Stories Television Doctor Who Season 2 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The Crusade Original Story TV Soundtrack Original Story TV Soundtrack 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 14 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 3 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, March 27, 1965 Production Code P Written by David Whitaker Directed by Douglas Camfield Runtime 100 minutes Time Travel Past Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) By Royal Command, Celebrity Historical, Pure Historical, Religion Location (Potential Spoilers!) Earth, Palestine 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. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 4 Episodes The Lion First aired Saturday, March 27, 1965 Runtime 25 minutes Written by David Whitaker Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 10.5 million Appreciation Index 51 Synopsis The TARDIS lands in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade and the crew help save Richard the Lionheart from an ambush, but Barbara is captured and brought before Saladin. The Knight of Jaffa Missing First aired Saturday, April 3, 1965 Runtime 25 minutes Written by David Whitaker Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 8.5 million Appreciation Index 50 Synopsis While the Doctor, Ian, and Vicki are drawn into the intrigues of King Richard's court, Barbara has to cope with an impatient Saladin and the vengeful El Akir. The Wheel of Fortune First aired Saturday, April 10, 1965 Runtime 25 minutes Written by David Whitaker Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 9 million Appreciation Index 49 Synopsis Barbara allies herself with a man whose were murdered by El Akir as the Doctor and Vicki are caught up in Richard's plan to offer his sister's hand in marriage to Saladin's brother. The Warlords Missing First aired Saturday, April 17, 1965 Runtime 25 minutes Written by David Whitaker Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 9.5 million Appreciation Index 48 Synopsis Ian sets out with a reluctant accomplice to rescue Barbara from El Akir's palace as the Doctor and Vicki try to evade the suspicions of the Earl of Leicester. Show All Episodes Characters First Doctor William Hartnell Ian Chesterton William Russell Barbara Wright Jacqueline Hill Vicki Pallister Maureen O'Brien Richard I of England Julian Glover First Appearance Princess Joanna Jean Marsh El Akir Walter Randall Saladin Bernard Kay First Appearance Show All Characters (8) How to watch The Crusade: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 2 DVD Lost in Time VHS The Hartnell Years (VHS) VHS The Crusade & The Space Museum (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 14 reviews 18 May 2025 · 172 words Review by bethhigdon 2 I have very little to say about this story other than that it’s really, really good. I hold the First Doctor’s era in high esteem and The Crusade is one of the best stories in season two. It’s a shame half of it is missing. For those wondering, two of the episodes are considered lost to time, so in order to watch the whole story I watched the Loose Canon reconstructions of the missing episodes. The pacing here is superb with plenty of action and intrigue. The dialogue sparkles and the character work is sound. Refreshingly both sides of the conflict are shown as heroic and flawed in kind with no clear good guy/bad guy except for two antagonists who are on opposite sides of the war. If I have any complaint, and it’s very minor, I wish it was told to King Richard at some point that if he wants to end the war so badly that he could just pick up and leave. He’s the invader here after all. bethhigdon View profile Like Liked 2 3 May 2025 · 60 words Review by kawaii2234 racist but not as racist as it could have been. very visually interesting but paper thin plot making it probably the weakest historical serial of season two. not as fun as say the romans with episode one being the absolute highlight of the serial. overall the crusade shines with the brutality shown despite feeling significantly more detached then previous serials. kawaii2234 View profile Like Liked 0 20 March 2025 · 14 words Review by Scottybguud Mostly missing which hinders my enjoyment. Cool to see Julian Glover as Richard Lionheart. Scottybguud View profile Like Liked 0 31 January 2025 · 7 words Review by goblinikov 1 A relatively one-sided depiction of the Crusades. :/ goblinikov View profile Like Liked 1 15 December 2024 · 153 words Review by RandomJoke 1 Love this one. Kinda a shame back then we didn’t get this animated, because really with two episodes missing, it would have been lovely if we got an animation back then, when they did a few around 2013/2014. Back to the story, it’s writing is stellar. The Acting both from our Guest stars such as Marsh and Glover is superb, the same could be said about our regulars, Hartnell and O’Briens Dynamic is just superb. Many already talked and describe some of its aspects incredibly well (such as the big elephant with this Story, which I won’t get much into, since I doubt I could say it better than somebody than others.) Overall I am impressed what they were able to pull off with this one, dare I say this might be the second darkest pure historical on TV (only beaten by the atmosphere of the Massacre, but that’s a story for another time) RandomJoke View profile Like Liked 1 Show All Reviews (14) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating432 members 3.07 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating373 votes 3.30 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 796 Favourited 34 Reviewed 14 Saved 7 Skipped 6 Related Stories Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Crusaders Rating: 3.46 Story Skipped Book Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other variations of this story We define a variation as another way of experiencing the exact same story - like an autiobook, a reconstruction or an omnibus edition. BBC Audio Soundtracks The Crusade (BBC Audio Soundtrack) Rating: 3.06 Story Skipped Soundtrack Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: BBC Audio Soundtracks Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite Tags: Funny CHAMBERLAIN: I don't understand! VICKI: It's perfectly simple. I'm a girl. CHAMBERLAIN: A girl? Dressed as a boy? Is nothing understandable these days? The dresses, silk, satins. Where's the money to come from? — The Crusade Show All Quotes (3) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking (Transcribers note - episodes 2 and 4 only exist as audio recordings) Episode One - The Lion [Wood] (Two men with swords are walking carefully. When they have passed, two Saracens come out of hiding.) EL AKIR: No, not yet. One of them may be the King. Follow them and listen to them. Show Full Transcript Open in new window
