very happy accident.  As they began to change the TARDIS crew around, they had to quickly take out the old ones, and thus a very dark and edgy feel to the show returned.  By the end of the Daleks' Master Plan, you really don't know what will happen next, as it seems anyone can be killed off at any time.  As I've mentioned in the episode reviews themselves, these stories feel like they would be very much at home in the Phillip Hinchcliffe era.

It's a shame then that John Wiles really couldn't stand William Hartnell, and the new producer Innes Lloyd had the totally opposite views to Donald Tosh on how Doctor Who should look.

As soon as Innes Lloyd took over, the show would effectively see a reboot.  Within two stories (both actually quite good by the way), the companions would be gone, and a hip, fresh pair would be on board.  From now until almost the end of Patrick Troughton's run, we would see "monster of the week" style episodes, with more bases under siege than you could shake a stick at.

The Doctor 

It's hard not to look back on William Hartnell's Doctor with fondness.  I was indeed shocked the first time I watched An Unearthly Child through to Edge of Destruction, because he was essentially the bad guy, unable to get along with anyone and thrown together for mutual survival.  I was cheering when Barbara gives him a good old piece of her mind, but I could honestly look at the character and get excited about it as Hartnell undoubtedly made it interesting and unpredictable.

In the following stories, he mellows out into a chuckling, cheerful old grandfather that occasionally gets upset, but is easily brought around by the end of the show.  In some ways, it's a shame this was the case, but he was the main character in a kids show after all.  Over time however (probably due to his difficulty with more complex lines), more and more focus is taken off him and given to others, and it's never quite returned, only to reprise in brief flashes of inspired acting, like the beginning of the Time Meddler, the end of the Daleks' Master Plan, and throughout the Massacre.

During Peter Purves' tenure, it is clear that he has to do some of the heavy lifting, which is sad, because Hartnell LOVED the show.  His inability to get on with production staff was a testament to this, as he wanted it to be the best it possibly could be.

I feel sorry for him by the time the Tenth Planet aired.  The show: An Adventure in Space and Time suggests that he felt very alone and abandoned, with all of his good relationships stripped away and replaced by strangers, until the axe finally came down on him too.

I will always hold a fond place for the First Doctor in my heart, as I get really passionate when I think of just how groundbreaking the show would have been in those days.  Indeed it was dangerous for the BBC to make a show like this, a risk of ridicule and little return.  Back in the beginning, few would have believed in the idea, and no one..... no one at all, believed in the show more than William Hartnell...

Favourite Moment

It's hard to argue with the iconic image of the Dalek rising out of the water in the Dalek Invasion of Earth.  There's just something about it, the Doctor's most famous and deadly enemy, appearing here, on Earth.  It's enough to make the hair at the back of your neck stand on end even fifty years later.

Worst Moment

The worst moment (well, closer to fifteen minutes, actually) in the First Doctor's run has to be the scene where Dodo and Steven are searching Mrs Wigg's kitchen for the key in the Celestial Toymaker.  It's just....awful, really, really awful.

Favourite Story

The Aztecs

Hmmm.... it has to be..... the Aztecs.  The character development and political tension in the story are just great.

Marco Polo is fantastic, but I suspect much of its appeal is because it's a missing episode.  If it were in the archive, would it really stand up to all the hype?

The Massacre is also one of the best, but the tension isn't maintained as high as the Aztecs, when there are scenes with people sitting around and talking.

The War Machines and Galaxy 4 also deserve special mention and rank very highly, but ultimately, the technology makes them a bit silly - I mean, come on,  "DOC-TOR-WHO-ISSSSSSS-RE-QUIRED!"

Worst Story

The Celestial Toymaker

Hands down, the Celestial Toymaker.  The Crusade is close, but it has nice potential and even better acting that just wasn't capitalised on or drawn together.  The Toymaker is tedious and ill produced.

Favourite Companion

Steven Taylor

This one is harder.  I think almost all of them had good aspects.  The one who shone out above the rest for me was Steven.  He came into the show in an interesting way, and his interaction with the stuff he saw was realistic.  He was capable of holding the show, and could be more than just a strong man for the fight scenes.

Worst Companion 

Dodo Chaplet

Okay.  Well, Katarina was short lived, but her death scene was amazing.

Susan was profoundly annoying with her over the top hysterics, but had some interesting character traits e.g. telepathy and the fact that she's an alien like the Doctor.

Ian was supposed to be a science teacher, but was better in a fight.  Despite this, he was quite warm and likable.

Polly is quite arrogant and hard to get used to, but she was meant to be.  Also, my word, she was pretty.

I would have to say that the winner is Dodo.  Her strictly bonkers entrance and exit make her memorable for all the wrong reasons, and her ever changing accent was profoundly annoying, as was her inability to tell friend from foe.

The Tenth Planet

4 episodes
Aired between 8th October 1966 and 29th October 1966

Written by Kit Peddler and Gerry Davis
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Directed by Derek Martinus

Synopsis

Earth 1986.

Snowcap Antarctic Space Tracking Station is monitoring a newly launched shuttle.  It's a manned flight, taking the Zeus IV Atmospheric Testing Probe into orbit.  Everything seems to be running fine for the pilots: Shultz and Williams.

Outside the tracking station, the TARDIS lands in the middle of a blizzard.  The Doctor, Ben and Polly suit up in suitably warm clothing, except for the legs, and they forget to cover their faces.

They venture outside and find a strange camera pointing at them.  Shortly after, a bunch of soldiers jump out of a hatch in the ground and take them prisoner.

The group are led into Snowcap base, where they are interrogated as to how they got there.  The crew send for the commander - General Cutler - who is just as suspicious about the TARDIS' sudden appearance.  He takes them to the control room until he can figure out what to do with them, but is soon distracted when alarms begin to sound.  Zeus IV has suddenly been drawn off course and is losing power.

The Doctor suddenly jumps up and announces that he knows what's going on.  He demands to see the General, but isn't taken seriously.  He writes something down on a piece of paper and hands it to Doctor Barclay, one of the base's scientists, explaining that he has wrote down what's causing the problem.

Shultz checks his instruments and to his astonishment, he sees another planet.  Williams confirms this, It's not long before Snowcap Base have the planet on their screens too.  To everyone's amazement, it has appeared between Earth and Mars, and is a perfect copy of Earth, but with the continents upside down.  Barclay notes that this is exactly what the Doctor predicted.

Zeus IV states they're low on fuel, leading the crew at Snowcap Base to attempt to help the shuttle down to Earth.  Despite their efforts, the shuttle doesn't re-correct its course.

At a loss, Barclay goes to the Doctor and asks for advice.  The Doctor says that millions of years ago, Earth had a twin planet that mysteriously disappeared, and that he expects visitors to arrive soon.

General Cutler gets orders from Geneva to interrogate the Doctor to find out what he knows, Cutler makes demands of the Doctor to tell him the truth, but the Doctor decides not to be too hasty in explaining that they're time travelers.

Cutler grows impatient and sends his men outside to break into the TARDIS.  As they reach it, a strange flying saucer lands nearby.  The soldiers cannot get the TARDIS open, so they run back to the base to get cutting torches, whilst some wait by the blue box.

As they examine the TARDIS, strange robotic beings approach and attack the men, disguising themselves in the coats.

When the soldiers return with cutting equipment, the robotic creatures reveal themselves and knock the rest of the soldiers out, leaving them to die in the blizzard.

Back in the base, the Doctor is still expecting visitors, and a breakdown in electronic communication suggests this.  In fact, Geneva have to watch local TV reports to get information on what's happening as they're cut off from Snowcap Base.

The staff of Snowcap are all too preoccupied to notice the robotic beings who turn up, and take everyone captive.  They say they're called Cybermen, and come from Earth's twin - Mondas.  Polly begs the Cybermen to help bring down Zeus IV safely, but the Cyberman refuses, saying that people die all the time, but nobody really gets upset about that, so why should he care about the shuttle?

The Cyberman leader (or Cyberleader if you will, although they're not called that yet) explains that Mondas drifted away from Earth to the edge of space.  Throughout this time, the Mondasian's found ways of replacing damaged or old body parts with cybernetics, until they eventually had eliminated all weaknesses and emotions.

General Cutler makes a rash move of sounding a panic alarm that goes to Geneva, and is stunned by the Cybermen for his troubles.

Geneva calls the base to check what's wrong, and the Cybermen make Barclay say it's a false alarm.  When Geneva accept the explanation, the Cybermen tell Barclay that they can't get Zeus IV down, as Mondas is too close to earth, and the gravity waves are pretty brutal.

Ben tries to take a human gun and lead a rebellion, but the gun is taken off him and bent by the Cybernman's own fleshy hands.  The robotic enemies put him in an isolated projection room out of the way.

Polly and the staff at Snowcap Base eventually convince the Cybermen to let them try and rescue Zeus IV, but it's no good, as the ship is dragged too far off course and explodes.

By questioning the Cybermen, Polly quickly learns that Mondas is draining all the energy from Earth, and that it will be destroyed in the process, but she shouldn't worry because the Cybermen intend to bring all of Earth's population to Mondas where they will become like the Cybermen.

Ben meanwhile, has been trying to find a way out of the projection room.  He comes up with a plan to shine the currently loaded film onto the door and makes a racket until one of the Cybermen come in to see what's going on.  The robotic man is temporarily blinded by the projector, long enough for Ben to steal it's futuristic gun and kill it.  He is upset that it came to that though.

He sneaks back to the control room, and hands the heat ray to Cutler who's just regained consciousness.  Cutler jumps up and kills the remaining Cybermen before contacting Geneva to inform them of the attack.  Geneva agree to warn all the military bases, but tell Cutler that his son (an astronaut) was sent up in a rocket to try and rescue Zeus IV.  Cutler now fears that they are in danger too.

All eyes turn to the scanner as hundreds of Cyber ships make their way towards Earth.

The Doctor suddenly collapses, allegedly because of Mondas' energy drain.  He is taken to the barracks and left to recover whilst Ben and Polly join the rest of the staff in the control centre, as they contact Zeus V where Cutlers son is the pilot.

Cutler decides that the only sure way to get his son back to Earth is to destroy Mondas.  It just so happens that he has a weapon of mass destruction in the base called the Z- Bomb.  Greater than an A bomb (naturally), it has the power to split the planet in two.  He intends to fire the bomb at Mondas.  Cutler calls Geneva to get approval, but is denied as the results are too unpredictable and could accidentally wipe out Earth as well.  Not to be deterred, Cutler rephrases the question, and asks if he has permission to do anything necessary to stop the Cyber invasion.  Geneva tell him he can.

Ben and Polly try to convince Cutler not to use the bomb, as the Doctor said that Mondas will burn itself out if they just wait.  Cutler isn't inclined to however, and confines Ben to the barracks, where the Doctor is resting.  When he's taken there, he wastes no time trying to get out, and begins loosening the air vent cover.

Cutler orders the scientists to arm the bomb with him, which they do under protest.  Polly talks to Barclay, who admits that he thinks this will all end badly.  Polly suggests that they rig the bomb not to explode, Barclay agrees and they sneak off to find Ben who has just about got the cover off. Barclay tells Ben how to get to the bomb, and how to sabotage the rocket.

Alarms begin to sound, hailing the arrival of more Cybermen.  They land and begin making their way across the wastes to the base, but are killed as they approach by the captured Cyberman heat rays.

Ben makes it to the bomb and disarms it, but is caught by Cutler whilst he's sabotaging the rocket.  Cutler knocks Ben unconscious, and confronts Barclay with his likely treachery.  Luckily for Barclay, he's needed to actually launch the rocket.

The countdown begins, and Polly revives Ben, asking him if he was successful in sabotaging the rocket.  Ben is unsure if he pulled it off in time, as the countdown winds its way to zero.

Thankfully, Ben did manage it, and the engines fail to ignite.  Cutler is furious and pulls out a pistol, threatening to kill Ben and Barclay, and leave Polly and the Doctor outside to freeze.

The Doctor shows up again, and demands Cutler stops, insisting that Mondas will burn itself out.  Cutler is on a rant and doesn't hear the warnings that more Cybermen have arrived.  He gets ready to execute the people who he believes have sentenced his son to death, but is killed just in the nick of time by more Cybermen.

Polly asks the Doctor if he's ok.  He says he is, but "this old body of mine is wearing a bit thin,"

The Doctor tries to calm everyone down and offers to negotiate a peace, but the Cybermen refuse to even consider it whilst missiles are pointed at their planet.  They order that the Z Bomb be taken out of the rocket, and to ensure this happens, they take Polly as a hostage back to the Cyber ship.

When Polly reaches the ship, she is stunned and placed on an uncomfortable metal chair, and her hands are bound by metal straps.

As work to disarm the Z Bomb commences, the Cybermen are contacted by Geneva, where another invasion force have landed.  The Cybermen in Geneva issue orders to the Snowcap Cybermen, that they must move to their secondary objective.  When the Doctor discovers that it means the destruction of the Earth, he hits the loudspeaker button, and warns the crew to not disarm the bomb.

As it happens, Ben was taken along with the scientists to help disarm the bomb, and he hears the Doctor's communication.  He begins to question why the Cybermen aren't disarming the bomb themselves.  They don't even stay in the same room, only watch from outside.

He reckons that the Cybermen are vulnerable to radiation.  He puts it to the test by getting the scientists to play dead, forcing one of them inside to see what's gone wrong.  As soon as it enters, the Cyberman begins to suffer.  Ben shoves it back outside and locks the door.

Confident that they have a powerful bargaining chip, he orders the return of Polly, but the Cybermen see it more as a stalemate and refuse, taking the Doctor to the ship also, and threatening to kill them unless the bomb is disarmed.

Ben thinks on his feet and gets the scientists to remove some radioactive rods from the bomb, as the robotic men turn up outside and try to gas them out of the room.  Ben and the scientists are forced to open the door.  Thanks to the rods and using the heat rays, they manage to get the better of the Cybermen and escape.

Ben and the scientists return to the control centre and take back the base.  As they prepare for more visitors, they see Mondas glowing white before exploding apart.  When the planet is destroyed, the remaining Cybermen all melt into their suits and die.  Control and power returns to Zeus V, allowing Snowcap Base to safely guide them in to land.

Ben rushes to the Cyber ship, and rescues Polly and the Doctor, who is again, very weak.  Ben wakes him up and tells him it's all over, but the Doctor says "it's far from all over" and asks to be returned to the TARDIS quickly.  Ben gives him his cloak, and the Doctor rushes off alone, back to the ship.

Once inside he closes the doors, and begins working the controls.  He's clearly not ok, and the TARDIS seems to go haywire with blinking lights and strange noises until he collapses on the floor.

Ben and Polly who were left banging on the door outside are eventually let in by the TARDIS, and rush over to the Doctor.

Polly cradles him to make sure he's ok, but as the pair look onward, they see the Doctor's face glow brilliantly white before it changes to the face of a complete stranger...

Trivia

• If you remember from the previous story, Patrick Troughton initially turned down the role of the Doctor.  Even though this was the case, one thing was certain - William Hartnell had to go.  Although no one really knew it explicitly, his illness was making life difficult.  He was always ill, found it difficult to remember the lines, and a day didn't go by without him having some kind of major tantrum with the cast and crew.  

• Unconfirmed sources say that Hartnell recommended Troughton as a worthy successor when he learned he was to go.  This might have persuaded Innes Lloyd to continue to ask Troughton (which he did).  Patrick eventually changed his mind and agreed to come on board.

• When they met, Troughton was appropriately humble to Hartnell, who seemed to appreciate it.  People even said that the former Doctor was pleased with his replacement, believing that the show would be left in good hands.  

• During filming of the Tenth Planet, Hartnell fell ill with bronchitis, and that's why the Doctor spends the episode confined to bed.  His usual lines were given to Ben (the Doctor says this; the Doctor says that), and the science stuff was given to the base's scientist.  Luckily, he was back ready to perform for episode 4.

• From what I know, there was little send off for William Hartnell.  He turned up, filmed the regeneration scene, and when the work was done, simply went home at the end of the day.  Although he was a crotchety, irascible (and somewhat racist) man, this seems a little tragic that a man who brought so much joy to the nations children, and being such a fan of the show, would simply melt away into the background.  Following Doctor Who, he believed that he would go on to do more TV, but his illness got the better of him.  He only starred in an episode of Z Cars, and did a bit of pantomime before he would reappear again in The Three Doctors.

• Finally, for a bit of fun.  Bossk's suit in the Empire Strike's back is actually the one William's wore for this story!!!

What worked

• The antarctic scene was done quite well actually.  Besides the Cybermen coming onto the set parallel to the back of it, you would find it difficult to tell where the stage began and ended.

• I might catch some heat for this, but I thought the Cybermen were creepy as hell.  Ok, they get to look much, much better as the show goes on, but as an initial go at an inhuman monster, nothing's as creepy as a giant in a mask that a rapist might wear.

• The space command set was also pretty good, being on multiple levels gave it a bigger impact.

• General Cutler did a decent job too.  Very much in keeping with what we would later class the 80's US military of being like.

• If I credit Steven of bringing a realistic approach to the role, then I think I should extend that courtesy to Michael Craze and Anneke Wills too.  They both act in ways that I think are in character and help illustrate the potential danger and need for action

What didn't work

• Wearing a miniskirt in the middle of a blizzard at the South Pole has go to go down as a pretty bad idea.  

• The international scene doesn't have to be emphasised by everyone doing their nations stereotypical accents.  Even the Africans in Geneva are dressed up in traditional ceremonial garb.

• It should go without saying, but those original Cybermen accents were awful.  I would possibly consider all the other Doctor Who stories having theme tunes like the Gunfighters, before I would accept more of this stuff.

• Although I like the look of the Cybermen, that chest plate does look a bit cumbersome.  It would have been better to shrink it down a bit.  

• Why did the continents of Mondas have to be the same, but upside down?

• Ben claims that the Doctor told him Mondas will burn itself out.  When exactly did he have this conversation?

• The ventilator shaft leads directly from the barracks to the launch pad.  Hang on, won't it get a bit warm in the sleeping quarters when gallons of rocket fuel is pumped through the system?

Overall Feelings

Ok, so you hire an actual scientist (an ophthalmologist no less), and ask him to come up with a story based on real life issues.  What you get is a story about machine men coming from a planet that rockets into the solar system and looks the exact duplicate of our own.  Oh and this planet can suck energy by the way, but ultimately just destroys itself.

I would find it frustrating to understand why this was ever given the okay by Gerry Davis, the current script editor.  But it's worth noting that a story about a twin planet hiding on the dark side of the sun had been trying to get through the Doctor Who doors since 1963.  When you know this, it's worth questioning how much of this was actually Kit Pedlar's idea (he's the scientist).

As it happens, Pedlar came up with the idea for the Cybermen, taking the concept of transplants in humans to the extreme.  This was way before the cyberpunk era was conceived, and still works as a thought provoking concept, even today.  Even the space station in the arctic makes sort of scientific sense as back then, even the moon landing hadn't taken place, but it was nice to romanticise about what it would be like.

This story brings two huge things to the table - the introduction of the Cybermen, and the first ever regeneration of the Doctor.  Next to this spectacle, just like the Dalek Invasion of Earth, the plot is inconsequential.  As a further correlation, both have planets that can be piloted by the baddies.

I watched the story, urging it to be something it's not.  The scenery is good, the monsters although dated, are creepy (with the exception of their voices), and the main actors perform well.  It just all comes crashing down when you have a plot that resolves itself and a totally bonkers premise.  People must have liked it at the time though, because from hereon in, there will be ton's more of the base under siege stories.  Innes Lloyd found a winning formula and ran with it.

Rating

5 out of 10

The true rating of this show is actually 3 out of 10, but it gets +1 because it's the introduction of the Cybermen, and it gets +1 because it's the regeneration of the Doctor.

Rewatchability Factor

6 out of 10

The story is pretty absurd, but it's worth a watch for the end of an era, and the introduction of an iconic villain, even if they do talk rather silly

Watch this if you liked...

• Fury from the Deep

• The Moonbase

• The Invasion

• The Ambassadors of Death

Consulting the Matrix

Do you prefer the twin planet of Mondas as a means of introducing the Cybermen, or do you prefer them to be the invention of John Lumic?

The Smugglers

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!

Overall Feelings

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 Reign of Terror

• The Highlanders

• The Daemons 

• 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?