The Smugglers

Navigation

Previous Next

“Fishpond”“Fishpond”

PRODUCTION INFO

Name

The Smugglers

Serial Code

CC

First Transmitted

10 September 1966

Final Ratings

4.30m

BOOK RELEASE

BOOK

CD RELEASE

CD

gallery

previous arrow
next arrow
Slider

CAST

Regular Cast

William Hartnell (Dr Who), Micheal Craze (Ben Jackson), Anneke Wills (Polly)

Guest Cast

Terence de Marney (Churchwarden) [1], George A. Cooper (Cherub), David Blake Kelly (Jacob Kewper) [1-3], Mike Lucas (Tom) [1-3], Paul Whitsun-Jones (Squire), Derek Ware (Captain Pike), Elroy Josephs (Jamaica) [2-3], John Ringham (Blake) [2-4], Jack Bligh (Gaptooth)

CREW

Written by Brian Hayles
Directed by Julia Smith
Produced by Innes Lloyd

sypnosis

The TARDIS lands on the seventeenth century Cornish coast, and its crew stumble upon a plot by the local Squire to receive and offload contraband goods. The Doctor meets the churchwarden, whose last words to him concern the whereabouts of hidden treasure. When pirate captain Samuel Pike learns of this, he kidnaps The Doctor and demands to be given the cryptic clue&hellip,

With the treasure uncovered and the militia called in by the local Revenue officer, a bloody fight ensues &ndash, and can The Doctor, Ben and Polly escape with their lives?

NOTES

  • All four episodes of this serial are considered missing. As usual, the soundtracks and telesnaps survive, along with bits of Australian censor footage.
    “The Smugglers” was the first story to feature major location shooting. All previous location shots had been conducted at locations around London, but substantial portions of this story were filmed in Cornwall.
  • This was the last story filmed in the third season’s production block, although it was intended to be held over until the beginning of the fourth season. During filming, the production team realised that William Hartnell’s health had deteriorated beyond the point where he could continue to work. Many months’ discussion about replacing Hartnell finally came to a head, and Innes Lloyd decided not to renew Hartnell’s contract. It is unclear if Hartnell was contractually obliged to appear in The Tenth Planet or if he agreed to do so after being informed of Lloyd’s decision.
  • On initial airing, this story posted the lowest audience figures, at an average of 4.48million viewers per episode, since the show had started. It would remain the least-watched story in Doctor Who history for twenty years, until The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet aired in 1986 and posted an average of 4.35 million viewers per episode.

    Order the Smugglers CD via the BBC Audio Page
    Order the Smugglers book via the shop

    • media clip

    error: Content is protected
    Skip to content