The Crusade

"There's something new in you, yet something older than the sky itself. I sense that I can trust you."

Writer: David Whitaker
Format: TV
Broadcast: 27th March - 17th April 1965
Season: 2.06

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in 12th century Palestine where a holy war is in progress between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin. Barbara is abducted in a Saracen ambush and the Doctor, Ian and Vicki make their way to King Richard's palace in the city of Jaffa, but will they rescue Barbara in time?

Verdict

The Crusade is a bit of a mixed bag and although the good outweighs the bad by a decent amount, this serial never quite lives up to what it could have been on paper. It starts off well with an action packed opening few minutes in which Barbara gets separated from the crew and is led away with the Saracens. From there on though the story always seemed to be slipping between sides of the scale, somewhat inconsistently. I enjoyed Barbara's references to past stories; The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Romans and The Web Planet, that was great. I adored how Ian was knighted by King Richard in episode 2 and caused a terrific pun by the Doctor in the final moments when safely back inside the TARDIS. El Akir was a good villainous character, and other members of the guest cast were also excellent such as Saladin, Joanna and Haroun whereas there were some guest cast that I wasn't fond of such as Luigi and Chamberlain. I think that's where this story lacks in going from quite good to great; wherever there's a lot of good there's also a few bad things that knock the good down a bit. The cliffhangers were average, episode 1's being the best and the climax of the story was good. I really liked Ian's performance into talking the Saracen's to giving him the honour of administering the execution of the Doctor! A clever finale! I'd also like to add that the relationship between the Doctor and Vicki was once again tremendous, although I disliked the companion having to pretend she was a boy - it doesn't make sense seeing as she's a beautiful young women.

Rating: 7/10