'Nobody who crosses Pike lives to tell the tale!'

When the TARDIS lands on a remote and wild stretch of the Cornish coast, its occupants little realise that they have arrived in the 17th century. The Doctor, Ben and Polly soon discover to their cost, however, that these are far from hospitable times. The local Squire is at the head of a plot to offload contraband, whilst a long-rumoured hoard of stolen treasure has drawn attention to the village church. Inadvertently stumbling upon this web of deception and double-crossing, the time travellers are rapidly propelled into danger.

The Doctor's encounter with the ill-fated Joseph Longfoot leaves him with a cryptic clue to the location of Avery's Treasure. But a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, as the fearsome pirate Samuel Pike (he has a metal hook in place of a hand) is only too willing to prove. To his dismay, the Doctor realises that Pike and his bloodthirsty henchmen will stop at nothing - not even the threat of Avery's Curse - to find and seize the ill-gotten hoard.

Ben and Polly, meanwhile, must choose their allies with care. In these duplicitous days no-one is ever sure who to trust, and the stakes are suddenly raised as smugglers and pirates go head to head with the local militia. Can the time travellers help to save an entire village from burning - and still escape to the TARDIS with their lives?