In the new series, it’s customary to offer freshly onboarded TARDIS crewmembers a choice: Would you like to go to the future or the past? Back in the ’60s, there was no choice involved — the Doctor didn’t have the first clue how to steer his time machine, something he states explicitly in The Smugglers to accidental companions Ben and Polly. But if he had the goal of showing them just how brutally violent traveling through time can be, he couldn’t do much better than this mostly forgotten “pure historical” about pirates plotting to ransack large parts of Cornwall while making off with a secret treasure. So why not just have another go at popping into the future, and leave them to it? It’s all about “moral obligation,” the Doctor says, which isn’t as catchy as not being cruel or cowardly, but it's a rarely mentioned moment that captures his philosophy nonetheless. There are surprising treasures you can find when you’re not even looking.
Commentary on The Smugglers begins at 17:15.
Rate and review Pull To Open on Apple Podcasts!
Join the conversation on Spotify!
Follow us on:
TikTok! @pulltoopen
Instagram: @pulltoopen63
Twitter: @pulltoopen63
YouTube: youtube.com/pulltoopen
Play Pull To Open Bingo!
Story Essentials
Season 4, Serial 1
Story number: 27, per the The Pull To Open Codex
Writer: Brian Hayles
Director: Julia Smith
Producer: Innes Lloyd
Aired 10 September - 1 October 1966
Pull To Open: The Smugglers
Season 4
Episode 13
Hosts: Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor
Music: Martin West/Thinking Fish
Treasure Flap (Pillaging “The Smugglers”)