The Randomizer: The Highlanders

When I first became a Doctor Who fan The Highlanders was, famously, the last ever pure historical story the show had aired. That was over-turned a year or so later when The Black Orchid debuted, but even so it remains something of a watershed story marking the end of Doctor Who's aspirations to be educational (at least about history).

( More Under the Cut )

Despite marking the passing of the historical story and introducing Jamie, The Highlanders remains another light and throwaway story, much like The Smugglers in fact. It looms significant in the fan history of the show, but it is easy to see that the production team of the time had relatively little interest in historical tales and it ultimately shows that somewhere along the way this must have been viewed as little more than four filler episodes.