The Smudgelings were a society of writers who got together every Monday at the Book and Candle. They were active in the 1930s and 1940s. John Cleavis was the unofficial leader of the group.
All of the Smudgelings were convinced of the importance of Reginald Tyler's life's work The True History of Planets.
In 1942, William Freer joined the Smudgelings in order to pervert Tyler's masterpiece into Poodle propaganda. The Eighth Doctor infiltrated the Smudgelings to try to stop Freer from opening a direct link between Tyler's mind and Princess Margaret's mind, but was unsuccessful. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)