Doctor Who: The Highlanders

The Highlanders is the fourth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 17 December 1966 to 7 January 1967.

Following the Battle of Culloden, the British army is triumphant over the rebel forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie. When the TARDIS arrives, the Second Doctor, Ben and Polly encounter fleeing Scots rebels and are taken prisoner by them.

They all hide in a deserted cottage with the Laird Colin McLaren, who has been badly wounded; his daughter Kirsty; his piper Jamie McCrimmon; and his son Alexander, who dies defending them from a patrol of English soldiers mopping up survivors.

The patrol leader, Lt. Algernon Ffinch, is an ineffectual fop, but his Sergeant is more forceful and takes the Doctor, Jamie, Ben and the Laird to be hanged. But Polly and Kirsty manage to slip away.

The two women hide in a cave, then an animal pit, from Lt. Ffinch, who believes the Prince to be one of them following the rumour that he fled the battlefield as a woman. Eventually Ffinch finds them, but they trick him and steal his money. Later in Inverness, the nearest major town to Culloden, they run into him again and use his previous foolishness to blackmail him.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Royal Commissioner of Prisons, a shady character called Grey, plots to enslave any highlanders still alive and ship them to the colonies. He makes contact with an unscrupulous sea captain called Trask who agrees to use his ship “The Annabelle” for this.

Amongst the prisoners he identifies for sale are the Doctor, Jamie, Ben, and the Laird. They are taken to the prison in Inverness but the Doctor cons his way out, and overpowers Grey and his secretary Perkins to make his escape. Grey is freed by Trask, who reports that the transportation plan has begun and arranges for a number of prisoners, including Jamie, Ben and the Laird, to be transferred to the ship.

The prisoners learn that they are being sold as slaves but most accept this fate, believing seven years indentured labour to be better than the gallows. Only Ben, Jamie, the Laird and one of his friends, Willie Mackay, refuse to sign. When Ben attacks Grey, Trask has him thrown into the sea at the end of a rope.

The Doctor has adopted the guises of both a kitchen maid and a German man, and uses these identities to move about freely. He is reunited with Polly and Kirsty, then with Ben, who has swum to safety. The Doctor returns to Grey, with a concocted story about Bonnie Prince Charlie’s ring, claiming to know the fugitive Prince’s whereabouts.

He names the prince as the piper Jamie. The ruse works, distracting Grey and Trask while the girls free the prisoners and supply them with arms for an uprising. When Grey and Trask check on Jamie they are captured by the armed highlanders, and a revolt begins.

Trask flees, is wounded and thrown overboard. Willie Mackay takes control of the “Annabelle” and determines to sail her to freedom in France, happy to accept Perkins as a volunteer for this journey, along with Kirsty and her father.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly return to the town, using Grey as a hostage to ensure their freedom of movement, and are joined by Jamie, who has decided to stay and help them find the TARDIS. The party loses Grey but finds Ffinch, whom they force to help them return to Culloden. Grey reaches the cottage where he first met the Doctor, and brings with him a patrol of soldiers.

Ffinch arrests Grey for the transportation scheme. The solicitor has lost the paperwork (thanks to the Doctor) and is unable to prove the legality of his plans. Thanked by a kiss from Polly, Lt. Ffinch departs. The Doctor, Ben and Polly return to the TARDIS and invite their new friend, Jamie McCrimmon, on board. He nervously accepts.

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

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

Step aboard the TARDIS and journey across the universe with every incarnation of The Doctor in this series of unofficial Doctor Who episode companions.

This collection of twelve books explores every televised adventure of the Time Lord’s lives.

Each volume in the series delves into a different Doctor’s era, offering detailed episode guides, behind-the-scenes insights, character profiles, and story synopses.

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