Synopsis:
Ben is in the church crypt, holding exciseman Josiah Blake captive. Squire Edwards appears on the steps with Captain Pike and Cherub, holding Polly prisoner. The Squire aims his pistol at Ben and assures him that he will not escape a second time...
Edwards has Blake freed and informs him that the young people are the murderers of his churchwarden. He agrees to take them into custody.
On the Black Albatross, the Doctor and Jacob Kewper are playing cards, watched by Jamaica. The Doctor offers to tell Jamaica's fortune and talks about what the picture cards represent, feeding into the pirate's superstitions. Distracted, Kewper knocks Jamaica out.
They sneak out onto the deck and take to the innkeeper's boat, escaping back to shore.
In the graveyard, the Squire shows Pike and Cherub the hiding place of their contraband of silks, brandy and tobacco. It is concealed within a stone sarcophagus.
Cherub is sent back to the ship but he lingers, hidden, as his Captain and the Squire arrange to land more goods the following night. Pike really intends to rob the Squire, whilst Cherub plots to profit on his own.
Back at the inn, the Doctor's companions are surprised when Blake frees them. He explains that he has his suspicions about the Squire leading the smuggling ring. Having watched the area for some time, he knows he will need the help of some armed men. The local militia would be noticed, so he wishes Ben and Polly to act as his eyes and ears whilst he goes to fetch his own men.
The Doctor and Kewper arrive, but the innkeeper rides off when he discovers who Blake is. The exciseman knows him for a smuggler.
On the ship, Pike learns that his captives have been allowed to escape, and that Cherub is not here. He kills Jamaica - stabbing him with his spiked hand.
The Doctor tells Blake about the pirates, and warns that they will ransack the village in their search for Avery's treasure. The exciseman rides off to gather his men.
When Ben suggests returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor refuses - explaining that they have a moral duty to stay and prevent the inevitable carnage. They head for the church, where the Doctor knows the treasure to lie.
Kewper arrives at the Squire's house to warn him about Pike.
Edwards arranges that their contraband should be moved and a trap laid for the pirates, but first he will look for Avery's treasure himself.
In the graveyard, the Doctor is trying to work out Longfoot's cryptic message when Ben and Polly begin talking about the names on the tombstones. He realises what the "dead man's secret key" is - names on other graves. As they don't feature in the churchyard, they make for the crypt.
They look for the names Ringwood, Smallbeer and Gurney. After a few minutes, they locate memorial tablets naming all three.
The Squire and Kewper arrive and attempt to force the Doctor into revealing Longfoot's message. The smugglers begin to argue as the Squire, though greedy, does not want blood on his hands. They fail to see Cherub sneak in after them. He aims his knife.
Polly screams as it buries itself in the innkeeper's back and a shot rings out...
Written by Brian Hayles
Recorded: Friday 22nd July 1966 - Riverside Studio 1
First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 24th September 1966
Ratings: 4.2 million / AI 43
Designer: Richard Hunt
Director: Julia Smith
Critique:
In his original draft for this episode, Hayles was quite specific about the layout of the playing cards arranged by the Doctor during the scene with Kewper and Jamaica. Seven lines radiated out in a circle, and the Doctor concentrated on the ones closest to the centre. The Jack of Clubs represented the innkeeper, with the Jack of Spades being Cherub. Pike was the King of Spades, with Blake the Jack of Diamonds. The Ace of Spades was, as is traditional, the Death Card.
It is interesting to note that both the Doctor and his companions, quite independently, use superstition to manipulate their captors. The Doctor uses the cards this week, whilst Ben and Polly fashioned a straw doll to scare Tom in the previous instalment, telling the young man that the Doctor is a sorcerer.
As the Doctor later tells Polly: "Superstition is a strange thing, my dear, but sometimes it tells the truth".
The TARDIS has landed its occupants in the past on many occasions, but it is not often that the belief systems of the native peoples have been used in this way. It is more usually the case that the travellers are mistaken for deities, or choose to exploit such a misunderstanding - such as when Barbara went along with the misidentification of High Priest Yetaxa in 15th Century Mexico, or when the Doctor allowed Achilles to continue to believe him to be Zeus.
The day to day belief systems of ordinary individuals have generally been ignored.
This episode contained the least amount of the extensive location filming which had taken place in late June. Outdoor scenes included the Doctor's departure from the Black Albatross - the adapted Bonny Mary fishing boat in Newlyn Harbour - as well as short sequences outside the inn (Trethewey Farm, Porthcurno), and outside the Squire's house (Trenethick Barton, Helston).
Friday 22nd July saw the programme return to its 8.30pm studio recording time, after the late start the week before.
Julia Smith obtained close up shots of the playing cards by utilising a hand double for Hartnell. This was Albert Ward, who had fulfilled the same role in The Romans (the burning of Nero's map) and The Celestial Toymaker (the invisible Doctor playing the Trilogic Game).
Three recording breaks were planned. The first was to add blood to Michael Godfrey's spike, with the second to allow the regulars to move from the churchyard to the crypt set. The last was to add a knife hilt to David Blake Kelly's back for the final shots.
In the past, it was always the Doctor who was the first to suggest a return to the TARDIS - even when a threatening situation remained unresolved (such as when escaping the cell in the Conscience pyramid on Marinus, whilst Yartek was still in control). Here, after Ben makes the suggestion - something he will often do - the Doctor makes it plain that he has a moral obligation to stay and protect the villagers from Pike and his men. He feels responsible in many ways, as he knows the clue that will lead to the whereabouts of the treasure. By taking it out of the equation, it will prevent Pike from ransacking the district in search of it. Polly, meanwhile, simply thinks that it is the right thing to do, to stop and help the locals.
We have an unintentional continuity error here, as the Doctor quotes names which differ from those which Longfoot told him back in the first episode - not that many would have remembered in those pre-video days. Here, the notoriously unreliable Hartnell gets the scripted names right. It was Terence de Marney who had gotten them wrong a fortnight ago.
It was during the week between the recording of Episodes 2 and 3 of The Smugglers that William Hartnell made the difficult decision to relinquish the role of the Doctor. The moment was recorded by his wife, Heather, in her diary. He would stand down in October, after recording one final story.
Innes Lloyd was now in touch with Patrick Troughton, who was filming The Viking Queen for Hammer in Ireland, after having considered other actors such as Patrick Wymark and Michael Hordern.
Troughton's initial reaction was to reject the offer, feeling that the series was on its last legs.
- The ratings fall by half a million viewers, on top of already low viewing figures, accompanied by a small drop in the appreciation figure. This makes Episode 3 of The Smugglers the lowest rated instalment up to this point.
- The episode was praised by Huw Weldon, Controller of Programmes, at the following week's Programme Review Board meeting.
- Wednesday 21st September saw the BBC reject a proposed Doctor Who radio series featuring Peter Cushing. A pilot had been submitted, which is now lost.
- The day after recording, Hartnell returned to Cornwall on a flying visit - quite literally. He was flown from Gatwick to the Royal Navy Air Service open day at RAF Culdrose, where he appeared in costume accompanied by the Black Dalek Supreme and a Chumbley robot. He was taken back to Gatwick immediately after the event, which was reported in that Monday's Western Morning News.
- Thanks to the extremely strict attitude towards violence adopted by the Australian censors, this episode furnishes the longest surviving sequence from this story - the death of Jamaica. We also have preserved the closing moments in which Cherub murders Kewper.
No comments:
Post a Comment