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The Highlanders Format Reviewed: CD Review The Highlanders is the second story of Patrick Troughtons era, and sadly is the second of his stories that no longer exist on videotape. The Highlanders is also credited to be the last of the historical tales that were part of Doctor Whos remit of education combined with entertainment from its creation. Of course there are many subsequent tales where periods of history are visited, important ones at that, but this story set in the aftermath of the battle of Culloden is the last story to really fulfil the educational premise. The story sees the Tardis crew of the Doctor, Ben and Polly land in an adjacent glen, and are soon captured by a small band of Scots. The crew then spend the large part of the entire story incarcerated by one group or other, with Polly being separated from Ben and the Doctor and travelling seperately with a Scots girl, Kirsty, to where the Doctor and Ben have been taken. Eventually they escape, and fend off the schemes of solicitor Grey. Once free, Scot Jamie McCrimmon who has been aiding the Doctor throughout the story is invited to join the Tardis Crew, an invitation that he accepts. The main characters here are the Doctor as played by Patrick Troughton, Ben as played by Micheal Craze and Polly as played by Anneke Wills. Troughton here shows his ability to perform a variety of roles in the various guises he adopts, and comes accross well as a result. Craze is typically brash and up-front in his portrayal of Ben, and Wills gives a decent performance, though slightly withdrawn here, as Polly. Ben and Polly though are largely irrelevant to the story in parts, and this I think can be ascribed to the introduction of Frazer Hines as Jamie. In my opinion, at points where there are a lot of regular cast members, it becomes much more difficult to involve them and as a consequence, some stories see some companions as being irrelevant to the tale. The guest cast here strictly includes Frazer Hines as Jamie, despite the fact that he becomes part of the regular cast at the end. His performance is good, a sign of things to come. He is what I would call a natural actor, someone who doesn't appear to be forcing a performance out and this always comes accross well for me. Of the rest of the guest cast, the most notable are David Garth as solicitor Grey and Micheal Elwyn as Lt. Algernon Ffinch. Both give good accounts of themselves and their good performances are pivotal to the plot. As with all TV adventures that have been lost, the success on audio comes down to how much of the episodes are visually based. Frazer Hines provides the linking narration here, as he has done on many stories. For The Highlanders though, I feel it doesn't actually translate that well to audio, as there are several fight scenes and others that would greatly benefit having the visual stimulus alongside the audio track. That said, it's not unpleasant to listen to and the story itself is decent. The plot seems to have been well thought out, and events follow each other naturally. Despite a large regular cast list (if we are to include Jamie), nobody is really pushed out and every one gets a fair enough crack of the whip, so the story is pretty good. Overall, I think this is probably a lost gem that really suffers from not having the videotape. It is a decent story, with some good performances throughout the entire cast, and it introduces Jamie McCrimmon who became as synonamous with the Doctors second incarnation as Patrick Troughton. Well worth a listen, but perhaps not too many repeats unless the video is found. Rating:  |