The Smugglers - Episode 4

Ok lets just get through this as best as we can. It’s not been a particularly enjoyable experience having to sit through the past three episodes even though the opening episode has been the highlight.  Sadly the same things happen in this episode as they did in the previous two, there’s a lot of people in west country accents threatening each other.  There did seem a bit more in terms of plot but I would be lying if I said that I knew or even cared what the plot was. I think that there is a clear reason why historical stories have gone off the boil recently. Apart from The Aztecs there haven’t been many historical adventures which have really worked for me.

Lets look at the positives. I think that William Hartnell still delivers a strong performance even though he must have been really unwell at this stage. It’s a testiment to his professionalism that he manages to perform when he must have felt that the show wasn’t quite the same as when he started. No William Russell, No Jacqueline Hill and no Carole Ann Ford. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze continue to impress and I think that they will suit Patrick Troughton’s Doctor more than William Hartnell’s.

At the end of the episode, Polly asks the Doctor where they are going and the Doctor admits that he has no control over the ship which is the opposite of what he would have said just a few seasons ago. It’s surprising as we approach the final Hartnell story that just how much the show and the Doctor has changed since that opening episode back in November 1963. Sadly I must admit that this episode along with this whole story is a poor one. It’s not just that its only on audio but its more that there isn’t much of a story and the first story of the fourth season is of the same standard as the opening of the first story of the previous season. However the end is coming and the moment has been prepared for.