Doctor Who: The Smugglers

Doctor Who: BBC Radio Collection

by Brian Hayles, William Hartnell (Narrator), Michael Craze (Narrator)

The Doctor, Ben and Polly arrive on a beach in 17th century Cornwall and soon become caught up in a web of intrigue. Pirates led by the villainous Captain Pike are searching for a hidden treasure, while a smuggling ring led by the local Squire is trying to offload contraband.

Ben and Polly are arrested for the murder of the local churchwarden. Meanwhile, the Doctor is kidnapped by Pike's men after overhearing a cryptic rhyme that holds the key to the treasure's location.

Can the TARDIS crew prevent the slaughter that seems inevitable, and still escape with their lives?

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

2 pages, Audio CD

First published October 1, 1966

About the author

Brian Hayles (7 March 1931 - 30 October 1978) was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His body of work as a writer for television and film, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, lasted from 1963 to 1989.

Hayles wrote six stories for Doctor Who and is best known for his creation of the Celestial Toymaker in the 1966 story of the same name, the Ice Warriors, introduced in the 1967 story of the same name, and the feudal planet Peladon, the setting for The Curse of Peladon and its sequel The Monster of Peladon. His other stories were The Smugglers and The Seeds of Death.

In addition to script writing for the radio series The Archers, Hayles penned a novel based on the soap called Spring at Brookfield (Tandem, 1975) set in the period between the two world wars. His other books included novelisations of his Doctor Who serials The Curse of Peladon (Target, 1974) and The Ice Warriors (Target, 1976), an adaptation of his scripts for the BBC drama The Moon Stallion (Mirror Books, 1978), and two horror plays for children, The Curse of the Labyrinth (Dobson, 1976) and Hour of the Werewolf (Dobson, 1976). An original novel entitled Goldhawk (NEL, 1979) was published posthumously.

Apart from Doctor Who, Hayles wrote for such television series as The Regiment, Barlow at Large, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, United!, Legend of Death, Public Eye, Z-Cars, BBC Playhouse, The Wednesday Thriller and Suspense. He also wrote the screenplays for the feature films Nothing But the Night (1972) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). The novelisation of the latter by Paul Victor (Futura, 1978) included a preface by Hayles entitled 'The Thinking Behind Atlantis' in which he explained the origins of the film's central concepts.

Hayles's final screenplay was for Arabian Adventure (1979), which he completed shortly before his death on 30 October 1978. The novelisation of the film by Keith Miles (Mirror Books, 1979) was dedicated to his memory.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable adaptation of the lost story 'The Smugglers'. A mix of audio recordings and linking material narrated by Anneke Wills, it reconstructs the story very well. The story is an enjoyable adventure yarn, but doesn't feel like Doctor Who. While I enjoyed listening to this serial, it didn't quite grip me as others have such as Marco Polo.

[Juan Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this not expecting to enjoy it very much at all. Given I had quite low expectations, it was therefore a pleasant surprise to discover that by the end of Part 4, I had grown quite fond of the story.

It’s by no means a classic. By Part 3, I had had enough of all the back and forth, of Ben’s Cockney charm and Polly’s shrieking, of Hartnell’s chuckles and all the nonsense with Avery’s gold, the local militia led by Josiah Blake, fending off the corrupt Squire and Captain Pike. It all felt too traditional for words….. like a poor man’s 1960’s version of a pirate film. Though I have to add that I did enjoy Ben and Polly fooling Tom with their fake magic and the Doctor telling fortunes. That was silly and fun.

Something clicks in Part 4 and saves it. Everyone seems to pick up a bit more energy. The performances are sparkier, Cherub gets his comeuppance and the Tardis team all leave together having had a jolly time. It feels like a children’s book come alive…..And maybe that’s the point. No more or less than a bit of disposable pirate fun for a Saturday evening in the 1960s. Maybe the key is to just enjoy it and not expect much more than that…..

Could have still done with an episode less though!!! 😂😂😂

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

As with all classic Doctor Who, its a wonder we have any of these missing episodes to watch at all! This has never been more true with this serial, as the BBC are missing all 4 episodes. This is quite literally, lost media. This seems very on the nose, given this episode is all about missing treasure and pirates! Unfortunately, this promise of action is not delivered through this story. Although there is a few twists and turns in the narrative, a lot of it boils down to a lot of back and forth with little in the way of pay off at the end.

From my understanding, the episode itself was shot a lot on location in Cornwall with amazing costumes to boot! Unfortunately a lot of this immersion is lost within this when you are only using audio clips from the original tapes and narrative to tie it together. Out of all the 'Lost Episode' Audio books, this one really could benefit from some TLC by the folks at Big Finish to really capture the pirate vibes the original broadcast was going for! With all that in mind, I did find this episode one of the dullest Doctor Who episodes I've listened to and would only suggest this to the most die hard of fans!

[John Parungao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considered as an example of Doctor Who's historical genre. It's more of a period piece, action and adventure in 17th century Cornish coast. The Doctor and his companions Ben and Polly must out fox pirates and a village full of smugglers.
The best parts of this story are The Doctor using his quick wits to outwit the pirate captain Pike and his right hand Cherub, meanwhile the Doctor pits the pirates against the smugglers. The smugglers and the pirates double cross each other and the pirates are in search of a hidden treasure.
There's plenty of action and intrigue and The Doctor and his friends will be lucky to escape.

[David Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the first doctor's revolving door of early companions this episode starts with a blink and you miss it change of TARDIS crew. I am thrilled to witness the first Doctor Who pirate adventure, but the story feels lacking compared to the depth and ahead of its time contepts of the previous two adventures written by Ian Stuart Black "The Savages" and "The War Machines" addressed an anti-racist morality story and AI. This is a much simpler high seas Pirate adventure. Not terrible, but not groundbreaking.

[George Nash]

Another Classic Doctor Who story that uses the audio from the lost season. This introduces new companions that end up traveling to 17th century Europe and the heroes end up getting in a twisted pirate tail of treasure hunting and deception.

My only complaint about the story is that the compainins feel like they instantly trust the Doctor even though they ended up just starting their journey with him and they join him completely on accident.

[Candyce Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Classic Doctor Who episodes turned radio-drama are so cool! I don't think they're ideal for new fans--or as an initial introduction to Doctor Who--but for those of us who have seen the episodes dozens of times, hearing them and then picturing the scenes in the mind's eye is a very cool experience, and one not to be missed.

[Tom Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his new companions, Ben and Polly, to the Cornish coast of the late 17th century. Here, pirates led by Captain Pike are searching for Avery's legendary treasure, while the local Squire Edwards and Kewper the inn-keeper operate a smuggling ring.
Longfoot, the church-warden, passes on a cryptic rhyme to the Doctor, and is then killed by Pike's henchman, Cherub. The Doctor is kidnapped by Pike's men, then Ben and Polly are arrested for Longfoot's murder. Having escaped, the three travellers are reunited at the church crypt, where Pike forces the Doctor to reveal the treasure's location by solving Longfoot's riddle. The TARDIS crew sneak away when Revenue officer Blake and his militia arrive to confront the pirates.

William Hartnell is on top form here. Despite nearing the end of this incarnation, the Doctor is by no means on his last legs, and he still has some new tricks up his sleeves.

Season 4 opener The Smugglers is notable for several reasons:
* It was the final historical story of the First Doctor's era, and was Hartnell's penultimate appearance in the lead (it was during production of this story that Hartnell decided to relinquish the title role).
* It achieved the lowest-ever viewing figures for the series (averaging 4.5 M per episode) upto The Trial of a TimeLord (1986), and proved the death-knell of the purely historical stories (The Highlanders, just two months away, was the last true visit to the past until Black Orchid in 1982).
* It was filmed almost entirely on location, actually in it's Cornish setting.
* All 4 epiosdes are now missing from the BBC archives. Ironically, the only surviving clips are those excised by Australian censors, deemed unsuitable, and can be seen on the Lost in Time DVD. The CD release has linking narration from Anneke Wills.
* This was Brian Hayles' second script for Doctor Who. He also wrote The Celestial Toymaker, The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Death, and the two Peladon serials.
* The Smugglers was placed at No. 159 in the DWM Mighty 200 Poll (Issue 413, September 2009)

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly standard general pirate story that reminded me of Doctor Syn, and Treasure Island in parts. A buried treasure is to be had, and several parties are trying to find it. The Doctor and his two new companions are in the middle of it.
The Doctor and co. really do seem a bit out of place. They don't feel as merged into the story as in other tales. Still, pirates and treasure equal an adventure.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the "lost" Dr. Who historical episodes. THis one holds up pretty well.