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The Smugglers Format Reviewed: CD Review The Smugglers is the penultimate story of the Doctors first incarnation, played by William Hartnell. This story also marks the first journey in the Tardis of Ben and Polly. Strangely, as it was filmed in the block for the second season, it was shown as the first story of season three. It is also said that it was during the filming of The Smugglers that William Hartnell decided to leave the show, and the deliberations began as to whether the show had a future, and if so what that future would hold. Ben and Polly's first journey in the Tardis sees them land on a beach in Cornwall. From there they meet a church warden who was murdered soon afterwards and given a cryptic message. The Tardis crew then get caught up in a tale of smugglers, pirates and villainy, ending when the pirate captain is eventually killed by revenue militia after having discovered that which he had sought for a long time. The story in itself is a relatively straight forward romp in the history of England. It is set in the seventeenth century, a time when pirates and smugglers of this ilk would have existed. It is not a great Doctor Who historical tale really such as Marco Polo, and does not really fit around great events of Earth history. That said, it is better that stories set in Earth history do not always fall on major historical moments as this would be slightly unrealistic. The plot is well thought out, and the cryptic message is a good tool to reveal the treasure, most in keeping with what we all would romantically believe pirate treasure maps and such would be. There is also a good mix of characters here, from the villainous smuggling crew, the cunning Captain Pike and the Squire to the upstanding Revenue Officer and Tardis crew. It all makes for some interesting interplay between the characters, with everyone having their own agenda, including the Tardis crew who want really only to leave and ensure that the village is not harmed by the smuggling ring. William Hartnell here is typically brusque and bombastic, although he seems to struggle to work out the cryptic riddle which is a surprise. Micheal Craze as Ben and Anneke Wills as Polly is also typically decent performances. The guest cast is also fairly strong, with the pick of the bunch being Michael Godfrey as Captain Pike. All of the characters and how they are portrayed translate pretty well to audio, which is a good indicator that they would probably have also worked well on film. As an audio adventure, the Smugglers largely works. Only the end fight scene is predominantly visual and therefore doesn't translate too well. Also included here is a relatively lengthy forward to the next story, being William Hartnells last the Tenth Planet. I don't particularly like this, as it suggests that the story itself is probably too long, but in this case the Smugglers is a decent enough story to fill its allotted time so I am not too bothered. All in all, the Smugglers is a good example of early Doctor Who, and provides a strong penultimate story for the first lead actor, William Hartnell. The story also translates well to audio, which is just as well as the videotape no longer exists. The decent story and good performances should see the Smugglers sit well in the annuls of Doctor Who history as a decent early story. Rating:  |