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| The Doctor, making new friends. |
4 episodes. Approx. 97 minutes. Written by: Elwyn Jones, Gerry Davis. Directed by: Hugh David. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.
THE PLOT
The Doctor, Ben, and Polly find themselves in Scotland during the bloody aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. The Doctor and Ben are soon captured by British redcoats, along with an injured Scottish laird and his piper, Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines). Though initially marked for execution, they instead end up at the mercy of the self-serving Solicitor Grey (David Garth).
Grey has made arrangements with the evil Captain Trask (Dallas Cavell) to transport Scottish prisoners to the West Indies as slaves... which will ultimately mean a lingering death for the Scots. The Doctor uses his wits to escape and plot his next move. Meanwhile, Polly teams with Kirsty McLaren (Hannah Gordon), the Laird's daughter, to attempt a rescue - if her headstrong nature doesn't get them captured first!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Patrick Troughton's second story. After his phenomenal debut, you'd think that all the writers would need to do is maintain and fine-tune that characterization. Unfortunately, the script for The Highlanders doesn't seem to quite know what to do with him. There's an attempt to use Troughton's background as a character actor by having him don a series of comedy disguises. This results in one highly amusing scene in Episode Two, as he gets the better of Grey and his hapless clerk Perkins. But after that, the parade of outfits becomes increasingly tired.
Polly: Polly, however, gets probably her series-best showing, as she pushes Kirsty to action in rescuing the Doctor, Ben, and Jamie. After Kirsty begins to give up and sob early in Episode Two, Polly responds with disgust. "Don't the girls of your time do anything but cry?" she demands. Her teasing relationship with Lt. Algernon Ffinch (Michael Elwyn) is a particular highlight, as she blackmails him into assisting her at several points throughout the story.
Ben: Plays the "action hero" role, using a Houdini-inspired trick to escape from Trask and then helping to lead the charge against Trask's men at the end. His role is the least interesting of the regulars, though he is proactive throughout and remains likable.
Jamie: Frazer Hines' Jamie wasn't really intended to become a regular when this story was scripted, and it shows. Though Hines is perfectly fine, Jamie isn't afforded much characterization beyond simple loyalty to his Laird. Hines does show some decent comic timing in some of Jamie's exchanges with the Doctor and Ben, though, and he plays well opposite Troughton and Craze, which is likely why his tenure was unexpectedly extended.
THOUGHTS
The Highlanders is a noteworthy story for the series for two reasons. It represents both a last and a first. It was the last historical story until Season 19's Black Orchid. With that one exception, every Dr. Who story after this one would feature some science fiction elements, occasionally to the stories' detriment.
The other item of note is the introduction of Frazer Hines as Jamie, the second doctor's definitive companion and (in terms of number of Doctor Who episodes) the longest-serving Who companion to date.
The story itself is largely unremarkable, and suffers from mining Robert Louis Stevenson territory so soon after The Smugglers (which was also, in my opinion, better). Still, there is plenty to like here. There's a real sense of danger as Polly and Kirsty first hide from the English soldiers, then push themselves to interact with them. No bones are made about the conduct of the English toward the Scottish rebels; despite a strong vein of humor running through the Doctor's disguises and Polly's scenes with Ffinch, the overall tone is effectively grim.
One thing this story does very well is to develop a steady theme of greed and corruption. Every representative of the British government seen in the story is corrupt to some extent. The British soldiers are combing the Scottish countryside, looking not just for wounded Jacobites to slaughter, but also for any plunder they can walk away with. Ffinch and his men are first seen complaining about how little the army has left for them to loot. When they capture the Doctor, Ben, and Jamie, their first expression is disgust at the slim pickings.
Even pettier are the soldiers working under Solicitor Grey, who eagerly extend their palms at virtually every interaction. Trask betrayed the Annabelle's true captain to seize the ship and use it for his own profit. But the ultimate face of corruption is that of Grey himself, who has sold out his office to cash in on the slave trade. Appropriately, it is the greed of Trask and Grey that the Doctor uses to create the opportunity for their undoing.
Guest performances are generally good, with Michael Elwyn's Ffinch and David Garth's Solictor Grey standing out. The script even gives some strong characterization to Willie Macay (Andrew Downey), a minor character who nevertheless gets an excellent scene in Episode Three as he talks to the other prisoners about the conditions in the West Indies plantations. Less good is Dallas Cavell, whose Trask is so overexaggerated that Capt. Jack Sparrow appears positively subdued by comparison.
The Highlanders is better than it probably should be. It's one pirate-themed story too many for Season Four, and the writers are visibly struggling with Patrick Troughton's Doctor. But if it's unremarkable, it at least deserves credit for being entertaining.
Rating: 6/10.
The Highlanders Missing Episode Notes
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