028 - The Smugglers

Broadcast:

10^th Septembers - 1^st October 1966

Doctor:

William Hartnell

Companions:

Ben, Polly

Adversary:

Pirates and Smugglers

Written by:

Brian Hayles

Director:

Julia Smith

Music:

None

Script Editor:

Gerry Davis

Producer:

Innes Lloyd

Average Viewers:

4.48m (4.3, 4.9, 4.2, 4.5)

Summary: Two travellers from the swinging sixties find themselves in Cornwall but can't believe its the 17th century. When they get caught up with smugglers and missing treasures they start to believe.

The start of Doctor Who's fourth series was not a happy one. Modern practice is for a series opener to be strong and worthy of big promotion to draw attention and herald the return of the show, but in the 1960s it was common for serials to be held over from the end of the previous recording block. In production terms, The Smugglers was the last serial made for series 3 before everyone took a break. Michael Craze and Anneke Wills were still fresh as this was only their second story as Ben and Polly (and their first as full-on companions) but for the regular production staff it was the end of a long and turbulent year that had seen a change of Script Editor and two changes of Producer with the difficult ramifications of such hand-overs. William Hartnell in particular was unhappy and unwell and is largely written out of this story as the Doctor seems to get side-lined while Ben and Polly take much of the lead. Consequently, viewing figures were at an all-time low