Doctor Who Rewind - The Highlanders

Another completely missing serial to get through with only the help of a youtube reconstruction. This time we arrive in Scotland, and surprisingly there will be more Ooo Arrr Jim Ladding going on than Och eye nooing!!

The Doctor arrives just after the Battle of Culloden, and is captured by Scots rebels as they flee from the British Army. Ben, Polly, the Doctor and Jamie (a highland piper), the Laird Colin McLaren and his son and daughter (Kirsty) all hide out in a cottage but are found by an army patrol who take Ben, the Laird and the Doctor to be hanged, while Polly and Kirsty slip away to the safety of a near by cave.

The girls manage to distract sergeant Ffinch, who is intent on hanging the Doctor and co. Ffinch gives Chase after the girls. Meanwhile the sinister Grey,the Royal commissioner of prisons, who wants to ship any surviving highlanders to the colonies for his own monetary benefit, arrives and bribes the release of the Doctor and friends. He's already sorted a captain (Trask) and a ship. The Doctor, Ben and the Laird are transferred to prison in Inverness to await shipping but the Doctor manages a nifty escape.

Meanwhile Trask reports to Grey that the transportation can go ahead and Jamie, the Laird and Ben are put aboard. Most prisoners except their fate and agree to sign for transportation rather than the ghastly alternative of the gallows, but Jamie and Ben and the Laird refuse to sign up, Ben attacks grey and Trask has him thrown overboard into the murky waters.

One of the more interesting developments in this story is the Doctors ability to adopt the guise of both a kitchen maid and a German in order to go around unnoticed, seemingly invisible, though with Troughton's dubiously ludicrous accent and unmistakeable features it's a miracle he goes un-detected.

The Doctor is reunited with Polly, Kirsty and eventually Ben, who swims ashore. He comes up with a cunning plan concerning Bonnie Prince Charlie's ring and it's wearers where-a-bouts, telling him that the Prince is in fact Jamie. This distraction allows the girls to free Jamie and the rest of the prisoners. When Grey and Trask go to the hold they are captured by armed highlanders, and it's the beginning of the end for the pair.

Jamie, sacrificing his boat to France decides to help the TARDIS team find it, and when they do he has little time to decide his fate before realising he's flying through time and space in the positively crowded Police box.

Again I found this serial a bit hard going for the most part. The story just seemed a bit wishy washy with little that was imaginative. Troughton had some good chances to shine as the kitchen maid and the German but instead played the roles pretty straight. I suspect he was still finding his feet as the Doctor during this story. Then again it's hard for me to pass judgement when only viewing stills and hearing the soundtrack.

Next time on Doctor Who Rewind my never ending quest for a Troughton moving image continues as things get rather fishy.