Last updated 27 August 2023

Doctor Who: The Smugglers

The Smugglers

Story Number: 28 (CC)
No of Episodes: 4




Writer: Brian Hayles
Director: Julia Smith
Producer: Innes Lloyd

Starring: William Hartnell, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills, Michael Godfrey


BBC One (United Kingdom):
First Broadcast: Saturday 10th September 1966 - Saturday 1st October 1966
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes, 35 seconds

Average Audience: 4.47 Million   Average AI: 45




To the astonishment of newcomers Polly and Ben, the TARDIS arrives on the coast of seventeenth-century Cornwall. Here, pirates led by Captain Samuel Pike (Michael Godfrey) are searching for a hidden treasure, while a smuggling ring masterminded by the local Squire (Paul Whitsun-Jones) is trying to offload contraband.

The Doctor is kidnapped by Pike's men after inadvertently learning, from churchwarden Joseph Longfoot (Terence de Marney), who is subsequently murdered, a cryptic rhyme which holds the key to the treasure's whereabouts. Although he manages to escape, the Doctor is eventually forced to tell Pike the rhyme's meaning - it refers to names on tombstones in the church crypt - and the treasure is uncovered. At this point, however, the militia arrive, having been summoned by Revenue Officer Josiah Blake (John Ringham).

A fight ensues in which Pike and many of his men are killed and the rest taken prisoner. The Doctor and his companions, meanwhile, slip back to the TARDIS.

Synopsis from Doctor Who: The First Doctor Handbook by David J. Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker, reprinted with permission; further reproduction is not permitted. Available from Telos

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