The Smugglers

Well, it's been a long time since I last watched a serial in this marathon of mine. However, today I finally read through "The Smugglers" and I must say, I'm somewhat disappointed.

The most important thing that happens in this story is the introduction of Ben and Polly as companions. While I thought Ben and Polly would be good companions to the Doctor at the end of the last serial, here I found Ben irritating and Polly a little underused. From the start, Ben was shown to be cocky, arrogant, and a rather unlikeable fellow.

Plotwise, I found this serial difficult to follow, with too many smuggling rings, smugglers, plot threads, and double-crossing to be effective. It's alright at the beginning, but by the time I got to the final battle in the graveyard, I just couldn't be bothered with this serial any longer and just wished it would end quickly.