The Highlanders

Dear Gary—

I always wanted to see The Highlanders, one of the many lost stories of Doctor Who. Now I have watched two reconstructed versions and I have to say I’m rather disappointed.  Maybe I built it up too much in my mind, not that I ever really knew anything about it other than it was an early Patrick Troughton story in which Jamie appears for the first time.

It is for Jamie’s sake that I wanted to like The Highlanders. In the few stories I have seen with him I have enjoyed the rapport he has with the Doctor.  And, too, I wanted to see more of Patrick Troughton.  The Highlanders doesn’t disappoint with Patrick Troughton, but there just isn’t a lot for Jamie in this story so I can’t really get a feel for his character as yet.

I did like it better upon second viewing, so perhaps in time I will come to appreciate it more as I did with The Power of the Daleks. But that is the trouble with lost episodes. If this were on a disc that I could pop in, sit back, relax, and enjoy, I probably would like it much better. While the reconstructed episodes are excellent, they just can’t touch the real thing. Combine this with the fact that The Highlanders is another historical and you have two strikes to start off the inning.

That is not to say, Gary, that I dislike the historical stories. After all, my favorite Hartnell serial The Romans is just that. No, it is only that history can be dry if not done right, and even if it is done right, when you only have the echo of its original form remaining it suffers. Combine this further with the fact that Patrick Troughton is so new to the role and therefore somewhat unfamiliar to me as the Doctor, I have to go on record as putting The Highlanders down as a disappointment.

But there is something there to latch onto. Just as with The Power of the Daleks I could latch onto the assembly line Daleks, with The Highlanders I have the Doctor and Polly to thank for helping The Highlanders stand out in my mind.

First Polly. Polly has been rather inconsistent as a companion to this point. She is strong and intelligent in one story only to be relegated to coffee making and screaming in the next. In The Highlanders she scores. She is the one element of the story that stuck with me after my first viewing.

“Didn’t the women of your age do anything but cry?” That is the Polly I like to see. The one who becomes exasperated with the helpless female; the one who plans and schemes; the one who calls to action. Polly of The Highlanders won’t sit idly by; she won’t burst into hysterics; she won’t be sidelined. Polly of The Highlanders acts.

Polly sees the Doctor, Ben, and the highland clan being readied for hanging; does she stand hopelessly by to watch the execution? No, she grabs the useless Kirsty and runs, creating a diversion. Polly falls into a pit; does she crumple in a useless heap? No, she lures the Redcoat ‘Algie’ (Lt Algernon Ffinch) into the pit, steals his money and ID tag and hoists herself out.  The Doctor and Ben plan to overthrow the slave trading ring that has a ship load of prisoners aboard the Annabelle; will Polly stay behind in safety? No, she insists on accompanying them.  The group needs safe passage back to the TARDIS through enemy territory; does Polly let the others think of a way out? No, she uses her wiles on ‘Algie’ and wins him over as an ally to escort them through to safety.

Too bad Polly of The Highlanders doesn’t stick around for subsequent stories.

Next, Gary, I turn to Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. As the story begins, the Doctor seems timid, even afraid. Ben and Polly want to explore this land they have materialized in but the Doctor is hesitant. It doesn’t take him long, however, to get into the spirit of the adventure. He’s glad they have gotten mixed up in the mess, he says . . . ”I’m just beginning to enjoy myself.”

And enjoy himself he does. This new incarnation of the Doctor, it seems, is something of a master of disguise. First he takes on the role of a German doctor, then he disguises himself as an old woman (“You made a good granny”), and finally he masquerades as a Redcoat.

He has his share of action as well, brandishing weapons about; although . . . “It’s not loaded; they’re dangerous things.” In fact there are quite a few guns displayed in The Highlanders, and at one point the Doctor, Polly, and Kirsty round up an arsenal of weapons to supply to the prisoners aboard the Annabelle. Curiously, though, when the prisoners rise up against their captors not a single shot is heard.

There is also a hilarious little bit when the Doctor, pretending to be a German doctor, queries, “You suffer from headaches?” as he bangs poor Perkins’ head against a desk, then convinces Perkins he must lie still with a bandage covering his eyes while the Doctor makes his escape.

Two last traits of this new Doctor. He seems to have a fascination with hats: “I would like a hat like this.” And he is definitely musical, playing the recorder at every opportunity and consenting to bring Jamie on board “if he teaches me to play the bagpipes.”

Yes, Gary, Polly and the Doctor are the highlights of The Highlanders.

Perhaps someday I will watch this again and gain a deeper appreciation. But for now, I press on with the reconstructed Troughton era as I dispatch this out into the Doctor’s time swirl and await any echo . . . .