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Saturday, August 20, 2016

The Crusade by: David Whitaker directed by: Douglas Camfield: The Only Pleasure Left for You is Death

The Crusade stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki with Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart, Jean Marsh as Joanna, Walter Randall as El Akir and Bernard Kay as Saladin.  It was written by David Whitaker and directed by Douglas Camfield with Dennis Spooner as Script Editor and Verity Lambert as Producer.  It was originally broadcast on Saturdays from 27 March to 17 April 1965 on BBC1.

 

The Crusade is a story that was the second story to gain any real buzz with audiences before broadcast as it was one of the first stories to have an all-star guest cast.  This is in reference to theater actors Julian Glover and Jean Marsh participating as Richard the Lionheart and Joanna respectively which is a reason to give buzz.  Other than that the plot by David Whitaker is about the Doctor and company landing near Jaffa during the Third Crusade where King Richard the Lionheart is attempting to take the Holy Land back from Islamic Sultan Saladin.  This story makes a slight deviation from the historical of the Doctor being there just to observe as seen in Marco Polo, The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror, there is stakes in the action.  Barbara is captured by Saladin early on in this story so the plot is Ian trying to get her back so they can leave, getting knighted as Sir Ian of Jaffa in the process.  This is the main plot behind the story whereas the Doctor and Vicki are actually relegated to a comedy B plot for a little bit before the Doctor contributes to the main plot by being confidant for Joanna and just getting involved in the politics.  David Whitaker’s script is very fast paced, which is really helped by the direction by the brilliant Douglas Camfield in his first full story as director.  The writing especially feels like a six part story that Whitaker whittled down to a four part story which works for the better as there isn’t filler to get bogged down with.  There is only a little weakness in episode four, “The Warlords” as it sort of runs out of steam without anything really being accomplished

 

Camfield is also just a good director here as he knows exactly when to cut to a different angle to keep the direction rather fast paced.  This is apparent in the first episode, “The Lion”, which opens with a lengthy action sequence which is done in one take with multiple cameras.  It starts with an introduction to Richard’s forces before the fighting starts between the two factions that then moves to the side quickly so we can get the TARDIS landed and the title and author cards shown and then back to the fighting.  Next the travelers come out, Barbara is captured in the chaos while Ian and the Doctor both pick up swords and fight before the Arabs fled.  It’s a scene that lasts for about five minutes of the episode and it really goes by quickly.  It’s a shame that episodes two and four, “The Knight of Jaffa” and “The Warlords” respectively, are missing as they would have looked great especially the cliffhanger to “The Knight of Jaffa” which sees Barbara fleeing in terror from El Akir, a Saracen who stole her away from Saladin in a sequence which is extremely tense even in the reconstructed format.

 

The performances from the main cast are also all great.  William Russell is the real highlight of the story as although he had a week off for “The Wheel of Fortune”, he still had to come in to film a sequence to be inserted explaining that Ian was captured.  Ian really is still the main character of these early portions of Doctor Who and it really shows.  He puts in the most extra work to keep the show running smoothly.  He also just gets a lot of interesting things to do in this story as it is about him rescuing Barbara.  Jacqueline Hill as Barbara gets some really interesting scenes with Saladin, played by Bernard Kay, which shows that as a leader while he is a calculating villain, he is still reasonable and is the one being provoked by Richard the Lionheart.  Barbara also has to go through hell in this story as she is captured twice, escapes with guards following her with orders to kill her before being captured again and forced into a harem.  If this wasn’t a show for family audiences, well let’s just say she would have been executed under Sharia Law for adultery.  Hill really pulls it off and shows how strong Barbara is as a character as while she is suffering she will still keep everything together as she understands the dangers of travelling with the Doctor.

 

Speaking of the Doctor, William Hartnell and Maureen O’Brien are the two actors who really steal the show.  Be it from stealing clothes from a comedy shopkeeper who pops up or just getting into mischief the Doctor and Vicki are suited to each other as they act like two little children working together for every part of the story.  The Doctor even makes Vicki cross dress for this story and while he says he has a reason the way Hartnell acts it’s almost like he’s playing a joke on her.  They’re relationship is much more on the same level instead of the Doctor and Susan as they aren’t related this time around.  The supporting cast is all great.  Julian Glover is the rather petulant Richard the Lionheart who is honestly just a big child who wants to prove that he’s the best king.  His sister Joanna is played by Jean Marsh and because it’s Jean Marsh so it’s really great to see her freak out and practically work behind the scenes to keep her brother in check.  El Akir is the villain and he plays it really straight and is the true predator of a man looking for more power.

 

To summarize, The Crusade is probably the second best of the pure historical stories for Doctor Who as everything really works except for the fact that the plot seems to run out of steam in the last fourth and ends without anything really being accomplished.  87/100

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