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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