4.4 The Highlanders

 

Ah, another historical episode.  Thankfully they didn't meet any famous person in this one.  You know by now that I don't really like these historical ones.  It's just not what I'm really into, though I do love historical fiction.  However, this had a lot of funny moments that made it less boring and deadly serious.  In no way was the Massacre was a barrel of laughs. My expert viewer has promised me that this is the last of the historical episodes, but sometimes he likes to tease me.

This reminded of me of a Hartnell plot, but the Doctor plays both Ian and the Doctor at the same time.

The one thing I noticed is that the Doctor has become sort of violent.  He hits people over the head, holds knives to peoples throats, and dresses up in disguises.  William Hartnell was never this violent.  This is proof that they are trying to change things up a bit with Troughton.

Polly can't help herself.  There's no way she can avoid getting into trouble.  She has her own little adventure.  My expert viewer and I have commented on how we're getting tired of the "team getting split up" plots.  Every time they went back to Polly or Ben's plot, I got frustrated. I wanted the Doctor back! I don't care much for Polly or Ben. 

Ben gets tied up and thrown into the water, but because he is a sailor, he escapes and swims to shore. I find Ben's character to be a bit on the stupid side. It takes him longer to reach conclusions of what's happening.  He's always asking basic questions like "Where are we?" "What's happening?" "What going to happen to us?"

Lt. Finch provided the comedy in this episode.  He gets tricked by Polly and  Kirsty and falls into a pit with them.  They tie him up and rob him before leaving him in the pit.  He tries to stay out of trouble, but they come back to him later in the episode, and force him to help them escape.  In the end, Polly gives him a kiss, and everything is okay.

The villainous Grey doesn't get away with his nefarious slave trading scheme, thanks to the Doctor who steals his papers.  Thank goodness for that!

Next up: The Underwater Menace