Back from Cornwall, so it's only fitting that we commemorate the first of the two Davis historicals (I discussed the paucity of beards in the other one here). And it's always one I've been rather fond of.
I never got round to do a location recce on our recent trip, despite being rather close geographically to the actual places in question. Maybe the tedium of peering at pages of grainy telesnaps to find something recognisable was too much of a chore? More likely, the prospect of facing the crushing disappointment of not being able to locate the precise small bush that George A. Cooper attempts to peer through (as seen on the behind-the-scenes cine footage) would be just too much to bear.
I've always adored this TARDIS shot of Polly, Ben and the Doctor. Back in the early 1980's, it was always like a window into a world that you could never, ever hope to see for yourself. (The archive holdings for episodes featuring Anneke Wills and Michael Craze are still fairly spartan, but back in 1981 they couldn't even boast a complete story of their own. Pedants will note that "The War Machines" is still not technically complete to this day, but that's another story).
Anyway, to this day "The Smugglers" is still totally absent from the archives save for a few censor clips, so we haven't come that far in almost 35 years. Which is an incredible shame, as it's robbing us of seeing Paul Whitsun-Bloody-Jones in a magnificent hat.
The arse-end of Hartnell's tenure on the series often retrospectively feels like it should actually be the beginning of the Troughton era, but with the wrong actor in the leading role. This certainly isn't obvious from this story, which is technically Hartnell's last as a regular in the series. Wills and Craze are jaw-droppingly good as new blood, and Hartnell's far from being past his prime either. (In fact, it would have been interesting to see how Season Four would have shaped up with him still as the lead. The First Doctor's ongoing relationship with Ben and Polly is something that could have been very entertaining).
At the end of the day, "The Smugglers" is basically Doctor Who doing Doctor Syn, which is no bad thing at all. (It worked splendidly for Hammer, and they didn't have the rights either). And for all his Ice Warriors, Celestial Toymakers and oddly-coiffured Pels, this is Brian Hayles' best and most fun Doctor Who script.
Now, how about a taste of Thomas Tickler?
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