Doctor Who: The Smugglers

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The Smugglers is the first serial of Doctor Who Season 4, originally broadcast in four episodes from 10 September to 1 October 1966. It was written by Brian Hayles and directed by Julia Smith. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly, and Michael Craze as Ben Jackson.

Landing in 17th-century Cornwall, the Doctor, Polly, and Ben stumble into a tangle of coastal crime where a dying churchwarden whispers a riddle about Captain Avery’s hidden treasure, ruthless pirates led by Captain Pike and Cherub hunt the clues. Wary villagers and corrupt officials blur friend and foe; with caves, cellars, and cliffside escapes, the adventure plays like a lively swashbuckler, and the newcomers

Tragically, all four episodes are missing from the BBC archives, though telesnap reconstructions exist.

Episode 1

The TARDIS lands on a windy coast in seventeenth-century Cornwall. The Doctor, Ben, and Polly walk to a lonely church. Inside, the churchwarden, Joseph Longfoot, fears smugglers and pirates. Trusting the Doctor, he whispers a riddle of names, the key to a hidden treasure, and begs him to keep it secret.

The Doctor sends Ben and Polly to find shelter at an inn. The landlord, Kewper, smiles too much and asks questions. A grand local, Squire Edwards, arrives and acts friendly, but he and Kewper clearly know each other. Ben grows suspicious.

In the churchyard, a scarred pirate, Cherub, ambushes the Doctor. He says Captain Pike wants the “secret of Avery’s gold.” Cherub kidnaps the Doctor and drags him toward a waiting boat.

Back at the inn, word comes that Longfoot has been murdered. The Squire suddenly turns harsh and accuses Ben and Polly. A constable ties them up and takes them to the Squire’s house. From a window they see men shifting barrels and signalling to the cove. They realise the Squire and Kewper run the local smuggling.

Out at sea, the Doctor is taken aboard Captain Pike’s ship. Pike, elegant and deadly, demands the riddle. The Doctor plays for time. On shore, Ben and Polly are locked in a cellar as the smugglers prepare to silence them. The net closes on all three travellers.

Episode 2

Cherub keeps the Doctor prisoner aboard Captain Pike’s ship and demands the riddle to Avery’s gold. The Doctor smiles, stalls for time, and studies the crew. A watchman named Jamaica guards him. With jokes and quick hands, the Doctor turns a drink and a dropped key into a chance.

Jamaica slumps; the Doctor slips to the deck, lowers a boat, and rows for shore as dawn breaks. Cherub returns, finds the prisoner gone, and rages. Pike swears to land and hunt the Doctor: and the treasure.

In Cornwall, Ben and Polly sit tied in the Squire’s cellar, accused of killing Joseph Longfoot. They hear men unloading barrels and realise the Squire and Kewper run the local smuggling. Polly distracts a servant; Ben breaks a chair, frees them both, and they creep to a window. Outside, signals flash toward the cove. The pair race for the church to find the Doctor, but Kewper and his men catch them and drag them along the cliff path as extra hands for the run.

On the beach, whispers turn to shouts as contraband shifts from cave to carts. A lookout cries that a ship lies off the bay: Pike’s. Pistols are cocked; blades show. As boats pull in through the surf, Cherub jumps ashore. He points straight at Ben and Polly and orders the smugglers to bring the strangers to Captain Pike.

Episode 3

Ben and Polly are dragged through the surf to Captain Pike’s longboat and forced aboard his ship. Pike questions them about “Avery’s gold.” They know nothing. Cherub sneers and says the Doctor has the riddle. Pike orders a landing party to seize the village and find the Doctor.

Meanwhile, the Doctor reaches the church and learns the Squire has accused his friends of murder. He goes to the Squire’s house to protest, and walks into a trap. Kewper and the Squire lock the doors and demand the riddle for themselves. The Doctor refuses, warning that pirates are close.

Boats ground at the cove. Pike and Cherub storm the inn, scatter the smugglers, and march up to the Squire’s house. Pistols level, Pike takes charge. He threatens the Squire and Kewper with hanging unless they help search for the treasure. The Doctor is kept under guard.

On the headland, a quiet stranger (Blake, an excise officer) watches the landing and hurries off to fetch his men. At sea, a lookout signals trouble on the shore.

Night falls. Pike divides his forces: Cherub to the church, Kewper to the cellars, the Squire to guide them through village paths. Ben and Polly are hauled ashore as hostages. The Doctor studies the riddle again, glancing toward the dark church: knowing the final hunt will start there by dawn.

Episode 4

Dawn breaks over Cornwall. Cherub waits in the church with pistols ready. The Doctor studies Longfoot’s riddle (“small beer, ring o’ bells, method of doubling, and the Reverend Doctor.”) He tests the bell ropes, finds a hidden catch behind the coloured “sally,” and pulls twice. A panel slides in the wall of the crypt. Inside lies Avery’s gold.

Cherub steps out and forces the Doctor to hand it over. Before he can leave, Captain Pike and his men rush in. Pike and Cherub quarrel over the share. Steel flashes. Cherub falls, dead by Pike’s sword. Pike orders the chests carried to the boats.

Outside, Excise Officer Blake and his revenue men surround the village. At the Squire’s house, Kewper tries to bluff and is seized. The Squire is exposed as the smugglers’ patron and put under guard. Shots echo along the lanes as revenue men close on the church.

In the porch, Ben and Polly slip free of a guard and join the Doctor. Together they topple a cart to block the door. Blake storms the church. A fierce skirmish follows among pews and tombs. Pike fights like a gentleman pirate, wounds a revenue man, then is brought down. His crew scatter or surrender. The treasure is recovered.

The Doctor refuses any reward and wishes Blake good fortune. He leads Ben and Polly back to the beach. The TARDIS stands in the wind. They step inside and vanish, leaving the ruined smuggling ring, the arrested Squire, and Avery’s gold safe in honest hands.

Themes

As a windswept swashbuckler, The Smugglers delivers brisk fun and handsome location work. It doesn’t reach the moral polish of The Aztecs or the courtly steel of The Crusade, but it’s surer of tone than The Gunfighters, landing in the solid mid-tier of Hartnell adventures.

Cornish coves, coded rhymes, and cutthroats give the First Doctor a lively playground, while Ben and Polly’s first full trip proves the new team can carry a story without leaning on spectacle.

Its place in the tapestry is neat and important. Coming straight after The War Machines, it beds in Ben and Polly before the epochal pivot of The Tenth Planet, and stands as one of the programme’s final pure historicals ahead of that form’s long hiatus until Black Orchid.

The Doctor’s light-footed meddling without sci-fi props nods back to the early template set by Marco Polo and The Aztecs, even as the horizon visibly darkens toward regeneration. As a story, it rates well for adventure value and for bridging eras: salt air in the lungs before the cold wind of the South Pole.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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