Wednesday 26 January 2011

065 The Crusade Part 2: The Knight of Jaffa

EPISODE: The Crusade Part 2: The Knight of Jaffa
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 065
STORY NUMBER: 014
TRANSMITTED: 03 April 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: No. 1 (1964-1965)

For the first time this season we're listening on CD - The Crusade is the only story in the Second Season of Doctor Who to be missing episodes. The CD contains the episode with narration by William Russel, but un-narrated versions are included on the Doctor Who - Lost In Time DVD set. Most of the stories in this set are just one episode of a story but both The Crusade and The Moonbase have two of their four episodes in existence so to bridge the gaps the soundtracks of the remaining episodes are included. There are Three episodes of the Dalek Masterplan in the box but since there are NINE episodes of this story missing.

William de Tornebu persuades the King to rescue Barbara coming up with a plot to humiliate Saladin. The travellers meet the real Joanna, the King's sister. El Akir seeks Barbara, feeling humiliated by her & des Preaux. Barbara is tipped off she's in danger and tries to escape, assisted by the merchant Luigi Ferrigo who betrays her & delivers her to El Akir. Ian is equipped with armour and sword for his journey to Saladin. Richard plans to marry his sister Joanna to Saladin's brother Saphadin. Ian is knighted and sent on his journey, but when he leaves the Doctor and Vicki are accused of thieving by both the market trader Ben Daheer and Richard's Chamberlain who had the garments stolen from him initially. The Doctor sorts the situation out with some fast talking and exposes the man who stole from the Chamberlain. Ian reaches Saladin's camp and finds Barbara missing. William des Preaux tells him what happened. Barbara has escaped from el Akir but fails to find help and in the darkness is grabbed by an assailant.

Again another historical episode that just doesn't do anything for me. Sorry.

This story sees a couple of prominent guest stars. The first is Jean Marsh, playing Joanna, many years before finding fame as Rose Buck in Upstairs Downstairs a series that she co-created. She was the first Mrs Jon Pertwee from 1955-1960 and would return to Doctor Who twice in the likewise Douglas Camfield directed Dalek Masterplan as Sara Kingdom and then many years later as Morgaine in Battlefield.

By an odd coincidence her co-star Julian Glover, playing Richard the Lionheart, was married at the time to his first wife Eileen Atkins who is the other creator of Upstairs Downstairs! His second wife Isla Blair later appeared in Doctor Who: King's Demons as Isabella Fitzwilliam. Glover is probably the most famous actor to have appeared in Doctor to this point and would return years later as Count Scarlioni/Scaroth in the City of Death. He's on the commentaries for both The Crusade episode 3 "The Wheel of Fortune" (from the Lost in Time (Doctor Who) DVD set) and City of Death. Other roles you may have seen him in include Col Breen in Quatermass & The Pit, General Veers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Professor Kayn in the Blake's 7 first series episode Breakdown, the villainous Aris Kristatos in James' Bond's For Your Eyes Only, the Nazi sympathiser Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Sir Martin Lacey in By The Sword Divided and many, MANY more.

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