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The Smugglers is the completely missing first serial of the fourth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966.
In this serial, First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his new travelling companions Ben and Polly (Michael Craze and Anneke Wills) arrive on the coast of seventeenth-century Cornwall – much to the astonishment of Polly and Ben. Pirates led by Captain Samuel Pike (Michael Godfrey) and his henchman Cherub (George A. Cooper) are searching for a hidden treasure, while a smuggling ring masterminded by the local squire Edwards (Paul Whitsun-Jones) is trying to off-load contraband. Although audio recordings, still photographs, and clips of the story exist, no episodes of this serial are known to have survived.
The local Squire charges Ben and Polly with the murder of Longfoot, causing them to split up. Ben hides at the church, meeting Josiah Blake, a revenue man tracking the local smugglers. The Doctor is kidnapped by Cherub and taken to the Albatross. Pike forms an alliance with the Squire, who is the organiser of the smuggling ring and offers to cut Pike and his pirates in. They are interrupted by Polly, who has come to implore the Squire to help her find the Doctor.
Pike, Cherub and the Squire capture Polly and Ben, and take them to the church. They attempt to convince Blake that Ben and Polly are the true smugglers. Knowing the truth, Blake pretends to arrest Ben and Polly. The Doctor escapes and meets up with his friends in the churchyard. Blake works out a smuggling drop is due and heads off for more revenue men to break the smuggling ring.
The alliance collapses, as the Squire recognises the pirate's dishonour. Cherub, the Squire and the time travellers set off to find the gold. The Doctor works out Longfoot's hint pertains to graves in the crypt but before he can find the treasure, the other seekers arrive. Cherub wounds the Squire, and forces the Doctor to confess the hint. Cherub concludes that Deadman too is a name in the crypt, but is slain by a vengeful Pike, who now threatens the village. The Doctor bargains with Pike for the lives of the villagers if he shows him the treasure and they find the gold at the intersection of the hinted graves.
As Pike finds the treasure, Blake and an armed patrol arrive. Aided by the injured and repentant Squire, Blake kills Pike, and the pirate force is routed. As the battle ends, the Doctor and his companions slip away to the TARDIS.
This was the first Doctor Who story to feature major location shooting. In all previous serials, location shots had been conducted at locations around London, but substantial portions of this story were filmed in Cornwall. Locations included Trethewey Farm, Nanjizal Bay, St Grada's Church, Grade and Church Cove.
Episode is missing
On initial airing, this story posted the lowest audience figures since the show began, at an average of 4.48 million viewers per episode. It would remain the least-watched Doctor Who serial for twenty years, until The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet aired in 1986.
In 2002, Interzones Paul Beardsley reviewed the CD release as "an amiable but unremarkable purely historical yarn set in 17th century Cornwall" but remarked "Anneke's very good, and I hope she'll return to do The Underwater Menace."
In a review for the Radio Times, Patrick Mulkern praised the "excellent cast", though noting that the character of Jamaica was "a dodgy caricature that would be inconceivable in modern drama." Mulkern was also impressed by the authentic Cornwall locations, "a terrific bonus that allows the production to breathe."
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