The Smugglers Episode 2

The one where Polly pretends to be possessed by the Doctor...

The Smugglers is a terribly violent story, which I suppose is inevitable given that we're dealing with criminals and cut-throats. But there are things which happen in this story which could never, ever happen in Doctor Who today, most notably the copious use of blades. At one point, the ironically-named Cherub mentions cutting off the Doctor's ears, and also refers to "what them Mexican Indians can do to a bloke's eyelids". Pretty gruesome stuff, and bearing in mind that we've already seen Cherub murder poor old Joseph Longfoot with a knife between the shoulder blades (cut out by Australian censors so that we can watch the brief sequence today!).

Incidentally, I was intrigued enough to look up what Cherub's talking about in relation to Mexican Indians and eyelids. Yeurgh! It seems the Comanche people used to cut off people's eyelids so that their eyes seared in the sun. There are countless other tortures attributed historically to the Comanche, involving pretty much any body part you wish to name, so Cherub has obviously done his homework (and maybe even some work experience!). "Let me give him a taste of Thomas Tickler!" Cherub threatens the Doctor at one point. I dread to think what that would have entailed...

This episode belongs mainly to Ben and Polly, and the serial's principal bad guys, Pike and the Squire. These two men quickly ally themselves with each other with a view to furthering their gains in the local smuggling ring, and they sure do make a formidable double act. Michael Godfrey is suitably suave and smarmy as Captain Pike, who can seem reasonable and refined one moment, but turn on a dime and lash out the next. He appears to fall for the Doctor's charm offensive as our hero appeals to his vanity to get on his side, but Pike is having none of it, and still intends to get from the Doctor the information he requires. "You talk sweet, but don't toy with me or you'll rue it!" His barbed hook for a hand is a convincing enough argument.

Paul Whitsun-Jones's rotund Squire Edwards is another slippery customer, up to his elbows in skulduggery with the local smugglers and happy to collude with passing strangers such as Pike if it means he can get richer and fatter. Whitsun-Jones fills the role well, but hasn't been given an awful lot of material with which to make the Squire as three-dimensional as the likes of Longfoot or Pike.

In their jail cell, Ben and Polly fall into their traditional contrasting states - Ben the cynic, Polly the optimist. Ben is focused solely on what bad luck they've had getting into this situation, whereas Polly is more interested in what they can do to get out of it. Although it has to be said that perhaps Polly doesn't fully grasp the gravity of their situation. While Ben rightly summarises that they are stuck in jail and accused of murder, Polly merely retorts: "I find it pretty exciting... You've got no imagination, that's your trouble. It's great!" It's all well and good enjoying the fact you're suddenly a traveller in time and space, but quite another to take impending execution so lightly!

Anneke Wills is very funny in this episode, shrieking at the presence of rats in the cell, and stressing over the whereabouts of the Doctor. She does, however, come up with the plan to get them out of the cell, by tricking superstitious guard Tom into thinking she's possessed by the spirit of the Doctor - a warlock! - and that he too could be possessed unless he lets them out. The scene is a bit of a garbled mess on audio alone, and maybe it made more immediate sense visually, but as it is, I had to listen twice as well as read the script before I understood the true nature of Polly's little game. Still, it's all very amusing and a great boon to have the female companion come up with it rather than the male.

A little of the dynamic that was so special in episode 1 is lost in this second installment now that the Doctor has been split up from Ben and Polly. While having the Doctor and companion(s) split up is a common plot device in Doctor Who, we're so early in the trio's relationship that it feels too soon. It was lovely having the three spark off each other in episode 1, but now it's fallen very slightly into a story of capture and escape. Although Ben and Polly have plenty of screen time here, they actually achieve very little, although through them we do meet a new character, Josiah Blake, who no doubt will have a strong impact on future episodes...

First broadcast: September 17th, 1966

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Anneke Wills is great as the upbeat optimist Polly who cowers from rats but is plucky enough to go to the Squire's house for help. You can feel Wills' breath of fresh air down through the decades.
The Bad: I preferred it when the Doctor was with Ben and Polly!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 3...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 3; Episode 4

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-smugglers.html

The Smugglers soundtrack is available on BBC CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Smugglers-Radio-Collection/dp/0563535040