"Well, the real job's only just beginning. Getting back to the TARDIS with only a rough idea of where it is and the whole English army out to stop us."
TECHNICAL SPECS: Missing from the archives. You know the drill, I've used a reconstruction. First aired Jan.7 1967.
IN THIS ONE... The slave ship is liberated, Grey arrested, and Jamie joins the TARDIS crew.
REVIEW: I'm not entirely sure when they decided to add Jamie to the cast, but this episode tries its damnedest to justify it. The Laird's piper/bodyguard gets the "killing blow" on Trask, throwing him overboard (rates highly because Trask is such a terrible character). The Doctor tricks Grey by showing him the signet ring and insinuating that Jamie is Prince Charles. After the adventure is all over, Jamie springs out from under a tarp for no better reason than maybe not wanting to go to France (well, if he doesn't like travel...) and suddenly seems detached from the family he showed fierce loyalty to. And of course, when Polly asks if they can keep him, like a good puppy dog, he walks into the TARDIS. Who knew he would stay with Troughton's Doctor to the end and become one of the most beloved of companions? Sorry Ben, you'll have to share your lines with him for the next couple stories. The scripts have already been handed in and he wasn't in them.
Otherwise, it's business as usual for the end of a historical story. It's even got a big noisome fight we can't see, like The Smugglers only a few stories before it. Things are resolved, the baddies are punished, and it ends with a desperate race to get back to the TARDIS. The Doctor finds a third hat he'd like (a sailor's) and plays a final trick on Grey. He also gains yet another identity, that of a Redcoat, leading me to wonder where one might get a fake mustache in the 18th century. Ben pulls a Houdini underwater to escape the slavers and leads his team to victory by secreting a cache of weapons back to the prisoners. And Polly is forgiven for being so cruel to Lieutenant Ffinch as the officer gets both a high-profile collar in Grey and a little kiss from a swinging 60s beauty.
Because this is a comedy - despite some of the historical brutality - a kind of cartoon morality is strictly enforced. Ffinch is rewarded because leaving him humiliated isn't fair to a character we never disliked. Similarly, Perkins the comedy clerk makes an about-face and becomes the Laird's secretary, escaping to France with the rebels. Again, the audience would never ask for this silly little man's head, despite his collusion in a slave trading ring. Trask gets dunked and isn't seen coming up again, but he's a cartoon pirate, not a whole character. Only Grey, a real historical figure, must answer to a realistic fate.
VERSIONS: I am not aware of any important story changes in the Target novelization.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - All's well that ends well, and that's about as much as one can ask from a story like this. The noisy battle and the imperative to turn Jamie into a companion perhaps detract from the neat conclusion.
STORY REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Was it too soon after The Smugglers? I kinda think so and wouldn't be surprised if fans mistook events from one for those in the other. What saves it (and makes it more memorable) is the fine comedy from the entire cast (aside from Trask, of course).
TECHNICAL SPECS: Missing from the archives. You know the drill, I've used a reconstruction. First aired Jan.7 1967.IN THIS ONE... The slave ship is liberated, Grey arrested, and Jamie joins the TARDIS crew.
REVIEW: I'm not entirely sure when they decided to add Jamie to the cast, but this episode tries its damnedest to justify it. The Laird's piper/bodyguard gets the "killing blow" on Trask, throwing him overboard (rates highly because Trask is such a terrible character). The Doctor tricks Grey by showing him the signet ring and insinuating that Jamie is Prince Charles. After the adventure is all over, Jamie springs out from under a tarp for no better reason than maybe not wanting to go to France (well, if he doesn't like travel...) and suddenly seems detached from the family he showed fierce loyalty to. And of course, when Polly asks if they can keep him, like a good puppy dog, he walks into the TARDIS. Who knew he would stay with Troughton's Doctor to the end and become one of the most beloved of companions? Sorry Ben, you'll have to share your lines with him for the next couple stories. The scripts have already been handed in and he wasn't in them.
Otherwise, it's business as usual for the end of a historical story. It's even got a big noisome fight we can't see, like The Smugglers only a few stories before it. Things are resolved, the baddies are punished, and it ends with a desperate race to get back to the TARDIS. The Doctor finds a third hat he'd like (a sailor's) and plays a final trick on Grey. He also gains yet another identity, that of a Redcoat, leading me to wonder where one might get a fake mustache in the 18th century. Ben pulls a Houdini underwater to escape the slavers and leads his team to victory by secreting a cache of weapons back to the prisoners. And Polly is forgiven for being so cruel to Lieutenant Ffinch as the officer gets both a high-profile collar in Grey and a little kiss from a swinging 60s beauty.
Because this is a comedy - despite some of the historical brutality - a kind of cartoon morality is strictly enforced. Ffinch is rewarded because leaving him humiliated isn't fair to a character we never disliked. Similarly, Perkins the comedy clerk makes an about-face and becomes the Laird's secretary, escaping to France with the rebels. Again, the audience would never ask for this silly little man's head, despite his collusion in a slave trading ring. Trask gets dunked and isn't seen coming up again, but he's a cartoon pirate, not a whole character. Only Grey, a real historical figure, must answer to a realistic fate.
VERSIONS: I am not aware of any important story changes in the Target novelization.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - All's well that ends well, and that's about as much as one can ask from a story like this. The noisy battle and the imperative to turn Jamie into a companion perhaps detract from the neat conclusion.
STORY REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Was it too soon after The Smugglers? I kinda think so and wouldn't be surprised if fans mistook events from one for those in the other. What saves it (and makes it more memorable) is the fine comedy from the entire cast (aside from Trask, of course).
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